Crossing the Line

As states in the US move to restrict abortion following the overturn of Roe v Wade, pro-choice activists, are moving just as fast in designing creative ways to ensure abortion access for all. In the Rio Grande Valley, we follow local organizers as they package emergency contraception for residents and form new coalitions to guarantee access across a large state with few resources. In Arizona, we follow Natacha Chavez, who is working to codify abortion rights protections in her state. In Kansas, community leaders galvanize voters to oppose a ballot amendment that would ban abortion. Grassroots organizers across the country continue to mobilize by activating their communities in any way they can - pushing back against bans and innovating.

Visit CTLpod.com to find out more about the podcast, resources for abortion care, and information on how you can take action.

Special thanks to South Texans for Reproductive Justice; Frontera Fund, Rockie Gonzalez, and the R.E.D. Moon Project; Representative Sharice Davids, Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, Emily Wales and the team at Planned Parenthood Great Plains, Susan Martin and Adam Mclain, Natacha Chavez and Amelia; and Rachel Fey and the team at Power to Decide. Some names and voices were changed to protect identities. Special thanks to all those who have shared their stories with us.

Go to AbortionFinder.org to get up-to-date information on where to access an abortion. Go to Plan C Pills to learn how to access abortion pills. Explore National Abortion Funds to inquire about funding support and Planned Parenthood’s Ban Off our Bodies to get involved.

This podcast is brought to you by Population Media Center. Executive Producers are Lisa Caruso and Alex Demyanenko, with Co-Producer Kathleen Bedoya and Associate Producer Dominica Ruelas. This episode was field produced by Ron Fent, Joanna Friedman, and Eric Vasquez. Edited by Bruno Falcon with production services provided by Pidge Productions. Production coordination is by June Neely. Charity Tooze leads impact strategy. The narration is read by Tatiana St. Phard. Original music is composed by Valeri Ortiz.

This special episode chronicles the weeks leading up to the fall of Roe v. Wade on June 24th, 2022. In Tulsa, a newly equipped clinic has a sudden, drastic decline in patients seeking abortion care as a total ban on abortion at conception takes effect in Oklahoma. Dr. Diane Horvath, a traveling abortion doctor, flies to Montgomery, AL, to perform her final abortion procedures before it is criminalized. In Texas, Drs. Curtis and Glenna Boyd, a dynamic husband-and-wife duo who have played a huge role in providing reproductive choice for decades, grapple with the possible closure of their Dallas clinic on the day Roe falls and how they will comfort their staff. We hear from clinic directors, nurses, and staff in TX, AZ, NM, AL, TN, and LA as they express their rage, disappointment, and heartbreak about Roe's reversal after nearly 50 years as a constitutional right, and what the future may hold for reproductive freedom in the U.S.

Visit CTLpod.com to find out more about the podcast, resources for abortion care, and information on how you can take action.

Thank you to the Co-Directors of the Southwestern Women's Surgery Center Dr. Curtis Boyd and Dr. Glenna Boyd, the Tulsa Women's Clinic Founder Dr. Alan Braid, Exec Director Andrea Gallegos, and nurse Tiffany Taylor, Dr. Diane Horvath, Nurse Brittany Johnson at Hope Medical in Shreveport, Patient Advocate Becky at the Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health, Dr. Goodrick, the entire staff at Camelback Family Planning and Lead Administrator Addie Martinez, and to Planned Parenthood. Special thanks to all those who have shared their stories with us. Some names and voices were changed to protect identities.

Since this episode was recorded, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Go to AbortionFinder.org to get up-to-date information on where to access an abortion. Go to Plan C Pills to learn how to access abortion pills. Explore National Abortion Funds to inquire about funding support and Planned Parenthood’s Ban Off our Bodies to get involved.

This podcast is brought to you by Population Media Center. Executive Producers are Lisa Caruso and Alex Demyanenko, with Co-Producer Kathleen Bedoya and Associate Producer Dominica Ruelas. This episode was field produced by Joanna Friedman and Charity Tooze, edited by Lynn Hughes with production services provided by Pidge Productions. Production coordination is by June Neely. Charity Tooze leads impact strategy. Narration is read by Tatiana St. Phard. Original music is composed by Valeri Ortiz.

Many at the forefront of the abortion access movement(s) predicted the overturn of Roe v. Wade would be the tip of the iceberg on legislation curbing bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom -- and they were right. In March 2023, Texas U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk appeared sympathetic to arguments from the anti-abortion coalition the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in a case that is attempting to overturn the FDA's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone - one of two pills used for a medical abortion, which accounts for over half of U.S. abortions. In this bonus episode, you'll hear from Plan C Pills co-founder Elisa Wells, Imani Wilson Shabazz, and Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, CEO of Power to Decide about how safe the abortion pills are and how to access abortion pills regardless of what happens with the current lawsuit. Finally, you'll go on a journey with a young woman in Alabama who receives her first abortion pill from Dr. Diane Horvath on her last trip to Alabama to perform abortions before the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Special thanks to Dr. Diane Horvath from Partners in Abortion Care, Elisa Wells and Imani Wilson Shabazz from Plan C Pills, Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, CEO of Power to Decide, and all those who shared their stories with us. Go to plancpills.org to learn how to access abortion pills. If you live in a restrictive state, go to AidAccess.org. Need help funding your abortion? Check out the National Network of Abortion Funds and the Abortion Freedom Fund. Need advice or have questions about a miscarriage or abortion? Go to M+A Hotline. Have legal questions? Go Repro Legal Helpline. Access trusted abortion care information at AbortionFinder.org and reproductive health information at Bedsider.org.

