Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / SMNTY Classics: The FDA's New Rule on Telemedicine Abortion
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stephane
- 0:07Speaker 1: never told your production of I Heeart Radio. So Samantha,
- 0:20Speaker 1: as you know, unfortunately we're having to talk a lot
- 0:24Speaker 1: about abortion lately. Not that we shouldn't talk about it,
- 0:27Speaker 1: but it's unfortunate that we have to talk about it
- 0:29Speaker 1: right now. Right? Can I ask you, like if I
- 0:33Speaker 1: had asked, I don't know, four or five years ago,
- 0:35Speaker 1: would you have known that the abortion pill was a thing,
- 0:38Speaker 1: could be a thing? You know. I don't think I
- 0:41Speaker 1: actually knew about it until a couple of years ago
- 0:43Speaker 1: as a thing. I assume the old school tactics of abortion,
- 0:48Speaker 1: the d n C, I believe is what was accessible
- 0:51Speaker 1: in a story. I knew about Plan B. But that's
- 0:54Speaker 1: a whole different level in just finding out that Plan
- 0:57Speaker 1: B if you're over a hundred pounds, it's isn't it's
- 1:00Speaker 1: not effective? Oh, oh my goodness. Yeah. There's so many
- 1:06Speaker 1: things that are frustrating about this conversation, uh, And we've
- 1:09Speaker 1: talked about many of them at length, and there are
- 1:11Speaker 1: plenty more to go. One of them is to me, though,
- 1:14Speaker 1: that like information is kept for most purposefully, and we
- 1:18Speaker 1: have such a poor record of sex education in this country,
- 1:24Speaker 1: and Plan B would be one. I don't think I
- 1:26Speaker 1: knew what that was until well into college, which is
- 1:30Speaker 1: feels ridiculous, but I get like, looking back, I grew
- 1:34Speaker 1: up in a small conservative town. They didn't really talk
- 1:38Speaker 1: about any of this. Um abstinence was taught at my school.
- 1:43Speaker 1: You yeah. And and so with all of the very
- 1:49Speaker 1: frankly pretty scary stuff happening around abortion here in the
- 1:53Speaker 1: United States, we really thought it was important to bring
- 1:55Speaker 1: back this classic episode. We did with Bridget Todd, who
- 1:59Speaker 1: recently reran in it on her show. There are no
- 2:02Speaker 1: girls on the Internet, but we thought it's important enough.
- 2:05Speaker 1: Let's just run it everywhere about tele medicine UM and
- 2:11Speaker 1: the abortion pill, which is still available as we speak.
- 2:17Speaker 1: As we speak, and it's very safe and it's a very,
- 2:21Speaker 1: uh from what I've read, an option that a lot
- 2:25Speaker 1: of people prefer. Just I know it can be gloom
- 2:29Speaker 1: and doom, but do your research. There's still abortion available
- 2:33Speaker 1: in one way or the other right now. So uh,
- 2:38Speaker 1: please enjoy this classic episode. Hey, this is any and Samantha.
- 2:47Speaker 1: I'm welcome to stuff I never told you production of
- 2:49Speaker 1: I Hire Radio. And we are through to once again
- 3:01Speaker 1: be joined by our good friend, the amazing, so talented
- 3:07Speaker 1: Bridget Todd. Oh. I'm so happy here. Thank you for
- 3:10Speaker 1: having me. I'm I told you earlier. I was drinking
- 3:13Speaker 1: a little sparkling wine to celebrate the holiday season and
- 3:17Speaker 1: getting to hang out with you all. I'm so excited. Yes, yes,
- 3:20Speaker 1: they're so excited too. And this one is actually pretty
- 3:24Speaker 1: I'm excited to talk about it. Some rare good news,
- 3:28Speaker 1: I feel. But yes, um, Bridget Uh, We're we're coming
- 3:34Speaker 1: toward the end of the year and this is we're
- 3:36Speaker 1: kind of finishing up recordings for one which is weird,
- 3:41Speaker 1: very very strange. Do you have anything I know last
- 3:44Speaker 1: time we talked about weird Christmas? Is there anything else
- 3:46Speaker 1: like on the horizon you're excited about? Later today we're
- 3:49Speaker 1: leaving for our weirdo Christmas, which I'm so ecstatic about,
- 3:53Speaker 1: so happy. Yeah, I'm also spending the holidays with my
- 3:57Speaker 1: brand new, fresh out the oven niece, little baby three
- 4:02Speaker 1: months old and the cutest kid in the world. I
- 4:05Speaker 1: am ob tested with her. She doesn't know that I'm
- 4:07Speaker 1: a person, but we'll get there. Baby steps, as they say, right,
- 4:12Speaker 1: I don't think they recognize you as a person until
- 4:15Speaker 1: they're literally in their adolescence because until then you are
- 4:18Speaker 1: their servants to give to them what they want. Essentially,
- 4:21Speaker 1: is what I've discovered with all the young uns pretty much. Yeah,
- 4:28Speaker 1: I'm telling you probably I'm gonna say seven. Oh, okay,
- 4:32Speaker 1: I think you and I have different ideas of adolescents.
- 4:35Speaker 1: And okay, am I saying that wrong? I don't. I
- 4:38Speaker 1: just always thought that was like twelve years. Well, this
- 4:43Speaker 1: is we're going to get hung up in in vernacular
- 4:45Speaker 1: that we don't need to get into right now. But
- 4:47Speaker 1: now I'm clear on what you mean. Okay, I got you.
- 4:51Speaker 1: Now I'm having to question it anyway, Yes, move on.
- 4:54Speaker 1: I'm excited. Judy is that her name? That's such a
- 4:57Speaker 1: great name. We're throwing it back a little bit. Yes,
- 5:00Speaker 1: it's It can be turned into all kinds of cute nicknames.
- 5:03Speaker 1: I call her Judy Cutie. Again. She doesn't understand that
- 5:07Speaker 1: I'm speaking to her. She only now just realized that
- 5:09Speaker 1: she has like hands and a tongue. So we're at
- 5:13Speaker 1: your baby steps. Yeah, yeah, do you all have fun
- 5:17Speaker 1: holiday plans? Uh? Well, we teld you about our kind
- 5:21Speaker 1: of weirdo New Years, which is essentially staying in and
- 5:25Speaker 1: wearing one's ees, watching pies. I do make like the
- 5:29Speaker 1: traditional soup, you know, the yes, exactly exactly. I can't.
- 5:38Speaker 1: I mean, clearly, it's been going so well for me.
- 5:41Speaker 1: So maybe I didn't get the right type of collared greens.
- 5:45Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know if you know this, Bridget,
- 5:46Speaker 1: But right before the pandemic, I really said in my
- 5:49Speaker 1: New Year's resolution was to stay in more. Oh and
- 5:53Speaker 1: that's the thing that I feel like I ruined everything
- 5:58Speaker 1: a curse. I think you're to blame. I'm sure I
- 6:02Speaker 1: thought my first ever planner for I usually never buy
- 6:06Speaker 1: a planners about my first ever in life planner, and
- 6:09Speaker 1: I wrote, I wrote all kinds of goals dream Oh. Yeah.
