CHOICE/LESS

By Rewire.News

What's CHOICE/LESS about?

CHOICE/LESS delivers powerful, personal stories of reproductive injustice and the laws, politics and people beyond the headlines. Part of the Rewire News Group podcast network.

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CHOICE/LESS episodes:

10.23.2018
Massachusetts Activist Takes the Wheel for Civil Rights
Retired engineer and Lyft driver Rachel Brown came out as transgender at age 68. She's been using her time as a driver to educate her passengers in Massachusetts about an alarming referendum on the ballot this fall that could repeal transgender...
09.14.2018
Their Bodies, Their Boats, Their Play
Season 4 of CHOICE/LESS is all about teens, sex, abortion, and the law. In the season finale, host Jenn Stanley talks to youth activists, artists, and their allies about putting abortion on center stage to fight stigma and change policy.
09.13.2018
Sally vs. Sex Education
Season 4 of CHOICE/LESS is all about teens, sex, abortion, and the law. So far this series has posed the question, if adults and children have a hard time talking about even the most basic sex stuff, then why do...
09.12.2018
The Talk
Season 4 of CHOICE/LESS is all about teens, sex, abortion, and the law. In this episode, host Jenn Stanley explores what it takes to have open and healthy family communication, especially around polarizing topics like abortion. Sometimes those conversations go...
09.11.2018
Welcome to Abortion Court
Season 4 of CHOICE/LESS is all about teens, sex, abortion, and the law. In this episode, host Jenn Stanley talks to legal experts, including a former Cook County judge, about how teenagers in Illinois (and 37 other states) end up...
09.10.2018
How Did You Keep That a Secret?
Season 4 of CHOICE/LESS is all about teens, sex, abortion, and the law. In episode 1, Jenn Stanley takes you back to her own adolescence and talks with a former classmate about their experiences attending a small, all-girls Catholic high...
09.06.2018
Season 4 debuts 9/10! This episode from Season 1 will help you get ready.
From the archives: Before Season 4 premieres next week, we’re taking you back to a related episode from 2016 that explores what happens to teens who can’t involve a parent in their abortion decision but are forced to by the...
06.28.2018
On Kennedy, Roe, and Season 4
Jenn shares some thoughts on the news and where we're headed.
04.30.2018
Teens, Sex, and the Law: S4 Arrives Later This Year
It's no secret that parents and kids struggle to have honest conversations around sex and intimacy. At the same time, sex ed continues to disappear from our schools, and 38 states require teens to include their parents in their abortion...
12.13.2017
PART II - Marching Toward Gilead: The Rise of American Theocracy
Part 2 of 2: Roy Moore lost, but barely. And his theocratic vision for the country lives on through Operation Save America (OSA), an organization committed to a United States in which abortion, homosexuality, Islam, and anything else its leadership considers “ungodly” is...
12.13.2017
PART I - Marching Toward Gilead: The Rise of American Theocracy
Part 1 of 2: Roy Moore lost, but barely. And his theocratic vision for the country lives on through Operation Save America (OSA), an organization committed to a United States in which abortion, homosexuality, Islam, and anything else its leadership considers “ungodly” is...
11.22.2017
Running Out of Time: Kentucky’s 20-Week Abortion Ban
Last winter, Kentucky state lawmakers fast-tracked a bill to ban abortion at 20 weeks post-fertilization. Heather Hyden, 30, of Lexington, Kentucky, talks about how that bill directly affected her pregnancy and upended her life.
11.15.2017
Our Family Business Is Abortion Care
Calla Hales is the 27-year-old lead administrator of a regional chain of abortion clinics called A Preferred Women's Health Center, which she took over from her parents. She discusses her experience running a chain of clinics at such a young...
11.08.2017
Transgender, Latinx, Poly, and Pregnant: 'I'll Love my Child Without Conditions'
Patrisse Cullors joins CHOICE/LESS again this week, and this time she’s talking to Alex Alvarez, a Latinx transgender man, about his decision to get pregnant and how he plans to parent.
11.01.2017
Delivering Hope: The Story of Two Black Midwives in Southern California
Jenn and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors are joined by Black midwives Racha Tahani Lawler and Debbie Allen to discuss racism in health care and midwifery, and what it means to provide maternity care and support to communities who...
10.25.2017
What It's Like to Argue in Front of the Supreme Court and Win
Stephanie Toti tells her story of arguing on behalf of Whole Woman's Health in the landmark Supreme Court case Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. Go inside the mind of a reproductive rights attorney as she prepares for the biggest case...
10.18.2017
Wendy Davis: Three Minutes Past Midnight
CHOICE/LESS returns with a blockbuster episode as Jenn interviews former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis about the great lengths she took to kill the sweeping anti-abortion bill that later because the infamous Texas HB 2.
06.21.2017
The Backstory, Episode 4: Tuskegee Was 'The Tip of the Iceberg'
When people hear about racism in medical testing and research, they often bring up the infamous "Tuskegee Study," a decades-long program in which the government pretended to treat 400 Black men with syphilis. In fact, the government withheld adequate treatment...
06.14.2017
The Backstory, Episode 3: 'Some People Say It Was Part of Eugenics. We Say It Was Genocide'
Sterilization abuse so far has played a role in every episode of CHOICE/LESS: The Backstory, but in our third installment, this abuse is front and center. Charon Asetoyer is a Comanche activist and women’s rights advocate. In this episode, she discusses...
06.07.2017
The Backstory, Episode 2: Loretta Ross on the Dalkon Shield Disaster
Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) like intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants are becoming increasingly popular as birth control methods. Between 2011 and 2013, the number of women using an IUD increased 83 percent from the previous four years, according to a...
05.31.2017
The Backstory, Episode 1: The 1956 Puerto Rican Pill Trial
CHOICE/LESS is back with The Backstory, a four-part miniseries on historical injustices in reproductive and sexual health care advancement. Today, many people might be appalled to hear of a medical study being conducted on unwitting participants, but the concept of informed...
