For nearly 50 years, the issue of abortion has driven voters of all persuasions to the polls. But now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned and the question of reproductive rights has been returned to the states, America’s political parties are going to have to figure out how to metabolize that energy in the years ahead. To discuss what comes next for Democrats and Republicans alike, host Jane Coaston is joined by Times Opinion columnists Ross Douthat and Michelle Goldberg. As colleagues, they’ve been debating abortion with each other, on this podcast and in the pages of the paper, for years.

So in today’s episode, they convene again to share their thoughts on this watershed moment in America’s political history. “The reason I, and many people I know, feel such intense despair is not just because a right that they cared about deeply is no longer protected, but because it seems like the democratic process is short circuited at every turn,” Goldberg says. But Douthat feels that may just be a good thing for the future of American democracy, especially for states. “Whatever happens with state laws or national laws, it makes a big difference to a lot of people’s relationship to this country to have the abortion debate return to the democratic process,” he says.

Mentioned in this episode:

Mentioned in this episode:

• “The Abortion Stories We Don’t Hear” audio project
• “The End of Roe Is Just the Beginning” by Ross Douthat in The New York Times
• “Lessons From the Terrible Triumph of the Anti-Abortion Movement” by Michelle Goldberg in The New York Times
• "When Abortion Is Sacred" by Erika Sasson in Gen

(A full transcript of the episode will be available midday on the Times website.)

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