- 6:16Speaker 1: We had a whole episode about predicting what would happen,
- 6:19Speaker 1: and we were real wrong, like the wrongest that we
- 6:23Speaker 1: could be. I think we hit those Essentially, it's one
- 6:26Speaker 1: for the books, that episode. Yeah, we kind of it
- 6:30Speaker 1: almost had to be an apology, like sorry, we have
- 6:34Speaker 1: to retract something. Essentially, we just go ahead and we
- 6:41Speaker 1: were the conspiracy theories about five g We were right
- 6:44Speaker 1: about that. There were we didn't know how far it
- 6:47Speaker 1: would go. We just did not have the imaginations to
- 6:51Speaker 1: match the reality. Uh, for myself, it is going to
- 6:55Speaker 1: be a very low key low key I say, because
- 6:59Speaker 1: we are are going to partners Christmas. This is our
- 7:02Speaker 1: first big deal Christmas, I guess, And I say low
- 7:07Speaker 1: key because I am anxious written about it, and so
- 7:09Speaker 1: I'm pretending like it's not happening. So I'm sure the
- 7:12Speaker 1: day we drive there is when I'm gonna have a
- 7:14Speaker 1: panic attack, which is silly because they're great people, but
- 7:16Speaker 1: in my head, this is a new situation. So I'm like, good,
- 7:22Speaker 1: so we'll see what happens. You should watch a lot
- 7:24Speaker 1: of holiday movies like um, The Family Stone, like like
- 7:28Speaker 1: you know holiday movies where it's like, oh, they're like
- 7:31Speaker 1: a new partner visiting for the holidays to sort of
- 7:34Speaker 1: get get your mind right. Wait, have you seen Holiday Stone?
- 7:37Speaker 1: Because it does not end well what happened? Oh, don't
- 7:43Speaker 1: watch that one. It's gonna go much better than that.
- 7:45Speaker 1: I forgot about that. You're because it's not over the
- 7:52Speaker 1: top that I was like, oh my god, this is
- 7:54Speaker 1: so depressing. Why am I watching those? Every wrong thing
- 7:57Speaker 1: has happened? And Nolbridge is like, I hope that upaul
- 8:00Speaker 1: on you. I thought we were friends. That won't happen.
- 8:04Speaker 1: It'll be that'll be a representation of what will what
- 8:07Speaker 1: will not. Right there we go, Okay, okay, I'm gonna
- 8:12Speaker 1: I'll take that. That was very very funny. Also, I
- 8:18Speaker 1: just want to say, Bridget, thank you for complimenting my
- 8:20Speaker 1: very direky Star Wars Boba Fette sweater. So it's actually
- 8:23Speaker 1: a big deal because it's a gift from my older
- 8:26Speaker 1: brother and he's never given me a gift in my
- 8:29Speaker 1: entire life. So yeah, I know, I'm like, all right, Mark,
- 8:35Speaker 1: because he was like I knew this, this is for you.
- 8:38Speaker 1: There's no way I couldn't get this. You are correct,
- 8:41Speaker 1: Thank you. Yeah, it's a very antie gift. Kudos to
- 8:45Speaker 1: the brother. Yes, and Annie has is it now? Six
- 8:50Speaker 1: five six different Star Wars Christmas sweaters, none of which
- 8:55Speaker 1: I purchased, So people do know me very well. But yes,
- 9:00Speaker 1: so I'm trying to get through the catalog while I can,
- 9:03Speaker 1: while it's acceptable, even though it's mostly just me in
- 9:05Speaker 1: my apartment, so I guess it doesn't matter. I could
- 9:07Speaker 1: wear them whenever. All right, So we are also excited
- 9:11Speaker 1: to discuss the topic he bought today, Bridget Um, So
- 9:17Speaker 1: what are we going to be discussing. It feels like,
- 9:20Speaker 1: let's go. I know, it's like it's like it feels
- 9:22Speaker 1: like a little bit of a gift for once. I
- 9:24Speaker 1: am excited to share we have a little bit of
- 9:26Speaker 1: positive news for people who have uterus is can you imagine?
- 9:29Speaker 1: That feels like all we ever get is like, oh,
- 9:32Speaker 1: we're bad news, We're bad news. But actually, just yesterday,
- 9:36Speaker 1: the Food and Drug Administration the FDA announced a permanent
- 9:39Speaker 1: repeal of the in person dispensing requirement for I actually
- 9:43Speaker 1: have the pronunciations spelled out. If I butcher dis pronunciation,
- 9:47Speaker 1: Please don't come after me. Myth A prity zone one
- 9:51Speaker 1: of the two medications used in medication abortion a k a.
- 9:55Speaker 1: The abortion pill. So uh, pretty exciting, it's a it's
- 9:58Speaker 1: a I'm cautiously optimistic and pretty comfortable saying like it's
- 10:04Speaker 1: a good thing. Well discuss like why it's sort of
- 10:07Speaker 1: like not the best thing, but it's definitely a step
- 10:10Speaker 1: in the right direction, and so I'm comfortable like these days,
- 10:13Speaker 1: you gotta take a w however you can get it.
- 10:15Speaker 1: So I'm comfortable saying this is a small win for
- 10:19Speaker 1: abortion rights, which is such a yeah, A sentence, my
- 10:23Speaker 1: brain did not know how to process. When I was
- 10:26Speaker 1: looking over your outline, I was like, right, I feel
- 10:30Speaker 1: the same way. I really feel maybe we've just so
- 10:33Speaker 1: traumatized previously and we're all on edge that I'm like, yeah,
- 10:37Speaker 1: but but what like just waiting but instead of celebrating, Hey,
- 10:42Speaker 1: this is good news because it is a step forward.
- 10:46Speaker 1: But totally as someone who is pretty involved in the
- 10:53Speaker 1: fight for abortion rights and access and reproductive justice, I
- 10:56Speaker 1: know exactly that that weird feeling you're describing when but
- 11:00Speaker 1: qualified within then sort of like well, and then ultimately
- 11:04Speaker 1: I guess I feel that we shouldn't have to be
- 11:06Speaker 1: fighting for this stuff in general, like we should. Everybody
- 11:09Speaker 1: deserves to have autonomy over their own body, access to
- 11:12Speaker 1: health care, access to abortion care if they need it.
