CHOICE/LESS – Rewire News Group

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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 legal protections in the state. This is her story.

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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 legal protections in the state. This is her story.

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.

Christabel Donker: I think it was one of the most challenging things for us, honestly; that we all wanted to inject our special storytelling thing into it, or our own opinions of whatever was going on with the situation. I think it was something that really checked us when we were able to go back to the transcripts and say “OK, is this something that is actually authentic to the story, or is it something that is a little bit of our own propaganda, if you will.” So I think centering those [personal abortion] stories was the most important thing.

“This Boat Called My Body” was devised and written by Nik Zaleski, Quenna Lene, Jessamyn Fitzpatrick, Danielle Litman, Claire Fuller, and Christabel Donker. Here is a complete transcript of the six playwrights together talking about their work with CHOICE/LESS host and producer Jenn Stanley. 

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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.

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 38 states force minors to tell their parents if they’re seeking an abortion?

This episode explores what role schools should play in educating young people about sex.

Nicolette Pawlowski: Some parents view their children as pure, and that means asexual. It’s devoid of connection to their bodies and other relationships outside their family. That’s just not the reality. Whether or not [sex] is something the parent wants them to do or not, it’s about dealing not with ideology but reality. It’s about meeting children where they are at. Whether or not they stay abstinent until marriage, they need this information for after they get married.

Transcript (PDF)

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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 38 states force minors to tell their parents if they're seeking an abortion?

This episode explores what role schools should play in educating young people about sex.

Season 4 of CHOICE/LESS is all about teens, sex, abortion, and the law.

Roni Washington and her 19-year-old daughter Niky both describe Roni as a “cool mom” who encourages her children to communicate openly about everything, including sex. Sometimes those conversations go better than others. 

In this episode, host Jenn Stanley asks what it takes to have open and healthy family communication, especially around polarizing topics like abortion.

Roni: There has been an incident where she has done something that I did not totally agree with. I cried and I stepped away for two weeks, and I kind of hung up on her—not kind of, I did hang up on her. And I had to really re-evaluate myself again, going back to what I taught my daughter about being open, about being a critical thinker. Ummm … I’m not going to bring it up but …

Niky: Mom, you can say it.

Transcript (PDF)

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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 better than others. 

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 in court trying to prove they’re mature enough to have an abortion:

Judge Susan Fox Gillis: A young woman and her attorney come into my chambers. I would greet them, say hello. I would call her Miss Doe. Sometimes they would start to tell me their names and I would interrupt and say, “No, I don’t need to know your name; in this case, you are Jane Doe.” And I’d introduce myself. “I’m Judge Susan Fox Gillis,” and say, “this is how we’ll proceed. You’re going to be sworn in, this lady over here is the court reporter, she’s taking everything down. Your attorney is going to ask you the questions …

The questions teenagers can be asked include:

Listen to learn more about what happens to young people when they find themselves before a judge for seeking an abortion.

Transcript (PDF)

Source

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 in court trying to prove they're mature enough to have an abortion.