05.26.2017
COMING May 31: A new CHOICE/LESS Miniseries!
On Wednesday, May 31, CHOICE/LESS is back with a four part miniseries. CHOICE/LESS: The Backstory unravels historical instances of health care injustices, and the medical advancements they helped make possible.
03.07.2017
Angelique Saavedra: Will My Daughter Understand Me?
Adoption is often painted as the the more ethical alternative to abortion. But both adoption and abortion are reproductive choices that are deeply personal and aren't made lightly. Placing moral superiority on one choice over another is bad for all...
02.28.2017
Dominick Evans: How Can You Treat Me if You Won't Recognize Me?
Dominick Evans is a filmmaker and activist currently living in Ohio. He has a progressive, neuromuscular disability called spinal muscular atrophy, and needs the help of a wheelchair and other people to complete most physical tasks. He's also transgender. These...
02.21.2017
Dr. Nicola Moore: If Not Me, Who?
Dr. Nicola Moore travels across the country to provide abortions at clinics where laws have made it nearly impossible to find providers in those areas. She has faced harassment and intimidation, but anti-choice threats haven't stopped her from helping to...
02.14.2017
Cherisse Scott: So Why Am I Here?
Fourteen years ago, Cherisse Scott was a singer finishing a national tour. The career she'd worked so hard for all her life was about to blossom. Then an unplanned pregnancy and a trip to what she thought was an abortion...
02.07.2017
Tasha Fierce: Do They Care About You Outside This Moment?
Tasha Fierce is a feminist writer and student of sociology. She's always been pro-choice, and when she chose to terminate an unwanted pregnancy she says she felt no shame — until she came face-to-face with anti-choice protesters outside the clinic.
01.31.2017
Jessica Mason Pieklo: Can Someone Else's Religion Legally Dictate Your Healthcare?
The previous two episodes of CHOICE/LESS featured stories of people denied care at Catholic hospitals because the hospitals claimed their treatment would violate the church's ethical and religious directives. Evan and Mindy's stories are not particularly uncommon. One in six hospital...
01.24.2017
Mindy Swank: How Could You Treat Women So Poorly in the Name of God?
Mindy Swank grew up staunchly pro-life in a conservative Baptist family in Illinois. Then at age 24, already a wife and mother, Mindy developed life-threatening complications during a pregnancy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just her church and family that felt she should...
01.17.2017
Evan Minton: Why Did They Cancel My Surgery?
Evan Minton is a transgender man, and the day before his hysterectomy was scheduled, his doctor called him with bad news: the surgery was cancelled. Dignity Health was a Catholic hospital, and claimed that Evan’s hysterectomy would conflict with the...
01.10.2017
Jack RR Evans: So, What Do You Want to Do?
Jack RR Evans tells the stories of their abortion and of coming out. Jack, who is a nonbinary transgender person, experienced dysphoria during their pregnancy. Jack understood why years later, when they realized they were transgender.
01.04.2017
Amelia Bonow: What Kind of Person Shouts About Abortion?
CHOICE/LESS is back, and for the first episode of season 2, host and producer Jenn Stanley speaks to Shout Your Abortion's Amelia Bonow about abortion storytelling and "taking back the moral high ground" from members of the religious right who've...
12.14.2016
Jenn: How Will CHOICE/LESS Season 2 Challenge a “Post-Truth” Culture?
In this preview episode, Rewire turns the mic on the CHOICE/LESS producer and host, Jenn Stanley. We'll hear why she created CHOICE/LESS, what she learned from season 1, and what to expect for season 2, which premieres January 4th.
10.11.2016
Announcing our new podcast Get It Right, and looking ahead to CHOICE/LESS Season 2
Rewire has a new podcast series exploring the intersection of pop culture and justice called Get It Right. Here's a look at that (please subscribe and rate/review if you can), plus a sneak peek of what's ahead for CHOICE/LESS later...
07.11.2016
Dr. Debra Stulberg: Did you hear we're going to be working for the Pope?
When the hospital that employed Dr. Debra Stulberg as a resident merged with a Catholic health-care system, she worried it would affect the abortion training she sought and expected to receive. Then she learned that the Catholic directives affected much...
07.01.2016
Jessica Mason Pieklo: What does the Supreme Court decision really mean?
In this bonus episode of CHOICE/LESS, Rewire's Jessica Mason Pieklo discusses this week's landmark Supreme Court decision, Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt. While the legal impact is already being felt around the country, a variety of other laws and provisions...
06.28.2016
Brittany: Why wouldn't someone help me?
A 2014 amendment to Tennessee's fetal homicide bill allowed the state to charge pregnant women with aggravated assault, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, if they have pregnancy complications after illegal narcotic use. The first...
06.14.2016
Jessica Valenti: How have I changed?
Feminist author Jessica Valenti discusses her experiences with abortion and motherhood, how they have reinforced her beliefs, and how they've changed her to the core.
05.31.2016
Kelsey: Who can we talk to?
Kelsey discusses South Dakota's distressing obstacles to seeking and providing abortion services, including regular protestors, agonizing waits and the looming disapproval of family and community.
05.16.2016
Tina: What will the judge say?
Tina discusses her experiences helping minors who, for whatever reason, can't involve a parent in their abortion decisions.
05.02.2016
Kelly: How do I take back my story?
Kelly describes going public with her abortion story--and the shock she felt after it was poached and misrepresented by anti-choice websites without her consent.
04.15.2016
Valerie: Why do we hide?
Valerie discusses her family’s joy for her third pregnancy, the news that changed everything, and the cruel legal obstacles that left her stranded in her own state.
04.14.2016
Regina: Is it a life?
Regina shares the story of the heartbreaking pregnancy complications that tested her physical, emotional and spiritual limits, and the hospital board vote that would determine her future.
04.13.2016
Candice: When is it okay?
Candice talks about the ways her childhood informed her decisions about her own reproduction, and how her choices were hindered by HB 2, the sprawling anti-abortion law at the heart of the Supreme Court case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.