- 11:15Speaker 1: Even the conversation I feel is we shouldn't even have
- 11:19Speaker 1: to be fighting for stuff like this. But you know,
- 11:21Speaker 1: in the fight for abortion rights that can be very negative,
- 11:24Speaker 1: very taking many, many many steps back, and so I
- 11:28Speaker 1: do think it's important to, you know, highlight when we
- 11:31Speaker 1: have something that is not awful happening, and this is
- 11:49Speaker 1: actually something I think I've seen it in the headlines
- 11:52Speaker 1: and I know you and I talked about it bridget
- 11:55Speaker 1: a while back, several years ago, and I not I
- 11:57Speaker 1: didn't really know much about the abortion pill. So can
- 12:01Speaker 1: you can you tell us what it is and how
- 12:03Speaker 1: it works? Absolutely so? According to Planned Parenthood, the so
- 12:07Speaker 1: called abortion pill is a popular name for two different
- 12:10Speaker 1: medicines used to end a pregnancy, miffor pretty zone and
- 12:14Speaker 1: another one myso prosatol. So pregnancy needs the hormone called
- 12:19Speaker 1: pro estrogen to grow normally, and miffor pretty zone blocks
- 12:23Speaker 1: your protys own pro estrogen. And so basically it's just
- 12:26Speaker 1: a combination of pills that you take to induce an abortion. Yes,
- 12:30Speaker 1: And I know, like you know, this conversation isn't only
- 12:34Speaker 1: limited to the US, was it Ireland? Had it somewhere?
- 12:36Speaker 1: Had a similar kind of conversation with Scotland and Andy,
- 12:40Speaker 1: you and I we did that whole episode about um
- 12:43Speaker 1: the changing rules in the UK because the United States
- 12:46Speaker 1: and so this is definitely a global issue and issue
- 12:49Speaker 1: where like other countries and other regions have have different
- 12:52Speaker 1: standards of the legality of how pregnant people can access
- 12:56Speaker 1: this kind of medication to get the abortion here they need. Yeah,
- 12:59Speaker 1: and one of the things that we talked about in
- 13:02Speaker 1: that episode was also tele medicine UM and being able
- 13:07Speaker 1: to get it and like from the comfort of your
- 13:09Speaker 1: own home, and how important that was for a lot
- 13:10Speaker 1: of people for this UM. So, can you share the
- 13:15Speaker 1: history of this kind of abortion care via telemedicine in
- 13:19Speaker 1: the US? Totally? So tell a medicine if you don't
- 13:22Speaker 1: know what that is is basically when you access your
- 13:24Speaker 1: doctor through the Internet, through your phone through video conferencing.
- 13:28Speaker 1: That's kind of like the thing for me that makes
- 13:30Speaker 1: this kind of a tech story is that people have
- 13:32Speaker 1: been relying on that kind of technology enabled healthcare for
- 13:37Speaker 1: a really long time. So abortion via telemedicine has been
- 13:40Speaker 1: available in the U s SCE around two thousand and eight,
- 13:42Speaker 1: when the first formal program began an eye Love, a
- 13:44Speaker 1: patient and one clinic can confer via video conference with
- 13:47Speaker 1: a doctor and another clinic and then they would get
- 13:50Speaker 1: their pills to induce an abortion. And that video conferencing
- 13:53Speaker 1: element that satisfied a federal requirement that a doctor had
- 13:57Speaker 1: to dispense the medication to induce an abortion in a
- 14:01Speaker 1: clinic office or hospital. And so that was a real
- 14:03Speaker 1: instance where technology bridged that gap. That's satisfied this federal
- 14:08Speaker 1: requirement that a doctor dispense I'm using quotes around that
- 14:12Speaker 1: this medication. And so there are so many reasons why
- 14:15Speaker 1: that would be a huge deal for people who are
- 14:19Speaker 1: pregnant or really anybody looking for any kind of healthcare.
- 14:21Speaker 1: Because if you're someone who lives in a rural community
- 14:24Speaker 1: or a remote community, you can't always get to a clinic.
- 14:26Speaker 1: Maybe there's not one close. Let's say you don't have
- 14:28Speaker 1: a car. Let's say you're just a busy person in
- 14:30Speaker 1: a lot on your plate, and you can't physically go
- 14:33Speaker 1: see a doctor. Telemedicine really is this thing that can
- 14:37Speaker 1: really bridge that gap and bring the health care that
- 14:41Speaker 1: folks need right into their homes, and so huge, huge deal. Unfortunately,
- 14:45Speaker 1: opponents responded pretty quickly prohibiting abortion via telemedicine in twenty state.
- 14:51Speaker 1: In the US, the FDA regulates medication abortion under a
- 14:54Speaker 1: set of rules called the Risk Evaluation and Medication Strategy
- 14:57Speaker 1: or r e m S. We should turn means how
- 15:00Speaker 1: and which doctors can provide abortion pills to patients. There
- 15:03Speaker 1: was this really interesting paper called sixteen years of Overregulation,
- 15:07Speaker 1: Time to Unburden Myths, published in twenty seventeen in the
- 15:11Speaker 1: New England Journal of Medicine. UM we're leading clinicians and
- 15:14Speaker 1: public health experts argued that the FDA restrictions were medically unnecessary,
- 15:18Speaker 1: and a c l U attorneys noted that the leading
- 15:20Speaker 1: medical groups, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
- 15:25Speaker 1: support making abortion bills available by prescription at pharmacies UM.
- 15:29Speaker 1: And here's a really good quote from one of the doctors.
- 15:30Speaker 1: He says, overwhelming medical evidence and decades of clinical experience
- 15:34Speaker 1: show medication abortion to be a safe and effective method
- 15:37Speaker 1: to end pregnancy. There are simply no medical justifications for
- 15:40Speaker 1: these restrictions, and they create a needless and harmful burden
- 15:43Speaker 1: for women seeking in this care. And I think that
- 15:46Speaker 1: really sums up I feel what this conversation is about.
- 15:49Speaker 1: It's about what happens when there are needless and undo
- 15:53Speaker 1: burdens that separate people from the medical care and including
- 15:56Speaker 1: abortion care that they need. And in one of the
- 16:00Speaker 1: things that happens is that people who who need an abortion,
- 16:06Speaker 1: who want an abortion resort to if they have these
- 16:09Speaker 1: undue burdens, are these obstacles two less than reliable, perhaps
- 16:15Speaker 1: less than safe, like online places where they can get
- 16:19Speaker 1: these medications. Right, Yeah, so this actually really makes me sad.
- 16:24Speaker 1: It's one of those things where I feel again, these
- 16:27Speaker 1: burdens make people resort to things that are not always safe.
