Abortion Laws: An Attack on the American Woman

Chris Charbonneau welcomes lawyer and activist, Roberta Riley, to yet another episode of the Fall of Roe podcast. The pair open up the conversation by talking about the rise of fundamentalism in the U.S., and how banning abortions is their means to attack women and their autonomy. Even though abortion is not yet nationally banned, travel bans and vigilante groups try to prevent women from crossing borders to receive prenatal health care. Similarly, minorities and disadvantaged groups like Native Americans tend to lack access to nearby facilities.

Roberta and Chris go on to to discuss the lack of sexual regulation for men and the realities of adoption. More often than not, women face a lot of stigma when giving up children for adoption, so forcing women into that decision would be rather inhumane. The pair of women attribute a lot of misinformation campaigns and drive for a national abortion ban to religious influences, and that nowadays that influence may be more Evangelical than the traditional Catholicism. Above all else, and as a fitting conclusion to this episode, Roberta brings up the importance of women running for office. We’ve come to a point in this country when we, at the very least, need public officials that value reproductive health and family planning.

The Finer Details of This Episode:

• Fundamentalism in the U.S.
• Why banning abortion is an attack on women
• Travel bans and vigilantes preventing cross border travel
• Remembering that native Americans tend to lack access
• Why abortion is a state decision
• The Federal Equal Rights Amendment
• The lack of sexual regulation for men
• Attacking the provision of abortion medication
• The stigma around giving children up for adoption
• Griswold V. Connecticut
• Religious influences
• Dealing with misinformation campaigns
• Women running for public office

Quotes:

“Why isn’t it sex discrimination for insurance companies to refuse to cover birth control when they cover everything else that men might need.”

“Back when the Constitution was enacted, women couldn't hold jobs, they couldn't have bank accounts, they couldn't own property. And they were not fully human.”

“The three justices who kind of cemented this ultra conservative originalist majority were appointed by a president who lost the general election, and they were confirmed by a bunch of US senators who represent far, far, far less than half of all Americans.”

“It's time for women to start running for office, start running for county, state and federal office in droves. And we've already had large, large influxes of women doing that in recent elections, but we need even more, and we need to get people elected who are going to stand up for women and their rights.”

“One guy said to us, you know, ‘Don't tell my wife I sponsored this thing because like, I won't get fed any Thanksgiving dinner’.”

“I'm making the strong case that contraception and family planning are essential to women's health. And without contraception, the average woman's going to get pregnant 12 to 15 times in her life.”

“If you were deciding to give that child up, you know, that would be the single most profound moment of your life.”

“I actually think we're seeing a bit of ascendancy in non-Catholicism dominating the discussion around reproductive health, but evangelical Christianity–more of the fascist side of the evangelical Christian movement - sort of deciding what is acceptable for the public.”

“Griswold V. Connecticut was decided in the early 1960s, in which the Supreme Court held that married couples have a right to use birth control and privacy.”

“The Catholic Church owns a huge amount of medical facilities and hospitals in our...