What's CHOICE/LESS about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

CHOICE/LESS episodes:

Massachusetts Activist Takes the Wheel for Civil Rights

Their Bodies, Their Boats, Their Play

Sally vs. Sex Education

The Talk

Welcome to Abortion Court

How Did You Keep That a Secret?

Season 4 debuts 9/10! This episode from Season 1 will help you get ready.

On Kennedy, Roe, and Season 4

Teens, Sex, and the Law: S4 Arrives Later This Year

PART II - Marching Toward Gilead: The Rise of American Theocracy

PART I - Marching Toward Gilead: The Rise of American Theocracy

Running Out of Time: Kentucky’s 20-Week Abortion Ban

Our Family Business Is Abortion Care

Transgender, Latinx, Poly, and Pregnant: 'I'll Love my Child Without Conditions'

Delivering Hope: The Story of Two Black Midwives in Southern California

What It's Like to Argue in Front of the Supreme Court and Win

Wendy Davis: Three Minutes Past Midnight

The Backstory, Episode 4: Tuskegee Was 'The Tip of the Iceberg'

The Backstory, Episode 3: 'Some People Say It Was Part of Eugenics. We Say It Was Genocide'

The Backstory, Episode 2: Loretta Ross on the Dalkon Shield Disaster

The Backstory, Episode 1: The 1956 Puerto Rican Pill Trial

COMING May 31: A new CHOICE/LESS Miniseries!

Angelique Saavedra: Will My Daughter Understand Me?

Dominick Evans: How Can You Treat Me if You Won't Recognize Me?

Dr. Nicola Moore: If Not Me, Who?

Cherisse Scott: So Why Am I Here?

Tasha Fierce: Do They Care About You Outside This Moment?

Jessica Mason Pieklo: Can Someone Else's Religion Legally Dictate Your Healthcare?

Mindy Swank: How Could You Treat Women So Poorly in the Name of God?

Evan Minton: Why Did They Cancel My Surgery?

Jack RR Evans: So, What Do You Want to Do?

Amelia Bonow: What Kind of Person Shouts About Abortion?

Jenn: How Will CHOICE/LESS Season 2 Challenge a “Post-Truth” Culture?

Announcing our new podcast Get It Right, and looking ahead to CHOICE/LESS Season 2

Dr. Debra Stulberg: Did you hear we're going to be working for the Pope?

Jessica Mason Pieklo: What does the Supreme Court decision really mean?

Brittany: Why wouldn't someone help me?

Jessica Valenti: How have I changed?

Kelsey: Who can we talk to?

Tina: What will the judge say?

Kelly: How do I take back my story?

Valerie: Why do we hide?

Regina: Is it a life?

Candice: When is it okay?