- 16:33Speaker 1: In a study called exploring the Feasibility of Obtaining myth
- 16:36Speaker 1: Repriti Zone and be so Protosol from the Internet, Elizabeth Raymond,
- 16:41Speaker 1: a senior medical associate at the research organization Genuity, google
- 16:45Speaker 1: phrases like by abortion pills online, and the researchers ended
- 16:49Speaker 1: up ordering eighteen of the pill combinations from sixteen different websites,
- 16:52Speaker 1: none of which required a prescription. Pills usually came from India,
- 16:56Speaker 1: which there is a large generic drug industry there, and
- 16:59Speaker 1: the shipments usually call surround like a hundred and ten,
- 17:01Speaker 1: three and sixty dollars, and they took about three days
- 17:04Speaker 1: to three weeks to arrive. And so basically they found
- 17:08Speaker 1: that these products they were getting when they would they
- 17:10Speaker 1: would google things like abortion pills online, we're just kind
- 17:13Speaker 1: of sketchy. They would have typos that would be language
- 17:17Speaker 1: mistranslations in the in the packages. Um In one instance,
- 17:21Speaker 1: the pills arrived with the blister packs had been broken,
- 17:24Speaker 1: and the researchers think that was done intentionally because they
- 17:27Speaker 1: didn't want someone to be like, oh, I think there's
- 17:29Speaker 1: abortion pills in this package, so they would break the
- 17:31Speaker 1: blister packs those things that keep pills from cracking um
- 17:35Speaker 1: before sending them. And even more worryingly, none of these
- 17:39Speaker 1: pills came with instructions for use, and so just like
- 17:43Speaker 1: very sketchy, but you can see the kinds of things
- 17:45Speaker 1: that people resort to when these burdens are put in
- 17:48Speaker 1: place to keep them from the abortion care that they need. Right,
- 17:52Speaker 1: I feel like this is just talking in a different
- 17:55Speaker 1: way of what was happening in the early pre row
- 17:59Speaker 1: versus way in trying to find solutions the best they can,
- 18:03Speaker 1: especially for those who can't afford access in any way
- 18:07Speaker 1: at all. Just not being able to pay a hundred
- 18:10Speaker 1: dollars I'm assuming in a lot of things, when you
- 18:13Speaker 1: start realizing that price is too good to be true,
- 18:16Speaker 1: it probably is. And when we will talk about especially
- 18:20Speaker 1: for healthcare and reproductive care, we already know, yeah, because
- 18:24Speaker 1: people want this to fail, that people are not going
- 18:27Speaker 1: to look and try to stop these these really sketchy situations,
- 18:31Speaker 1: which is infuriating because that has put so many people
- 18:34Speaker 1: with us in danger and so many people who are
- 18:36Speaker 1: in a place that they cannot go to doctors. They
- 18:39Speaker 1: cannot even afford tele medicine, even though that's a better access,
- 18:43Speaker 1: thank goodness, is a step up. But we have things
- 18:45Speaker 1: like kind amendment that prevents even trying to access it
- 18:49Speaker 1: for those who can't afford these types of solutions that
- 18:51Speaker 1: should already been existing. As you had said earlier, Oh absolutely.
- 18:54Speaker 1: You reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from
- 18:56Speaker 1: one of my idols, shortly Chisholm. She says, no matter what,
- 19:00Speaker 1: and think, abortion is the fact of life. Women have
- 19:02Speaker 1: always had them. They always have and they always will.
- 19:04Speaker 1: Are they going to have good ones or bad ones?
- 19:07Speaker 1: Will the good ones be reserved for the rich? Will
- 19:08Speaker 1: the poor women go to quacks? And I feel like
- 19:11Speaker 1: that really sums it up, you know, this idea that
- 19:13Speaker 1: when you know, surely just is almost talking about this
- 19:16Speaker 1: in the seventies, and here we are in still having
- 19:19Speaker 1: this conversation about whether or not people who don't have
- 19:23Speaker 1: access or influence or financial means. Are we going to
- 19:28Speaker 1: say that it's okay for them to have to access
- 19:31Speaker 1: abortion care through sketchy means, via quacks, via like pills
- 19:35Speaker 1: that maybe aren't super you know, on the level, and
- 19:38Speaker 1: I think the answer should be no. Everybody deserves medical care,
- 19:42Speaker 1: everybody deserves abortion care if that's what they need. And
- 19:45Speaker 1: it makes me so sad that, just like you said this,
- 19:48Speaker 1: it's kind of an updated version of the same conversation
- 19:51Speaker 1: we've been having since the sixties and seventies, and it's
- 19:53Speaker 1: so depressing in that regards here to put a dark
- 19:56Speaker 1: cloud everything you can always count on you. I feel
- 19:59Speaker 1: like we need to sound effect like the more you know,
- 20:02Speaker 1: but it's like Samantha's dark cloud. I think it should
- 20:05Speaker 1: be like D work on that later. This also reminds
- 20:11Speaker 1: me of because a lot of what you talk about,
- 20:12Speaker 1: Bridget has to do with, yes, the Internet and misinformation
- 20:15Speaker 1: and disinformation. And I know we've had conversations around CPCs
- 20:19Speaker 1: or crisis pregnancy centers and how when you'll type you know,
- 20:21Speaker 1: where do I get in abortion? A lot of times
- 20:23Speaker 1: the results will be like the first results will be
- 20:26Speaker 1: um D C PCs And I can just imagine for
- 20:29Speaker 1: people trying to get access to to this medication the
- 20:33Speaker 1: same kind of issue there, and then on top of
- 20:36Speaker 1: that people have been arrested. Correct, Oh, absolutely so the
- 20:42Speaker 1: s I a legal team, a group of lawyers who
- 20:44Speaker 1: specialized in people who have induced their own abortions, knows
- 20:47Speaker 1: of twenty one people who have been arrested or prosecuted
- 20:50Speaker 1: for ending their pregnancies outside of this medical setting that
- 20:53Speaker 1: was required, you know, in terms of medication abortion or
- 20:57Speaker 1: helping someone else do it. This actually might be and
- 21:00Speaker 1: be undercounted since they rely on news reports such fact
- 21:03Speaker 1: these cases. The charges brought against people who self aboard
- 21:05Speaker 1: can range from child abuse, the abuse of a corpse,
- 21:07Speaker 1: or failure to report death. Now, to be clear, none
- 21:10Speaker 1: of the women were prosecuted for buying abortion pills specifically,
- 21:13Speaker 1: but they note that buying pills online or even googling
- 21:16Speaker 1: phrases like buy abortion pills online, can leave a paper
- 21:20Speaker 1: trail that can be used as evidence against them in
- 21:22Speaker 1: a trial. And so this is not something that is
- 21:26Speaker 1: abstract like we in this country, people have been prosecuted
- 21:31Speaker 1: for trying to induce abortions on their own via pills
- 21:34Speaker 1: they get online. Um a famous case in twenty fifteen, Indiana,
- 21:39Speaker 1: woman named Pervy Patel was sentenced to twenty years in
- 21:41Speaker 1: prison for feet aside after she allegedly used abortion pills
- 21:44Speaker 1: that she ordered online. Prosecutors claimed that her feet as
- 21:47Speaker 1: had been quote born alive and that she allowed it
- 21:50Speaker 1: to die, but later her conviction was overturned on appeal.