This podcast is brought to you by Population Media Center. Executive Producers are Lisa Caruso and Alex Demyanenko, with Co-Producer Kathleen Bedoya and Associate Producer Dominica Ruelas. Charity Tooze produced this bonus episode. The script was written by Lynn Hughes and edited by Bruno Falcon, with production services provided by Pidge Productions. Charity Tooze leads impact strategy. Tatiana St. Phard reads the narration. The original music is composed by Valeri Ortiz.

When a 27 year old single mother from Texas, Ahjonae, finds out she’s pregnant, she searches for abortion care providers across the U.S. to terminate her pregnancy. This is not an easy undertaking as Ahjonae works two full-time jobs, including a hotel graveyard shift, to keep up with the rent and bills. A practicing Christian, she gets the last spot at a Dallas-based travel program run by a local church. This program, organized and funded by a partnership between The First Unitarian Church of Dallas, the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and the Southwestern Women’s Surgery Center, shepherds people to New Mexico to receive abortion care. Despite her hesitancy to trust the volunteers, she takes a sick day from work, and her mother flies to Dallas to watch her three young children, so that Ahjonae can take the journey to Albuquerque.

Visit CTLpod.com to find out more about the podcast, resources for abortion care, and information on how you can take action.

Special thanks to the Southwestern Women’s Surgery Center in Dallas, TX, Southwestern Women’s Options in Albuquerque, NM; Dr. Curtis Boyd and Dr. Glenna Halvorson-Boyd; Reverend Daniel Kanter and The First Unitarian Church of Dallas, Rev Erin Walter, Rev Deneen Robinson, and all the incredible travel program volunteers. Also, thanks to Joan Lamunyon and the New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Dr. Colleen McNicholas, and Planned Parenthood; And to Ahjonae, her family, and all those who shared their stories with us.

Some names have been changed to protect identities. Since this episode was recorded, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. The changing legal landscape in Texas means that some groups in Texas are changing or pausing their operations. Specifically, The Southwest Surgery center in Dallas has been forced to stop providing abortion services until further notice. The clinic will remain open to offer other reproductive healthcare. Also, note that the doctor in this episode uses the abortion pill brand name Mifeprex and later refers to it by the generic name Mifepristone. They are the same drug. If you have questions about abortion pills, go to Abortion Finder.

This podcast was brought to you by Population Media Center. Executive producers are Lisa Caruso and Alex Demyanenko, with co-producer Kathleen Bedoya and associate producer Dominica Ruelas. This episode was field produced by Joanna Friedman with production services provided by Red Cup Agency and story producing by Olivia Aylmer. Research assistance was provided by Sarah Field Bullion and production coordinating by June Neely. Impact strategy was led by Charity Tooze. Narration is read by Tatiana St. Phard. Music by Val Ortiz.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, Hope Medical Group for Women struggles to meet demands as a surge of patients traveling from surrounding states where abortion is banned overwhelms providers. Sabrina*, 38, is one of those patients. A mother of four, Sabrina balances her demanding job, childcare, her teen daughter’s serious heart condition, and financial burdens brought on by the pandemic. Seeking an abortion, she and her military veteran fiancé drive 200 miles to Hope Medical Group in Shreveport to access the healthcare she needs to keep her family afloat. Once there, they are confronted by anti-abortion protestors, a common occurrence that affects the clinic daily, as restrictive abortion bans are implemented in nearby states, and more patients must travel across state lines to seek reproductive healthcare in Louisiana.

Visit CTLpod.com to find out more about the podcast, resources for abortion care, and information on how you can take action.

Thank you to Hope Medical Group for Women Administrator Kathaleen Pittman, Assistant Administrator Staphanie Chaffee, the clinic counselors, patient advocates, nurses, and clinic staff, Dr. Bhavik Kumar, Dr. Colleen McNicholas, and Planned Parenthood. Special thanks to Sabrina*, her family, and all who shared their stories with us.

Some names have been changed to protect identities. Since this episode was recorded, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. The changing legal landscape in Louisiana means that some groups in Louisiana are changing or pausing their operations. Go to AbortionFinder.org to get up-to-date information on where to access an abortion. Go to Plan C Pills to learn how to access abortion pills. Check out Planned Parenthood’s Ban Off our Bodies to get involved.

This podcast was brought to you by Population Media Center. Executive Producers are Lisa Caruso and Alex Demyanenko, with Co-Producer Kathleen Bedoya and Associate Producer Dominica Ruelas. This episode was field produced by Joanna Friedman with production services provided by Pidge Productions and story producing by Lynn Hughes and Bruno Falcon. Research assistance was provided by Sarah Field Bullion and production coordinating by June Neely. Impact strategy was led by Charity Tooze. Narration is read by Tatiana St. Phard. Music by Valeri Ortiz.

*Indicates name change