- 21:53Speaker 1: So again we are talking about very real circumstances where
- 21:58Speaker 1: this this right to access abortion care via pills via
- 22:04Speaker 1: tele medicine online has been really a fraud thing that
- 22:09Speaker 1: people have been prosecuted for trying to do. And you know,
- 22:13Speaker 1: we have all of these instances where people have subjected
- 22:16Speaker 1: themselves to unsafe, sketchy abortion pills because of the undue
- 22:21Speaker 1: burdens that have been put in place to prevent them
- 22:25Speaker 1: from getting access to the care they need. The case
- 22:27Speaker 1: for the woman in Indiana, even though it's not related,
- 22:31Speaker 1: kind of brings back the memories of what just happened
- 22:33Speaker 1: in Alabama recently with a woman who lost the fetus
- 22:37Speaker 1: wanting to have this baby, not trying to have an abortion,
- 22:40Speaker 1: but got prosecuted with those same types of charges for
- 22:45Speaker 1: neglect of a fetus. And I'm like, we all were horrified,
- 22:49Speaker 1: and had it not been publicized, she probably would still
- 22:51Speaker 1: have remained in jail or prison. And it also takes
- 22:55Speaker 1: me to what's happening in Texas as the Supreme Court
- 22:58Speaker 1: is now allowing the bounty law what I'm calling it,
- 23:00Speaker 1: I know that's not what it's actually called for it
- 23:03Speaker 1: to go. And I'm wondering how this is going to affect, uh,
- 23:06Speaker 1: if people are trying to access abortion pills, and then
- 23:09Speaker 1: we are you already said I believe that twenty states
- 23:11Speaker 1: are not allowing for this type of access in anyway.
- 23:15Speaker 1: So I'm guessing Texas is one of those. I'm ones
- 23:17Speaker 1: to guessing Georgia is to that. Wow, this is going
- 23:20Speaker 1: to affect even more so in trying to prosecute those
- 23:24Speaker 1: with yours or those who are helping trying to get
- 23:26Speaker 1: access at all. Yeah, it's a great question, and I
- 23:29Speaker 1: think it really underscores just what scary dire times we
- 23:34Speaker 1: are in. You know, I remember talking to my mom about,
- 23:38Speaker 1: you know, when she was coming of age protesting for
- 23:43Speaker 1: you know, abortion on her campus, trying to get access
- 23:45Speaker 1: to birth control pills, and she once told me she
- 23:49Speaker 1: was like, oh, when I was doing all of that
- 23:50Speaker 1: back then, I knew at least when I had a daughter,
- 23:53Speaker 1: she wouldn't have to sort of fight these same fights,
- 23:56Speaker 1: that these fights would be over and done with at
- 23:58Speaker 1: the time my daughter was here, Well, talk about, you know,
- 24:02Speaker 1: predictions that didn't come true. She was wrong. Here I
- 24:05Speaker 1: am her adult daughter still having to deal with this
- 24:08Speaker 1: kind of stuff. And so we are in a really
- 24:10Speaker 1: scary time for abortion access for anybody who cares about
- 24:14Speaker 1: abortion access, and that should really be everybody, everybody, regardless
- 24:18Speaker 1: of gender, should care about this. And so I agree
- 24:21Speaker 1: with you. I I think that sometimes I'll see, like
- 24:25Speaker 1: I think it was Chris Hayes who tweeted something, and
- 24:27Speaker 1: I like Chris Hayes, and I'm not I'm not trying
- 24:28Speaker 1: to like get down on him, but he tweeted about
- 24:31Speaker 1: I think the Texas abortion bill, like, oh, I think
- 24:33Speaker 1: that we're going to see miscarriages being criminalized next. And
- 24:37Speaker 1: it's like, I hate to break it to you, Chris Hayes,
- 24:39Speaker 1: but we're there. That happened. You know. This is exactly
- 24:44Speaker 1: that same level of like, oh my god, we're still
- 24:47Speaker 1: fighting for access. We're still trying to have this conversation
- 24:50Speaker 1: about bodily autonomy for those with uterus is those who
- 24:54Speaker 1: are non binary, like trying to figure out how to
- 24:57Speaker 1: even have rights at all. Like honestly, seeing the news
- 25:02Speaker 1: as I talked about it earlier, I was like, but
- 25:05Speaker 1: but waiting for you know, they had to job waiting for.
- 25:07Speaker 1: Oh no, it's gonna go fall apart. I'm trying to
- 25:10Speaker 1: figure out how even how the FDA even came to
- 25:13Speaker 1: this point, How did we get here? Which is amazing,
- 25:15Speaker 1: but how well. I actually have an answer for you,
- 25:18Speaker 1: which is like, as much as I hated COVID, we
- 25:22Speaker 1: kind of have COVID to thank for this important change.
- 25:25Speaker 1: And so this new change, to be clear, um, it's
- 25:28Speaker 1: not going to impact everyone on every state, like you said,
- 25:31Speaker 1: but the reason why we have it is because of
- 25:33Speaker 1: COVID restrictions. And so during the pandemic, medical groups filed
- 25:37Speaker 1: a lawsuit asking that the in person dispensing requirement be
- 25:40Speaker 1: lifted because the pandemic meant that patients were faced with
- 25:43Speaker 1: a greater risk of being infected um with coronavirus if
- 25:46Speaker 1: they were visiting clinics in person to get pills. And
- 25:49Speaker 1: so a judge granted that request this that summer, but
- 25:53Speaker 1: after a challenge by the Trump administration, of course, the
- 25:56Speaker 1: Supreme Court reinstated the restriction. In March. Medical organizations it
- 26:00Speaker 1: again right into President bide An end Vice President Harris
- 26:02Speaker 1: in April, the FDA decided not to enforce the in
- 26:05Speaker 1: person requirement for the duration of the pandemic and allowed
- 26:08Speaker 1: uh these pills to be mailed to folks, and again yesterday,
- 26:11Speaker 1: the big decision is that that change, which at that
- 26:13Speaker 1: point was temporary, is going to be made permanent. And so,
- 26:17Speaker 1: you know, the pandemic. I hate it. I hate it, obviously,
- 26:21Speaker 1: but this is one of those things where I think
- 26:23Speaker 1: that the people who were fighting for these regular this
- 26:25Speaker 1: regulation change really saw a way to be like, you know,
- 26:29Speaker 1: it doesn't make sense to ask people to go in
- 26:31Speaker 1: person to get the abortion care they need, particularly during
- 26:35Speaker 1: a pandemic, and then being like and also, shouldn't we
- 26:38Speaker 1: just end it all together? You know, I really appreciate
- 26:40Speaker 1: them kind of like the strategy of this. Yeah, you know,
- 26:45Speaker 1: you gotta find your like you said, your wins and
- 26:47Speaker 1: your chances where you can and if it's a pandemic, well,
- 27:07Speaker 1: so could you go into just a bit more like
- 27:10Speaker 1: what exactly this this ruling is means in terms of like, yeah,
- 27:15Speaker 1: the states and how how it's like specifically impacting different
- 27:20Speaker 1: states and just what does it all mean? BRG Totally.
- 27:24Speaker 1: I want to make clear that, like, it is important
- 27:27Speaker 1: to note that this will not impact everyone in every state.
- 27:29Speaker 1: As you said, in nineteen states, mostly in the South
- 27:32Speaker 1: and the Midwest, telemedicine visits for abortion our banned, and
- 27:36Speaker 1: so that really, you know, there's really no change in
- 27:39Speaker 1: those states. And and then you know, because everything is awful,
- 27:44Speaker 1: and that because you know, the powers that be are
- 27:47Speaker 1: constantly shipping away at our rights and our our access
- 27:50Speaker 1: to abortion care. Um, we do believe that conservative states
- 27:54Speaker 1: are expected to pass other laws to further pertail the
- 27:57Speaker 1: access to abortion pills. And so even know, again I
- 28:00Speaker 1: feel like this is a win, I want to be clear,
- 28:02Speaker 1: that is not a win that impacts everybody. And so
- 28:05Speaker 1: this means that people who live in states that do
- 28:07Speaker 1: not allow telemedicine for abortion must travel to a state
- 28:10Speaker 1: that does. Although and this is kind of a weird point,
- 28:14Speaker 1: they do not have to visit a clinic. They may
- 28:17Speaker 1: be in any location within that state for their telehealth visit,
- 28:20Speaker 1: even inside of a car. They may receive pills at
- 28:23Speaker 1: any address in that state. So again, it just seems
- 28:28Speaker 1: like such a weird, obviously burden to be like, well,
- 28:33Speaker 1: if you're in this state that does not allow for
- 28:35Speaker 1: telemedicine appointments for abortion pills, you can't get them, but
- 28:39Speaker 1: if you drive to a state that does allow them,
- 28:42Speaker 1: you can just sit in the Wendy's parking lot and
- 28:44Speaker 1: have a telemedicine and visit over your phone in your car,
- 28:47Speaker 1: and then that's all good. That again, it just seems
- 28:50Speaker 1: like it's really reveals that this is about putting ridiculous
- 28:54Speaker 1: burdens and barriers to prevent people from getting the abortion
- 28:57Speaker 1: care they need. Like what if you don't have car,
- 29:00Speaker 1: what if you don't have the financial means to drive
- 29:03Speaker 1: to another state, what if you have to work or
- 29:05Speaker 1: already have kids and don't really have the ability to
- 29:08Speaker 1: just like take a trip like this. It seems like
- 29:10Speaker 1: such an obvious way to just prevent people from getting
- 29:14Speaker 1: the care they need. And like, to me, it's just
- 29:16Speaker 1: like my both alarm goes off, Like this is clearly
- 29:20Speaker 1: just like let's just make it hard for people to
- 29:22Speaker 1: get the care they need. Yeah, I mean, this is
- 29:25Speaker 1: such a like a much more superficial problem. But it
- 29:28Speaker 1: reminds me of when I was a kid. Um we
- 29:31Speaker 1: would drive to the border of Alabama and where I'm
- 29:34Speaker 1: located in Georgia, and we'd right in the border. They'd
- 29:37Speaker 1: be all these fireworks you're gonna say that we would
- 29:40Speaker 1: get all these fireworks and be like, but if they're
- 29:42Speaker 1: legal in Georgia, my parents would be like, you can't
- 29:45Speaker 1: sell them, but we could shoot them off. I'm like,
- 29:47Speaker 1: that makes no sense to me, right. I was looking
- 29:52Speaker 1: the same thing with like alcohol cells, you know, within
- 29:55Speaker 1: the Southern States, like they were very restrictive up until
- 29:58Speaker 1: a certain point, so people would cross board orders to
- 30:00Speaker 1: go get alcohol. So for the long time, Georgia couldn't
- 30:04Speaker 1: sell it on Sundays, so people would go to Alabama
- 30:07Speaker 1: like that would have access to it. Again, this is
- 30:09Speaker 1: very like less harmful than any other the stuff, but
- 30:15Speaker 1: it is also very reminiscent of the fact that they
- 30:17Speaker 1: are shutting down clinics in certain states and so therefore
- 30:20Speaker 1: we have to access clinics maybe two or three states
- 30:22Speaker 1: away in general, And honestly, we've been watching what's happening
- 30:26Speaker 1: with Poland as well, as they have had one of
- 30:28Speaker 1: the harshest restrictions and bands um in the world as well,
- 30:32Speaker 1: and it's fairly new and them talking about the fact
- 30:34Speaker 1: that they're having to do essentially underground networks to get
- 30:37Speaker 1: access to pills and to any type of reproductive health
- 30:41Speaker 1: access by traveling across country borderlines in order to get access.
- 30:46Speaker 1: And yeah, that's exactly what's happening in that level of
- 30:50Speaker 1: state wise for us that yes, for some of these
- 30:53Speaker 1: they're gonna make it so difficult that you will you
- 30:56Speaker 1: will have to plan as if like you have to
- 30:59Speaker 1: be a way for a week to get a pill
- 31:01Speaker 1: um in order to get any kind of access, and
- 31:03Speaker 1: if you can't afford it, sorry, then you're not allowed it. Yeah,
- 31:07Speaker 1: and so just like what's happening in Poland, we're seeing
- 31:09Speaker 1: some a bit of that here in the United States.
- 31:11Speaker 1: So states like California and New York states where you
- 31:14Speaker 1: can access abortion pills via telemedicine, they've taken steps in
- 31:17Speaker 1: recent years to further solidify access to abortion, and they're
- 31:20Speaker 1: expected to increase the availability of telemedicine for abortion pills,
- 31:24Speaker 1: specifically to provide opportunities for folks and other states with
- 31:28Speaker 1: these kinds of restrictions to obtain abortion pills by traveling
- 31:31Speaker 1: to their state to get them. And so we are
- 31:33Speaker 1: seeing this thing where other states that allow this are
- 31:37Speaker 1: probably going to be stepping up so that people specifically
- 31:40Speaker 1: so that people who live in states that you know,
- 31:42Speaker 1: they can't access this can get them, and so it
- 31:45Speaker 1: is it is a little bit like that. And you know,
- 31:47Speaker 1: even though this is a win, we shouldn't have to
- 31:50Speaker 1: be doing any of this just to get abortion care.
- 31:53Speaker 1: Like nobody should have to jump through ridiculous hoops to
- 31:55Speaker 1: get medical care that they need, and so this is
- 31:58Speaker 1: no different. And so I think of this as a
- 32:00Speaker 1: in but I just I have to keep harping on
- 32:02Speaker 1: that that we shouldn't have to be fighting this way
- 32:06Speaker 1: and like celebrating these sort of like incremental tooth and
- 32:09Speaker 1: nail winds for something that like should just be a
- 32:11Speaker 1: right that everybody should have. And these pill based abortions
- 32:17Speaker 1: are actually pretty common, right, that's right. And so especially
- 32:21Speaker 1: in the pandemic, the tele Abortion Project, which is a
- 32:24Speaker 1: research program authorized by the FDA to conduct tele medicine
- 32:27Speaker 1: appointments and male pills, has heard from many people and
- 32:31Speaker 1: they're saying that they have really seen from folks using
- 32:34Speaker 1: their services, that people are really stepping up the amount
- 32:37Speaker 1: that they are seeking these kinds of services since the pandemic.
- 32:40Speaker 1: Elizabeth Raymond. She said that of the two thousand and eighties,
- 32:44Speaker 1: three abortions provided under the program between July and October one,
- 32:49Speaker 1: more than a third seven and fifteen occurred during the pandemic,
- 32:52Speaker 1: and that really mirrors what the CDC has found. The
- 32:55Speaker 1: CDC found in in some states, including Indiana, Kansas, and Minnesota,
- 32:59Speaker 1: that methodic pill based abortions accounted for the majority of
- 33:03Speaker 1: abortions according to state health department records, and the CDC
- 33:06Speaker 1: also found that sevent abortions occurred before the ten weeks
- 33:11Speaker 1: gestation period, suggesting that there are many, many, many more
- 33:14Speaker 1: people who would probably choose abortion pills over an in
- 33:17Speaker 1: clinic procedure if they could. Another great resource, Abortion on Demand,
- 33:21Speaker 1: which is an online platform that provides position supported medication.
- 33:24Speaker 1: Abortion Care Online, said that they have seen a lot
- 33:26Speaker 1: of growing interests in pill based abortions since the pandemic
- 33:29Speaker 1: as well. And so it makes complete sense that at
- 33:33Speaker 1: a time when it's like not safe to leave your house,
- 33:35Speaker 1: that people would be turning to the internet to get
- 33:38Speaker 1: the kind of care that they need, and even beyond abortion.
- 33:41Speaker 1: You know, I when the pandemic started, actually very early
- 33:45Speaker 1: into the pandemic, this is like a little bit embarrassing.
- 33:47Speaker 1: I had a assist on my butt cheek and my
- 33:52Speaker 1: doctor had switched to telemedicine only, and I remember thinking like, well,
- 33:56Speaker 1: certainly she's not gonna want to like have me take
- 33:59Speaker 1: down my pants and show her my butt cheek over
- 34:02Speaker 1: you know, face time. And that's exactly what I did,
- 34:05Speaker 1: and I probably get the care that I needed. And
- 34:07Speaker 1: so obviously we should not be putting unfair barriers in
- 34:12Speaker 1: place when I think that the pandemic really showed how
- 34:15Speaker 1: important it is to use the technology that we have
- 34:18Speaker 1: to access healthcare right. And I know there are stories
- 34:22Speaker 1: you can find out. There are people who said, like
- 34:23Speaker 1: why it was so important to them and why they
- 34:25Speaker 1: wanted to be in like they're kind of you know,
- 34:27Speaker 1: home or where they felt comfortable when they did this. Um.
- 34:30Speaker 1: But also unfortunately a lot of times going to an
- 34:34Speaker 1: abortion clinic can also not feel safe because there can
- 34:37Speaker 1: be people protesting outside and that makes it a much
- 34:40Speaker 1: more stressful experience. And and speaking of I'm sure, um,
- 34:48Speaker 1: not everyone was happy about about this news. Oh, of
- 34:52Speaker 1: course not so. Anti choice groups were not happy about
- 34:55Speaker 1: this announcement. The Susan B. Anthony Foundation said, the Biden
- 34:58Speaker 1: administration today moved to you can the long standing federal
- 35:01Speaker 1: safety regulations against mail order abortion drugs designed to protect
- 35:05Speaker 1: women from serious health risk and potential abuse. So here's
- 35:08Speaker 1: my question about this. First of all, how and why
- 35:10Speaker 1: would someone be abusing these abortion pills. It's not like
- 35:13Speaker 1: they like take it from me. They do not get
- 35:15Speaker 1: you high the side effects that you might have or
- 35:18Speaker 1: like mild nausea. I don't really think that people are like, oh,
- 35:21Speaker 1: I can't wait to get these drugs to induce mild nausea.
- 35:25Speaker 1: It's gonna be a wild time. Can't wait to abuse them.
- 35:28Speaker 1: So already have some questions there, and then doctors make
- 35:32Speaker 1: it clear that pill based abortions are safe. A research
- 35:36Speaker 1: program at the FDA found that of the one thousand,
- 35:40Speaker 1: one hundred and fifties seven abortions that occurred through the
- 35:42Speaker 1: program between September, we're completed without requiring any follow up procedure,
- 35:48Speaker 1: patients made seventy visits to emergency rooms or urgent care centers,
- 35:52Speaker 1: with ten instances of serious complications to study reported. And
- 35:55Speaker 1: so that's really like pretty good in terms of you know,
- 35:59Speaker 1: the safety of its, Like, doctors have made it very
- 36:01Speaker 1: clear that pill based abortions are not unsafe, and telemedicine
- 36:05Speaker 1: abortions are safe for all the reasons that you've just said,
- 36:08Speaker 1: any they can be more convenient. Maybe you don't want
- 36:10Speaker 1: to go to an abortion clinic where there's going to
- 36:12Speaker 1: be people shouting at you when you're already stressed. Uh,
- 36:15Speaker 1: maybe you have to work, or maybe you can't afford
- 36:17Speaker 1: to get to a clinic, or like, there are so
- 36:19Speaker 1: many reasons why someone would choose to, you know, access
- 36:23Speaker 1: the care they need through telemedicine, and it's there's not
- 36:27Speaker 1: really a lot of reasons why we are regulating it
- 36:30Speaker 1: in this way. And one thing I also want to
- 36:31Speaker 1: point out is that this change is obviously, like very
- 36:34Speaker 1: long overdue, especially when you consider that out of the
- 36:37Speaker 1: twenty different prescription medications currently regulated by the FDA, these
- 36:42Speaker 1: abortion bills are the only one, the only one the
- 36:46Speaker 1: f d A previously required to be dispensed in person
- 36:50Speaker 1: but permitted patience to self administer. And so that really,
- 36:53Speaker 1: I mean, like, of all of these medications, this like,
- 36:57Speaker 1: why is this the only one that had this unfair
- 37:00Speaker 1: burden to access? This is one of the only medications
- 37:03Speaker 1: that are given to people with uteruses and those who
- 37:06Speaker 1: need reproductive home Like essentially, this is why we know
- 37:11Speaker 1: these answers, And I find that fascinating because as we're
- 37:15Speaker 1: looking for the future, and of course, I think part
- 37:18Speaker 1: of the reason and any and I are both like
- 37:20Speaker 1: hesitant in celebrating because we are in Georgia run by
- 37:23Speaker 1: current Governor Brian Kimp who has absolutely put into place
- 37:27Speaker 1: every restriction that you can think of when it comes
- 37:29Speaker 1: to accessing any kind of health care in general. And
- 37:33Speaker 1: I say that very loudly, as he is threatening to
- 37:35Speaker 1: shut down any connections with federal assistance when it comes
- 37:38Speaker 1: to coverage in the state at this point in time.
- 37:41Speaker 1: And I think one of the things that we are
- 37:43Speaker 1: talking about and trying to be very loud about is
- 37:45Speaker 1: that these groups are not focusing on the women. Obviously,
- 37:49Speaker 1: it is a literal fight about what is moral in
- 37:52Speaker 1: their eyes, and for a Bible belt area of such
- 37:56Speaker 1: as Georgia, it is a constant battle trying to see
- 37:59Speaker 1: how to combat uh, these really generalize slash false narratives
- 38:06Speaker 1: of the harming women as if they're truly trying to
- 38:09Speaker 1: save women. What is actually they're trying to prevent women
- 38:12Speaker 1: to get good access and good health care at all.
- 38:17Speaker 1: So it's kind of one of those moments of like
- 38:19Speaker 1: how and I guess honestly the pandemic has shown a
- 38:23Speaker 1: lot of light about the fact that when it comes
- 38:26Speaker 1: to morality and conspiracies, they don't care if it's from science.
- 38:32Speaker 1: They don't care about the truth, as we have learned,
- 38:38Speaker 1: um and I find it interesting that as we are
- 38:42Speaker 1: trying to focus on this, what what are some ways
- 38:44Speaker 1: that we can maybe uh advocate for ourselves, for people
- 38:48Speaker 1: like Annie and I who are stuck in Georgia right now,
- 38:51Speaker 1: for more access to these things. Oh what a good question.
- 38:54Speaker 1: I mean, first of all, I just have to honor
- 38:58Speaker 1: what you just said, because we are at a time
- 39:01Speaker 1: where it is scary and the threat is real. Anybody
- 39:05Speaker 1: who told you like, oh, they're not gonna overturn row,
- 39:08Speaker 1: like you'll be fine, Like we're not gonna go backward,
- 39:11Speaker 1: they were incorrect. They were telling you something that wasn't true.
- 39:13Speaker 1: And I I I'm sorry to have to say that,
- 39:17Speaker 1: but here's here's the reality of where we are, and
- 39:20Speaker 1: it's it's very real, and it's very scary, and I
- 39:23Speaker 1: completely understand the urge to be like, well, this is happening.
- 39:28Speaker 1: It's inevitable. Our rights are going to be rolled back.
- 39:31Speaker 1: Women are going to die, people are going to die.
- 39:34Speaker 1: This is going to be bad. Anybody who's feeling that
- 39:36Speaker 1: that exhaustion and malaise, I'm with you, I get it.
- 39:41Speaker 1: All I can say is that now is not the
- 39:43Speaker 1: time to retreat. Now is the time to dig in.
- 39:46Speaker 1: And so I have to really lift up and amplify
- 39:49Speaker 1: all the amazing people who are doing the work on
- 39:52Speaker 1: the ground of protecting abortion access. I want to shout
- 39:55Speaker 1: out a few people right now. My colleague at Ultraviolet,
- 39:57Speaker 1: Sonya Spoo, who is incredible. Um, my friend Renee, who
- 40:01Speaker 1: is doing a lot of work around abortion storytelling and
- 40:03Speaker 1: just like helping people understand how many different people are
- 40:06Speaker 1: impacted by abortion care and need abortions, and like someone
- 40:10Speaker 1: that you love has had an abortion. And then if
- 40:12Speaker 1: you're looking like what can I do? Absolutely now is
- 40:16Speaker 1: the time to be supporting abortion funds around the country.
- 40:18Speaker 1: If you've got a local abortion fund in your in
- 40:21Speaker 1: your community, throw them some money. If you've got some
- 40:23Speaker 1: extra money, you can go to abortion Funds dot org
- 40:25Speaker 1: and find out. You know, people are doing a lot
- 40:27Speaker 1: of organizing of making sure that people can still get
- 40:30Speaker 1: the access to care that they need. So definitely support
- 40:32Speaker 1: those folks. Also urge your lawmaker to support the Women's
- 40:37Speaker 1: Health Protection Act. You can go to we are Ultra
- 40:39Speaker 1: violet dot org and find our petition demanding the Women's
- 40:42Speaker 1: Health Protection Act be passed because we need Now is
- 40:46Speaker 1: the time that we need to be fighting with all
- 40:48Speaker 1: that we've got. I know it is scary, I know
- 40:50Speaker 1: it is hard. I know we've all been through a lot,
- 40:52Speaker 1: but now is the time to really dig in. And
- 40:56Speaker 1: I think, like, like, one of the things that really
- 40:58Speaker 1: gives me hope in this fight are things like abortion
- 41:01Speaker 1: care networks, are things like this, individuals doing what they can,
- 41:05Speaker 1: and so I know that we got us are The
- 41:07Speaker 1: government might always not always have our back, our left
- 41:10Speaker 1: that officials might not always have our back, but we
- 41:12Speaker 1: have our own backs. And so this spite is hard
- 41:14Speaker 1: and long, but I know I know that we got
- 41:17Speaker 1: we got each other, and so that's the one thing
- 41:19Speaker 1: that really gives me hope. So Will said, I think
- 41:23Speaker 1: I needed it, because yes, I've been very stress, we
- 41:26Speaker 1: all are very concerned and worried. But that was a
- 41:31Speaker 1: nice a nice bow on this our last recording with you,
- 41:36Speaker 1: Bridge and some excellent advice as always hanging there, Yes,
- 41:42Speaker 1: hanging there, we can do this. We can do this.
- 41:51Speaker 1: Low key there. That's that's what I call you, Samantha
- 41:56Speaker 1: LOKEI very loy. Yes, yes, well, thank you as always
- 42:04Speaker 1: Bridget for joining us, um and bringing this topic. It
- 42:07Speaker 1: is always such a delight to have you have fun.
- 42:11Speaker 1: You're about to leave for your your weirdo Christmas. Correct,
- 42:14Speaker 1: that's right. In a matter of hours, I will be
- 42:16Speaker 1: wearing a fur hat like probably pretty drunk in the wood.
- 42:24Speaker 1: It's important in this whole conversation. Yes, yes, have a
- 42:30Speaker 1: lovely time. Um. Where can the listeners find you? Well,
- 42:33Speaker 1: you can find me all over the web. I'm at
- 42:35Speaker 1: Bridget Marie on Twitter and at Bridget Marie in DC
- 42:38Speaker 1: on Instagram. Please follow me. I'm trying to get my
- 42:40Speaker 1: followers up, hope, please follow and you can follow me
- 42:44Speaker 1: on my I Heart Radio podcast. There are no girls
- 42:46Speaker 1: on the internet where we have all kinds of interesting
- 42:49Speaker 1: conversations about culture and technology and gender and race and
- 42:53Speaker 1: the internet. So please please check it out. Yes, go
- 42:56Speaker 1: check it out. It is fantastic And as always, if
- 43:00Speaker 1: you want to contact us, you can our emails Steffan
- 43:02Speaker 1: your mom stuff I heart me dot com. You can
- 43:04Speaker 1: find us on Twitter at mom Stuff podcast or an
- 43:06Speaker 1: Instagram and Stuff I never told you. Thanks as always
- 43:07Speaker 1: start super producer Christina, thank you and thanks you for
- 43:10Speaker 1: listening stuff whenever told you his production by Heart Radio
- 43:13Speaker 1: podcast on My Heart Radio is the Day I Hear Radio,
- 43:15Speaker 1: app Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite ships.