WEBVTT - Abortion: The Body Politic, Part 1 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.720 I consider my abortion the greatest act of self love 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:10.240 that I did. I chose my life like I chose Michaels. 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:15.800 And the reason why I get so emotional is it's 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:20.400 just thinking back and like wishing I could go back 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:30.400 and hug myself and um and tell myself that that 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:38.320 it's okay to have an abortion. And that's what I 0:00:38.479 --> 0:00:48.040 want every wants to know. It's May eleven, eight ten 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.960 in the morning, and we are here at the last 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:57.000 standing abortion clinic in the entire state of Missouri. It's 0:00:57.040 --> 0:01:03.280 a great, pretty nondescript building with a very large royal 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:07.560 blue Planned Parenthood sign in the front. What has been 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:09.800 like for the people working here? What has been like 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.679 for the people coming here? That's what we're here to 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:21.640 find out. Hi, ladies, good morning, How are you good. 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.520 Nice to see you. My name is Nicky and I'm 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.640 a registered nurse at the Planned Parenthood location in St. 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:32.680 Louis also though in Fair Behinds, Illinois. There's twelve recovery 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:34.720 chairs in this area, and there was a time where 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:37.720 it was packed and we were super busy and um, 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.560 we would see fifty patients in a day. But because 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:44.880 of the restrictions, it just is not worth it for 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.360 patients to jump through this many hoops. I have all 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:50.600 these activist friends in St. Louis that are are in 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:53.320 Missouri that are panicking about you know, the ROVERSUS wade 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:56.600 news in Texas and Oklahoma and whatever, and I'm like, guys, 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.720 we're ahead of them. It's like this is already happened here, 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:02.800 Like they just don't know that. They don't understand. But 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:07.040 this has been going on since late so we, I mean, 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:10.679 we effectively are I almost feel like it's symbolic U 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:12.680 to do abortions here just to be able to say 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.680 we can still provide that service. But it doesn't make 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.119 sense staffing wise, it doesn't make sense for the patients. 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:23.080 It's just too many restrictions. The dominoes keep falling in 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:26.799 the push to overturn Roe V. Waing the abortion flashboard 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:30.160 all across the country, the Ohio governor signing today the 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.760 most restrictive abortion law in the country, Alabama passing the 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:37.240 nation's most restrictive abord Today, Missouri became the latest state 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:40.320 to pass what Oklahoma passing a near total Texas law 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:43.639 that would face up to fifteen years in prison nine 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:50.320 years in prison for performing an abortion immediately. Hi everyone, 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.440 I'm Katie Kuric and this is Abortion The Body Politic, 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:58.440 a six part series from Katie CURRK Media and I 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:19.840 Heart Media. Good fifty years ago this January, the landmark 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:23.560 ro VERSUS Way decision guaranteed the right to a safe 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:27.639 and legal abortion. In just a few weeks, the Supreme 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:31.680 Court is expected to reverse that decision. This could be 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:36.560 the most consequential opinion in decades. Hundreds of protesters rallied 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:39.720 outside the Supreme Court Monday evening afternoons of the Court's 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:44.120 draft opinion broke. While the US is taking away that right, 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.360 the rest of the world is riding a wave of 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:55.560 abortion law liberation. Mexico's Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Tuesday 0:03:55.640 --> 0:04:04.040 that penalizing abortion is unconstitutional action. This is my friends, 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.080 This is a time to act that This is not 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:12.240 the time to be silent. How did we get here? 0:04:12.640 --> 0:04:15.920 And what will abortion access look like in a post 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.920 row world. Over the course of the next six episodes, 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:23.480 we're going to try to answer those questions by digging 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:29.200 into our country's complicated reproductive history, by tracing abortion storylines 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:35.400 in pop culture, and by looking abroad for potential role models. 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.279 But first we need to start here in the present 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:43.040 because for so many we're already living in a post 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:48.080 row world. A lot of the conversations around access right 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:51.800 now have been concentrated on the legality of rome and 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.040 so one of the things that I keep like saying 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:58.240 over and over is yes, Rob Wade made abortion legal, 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:04.080 but not necessarily pessible. My name is Oriaku and Jaku 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:08.000 Yi and they pronounced and I'm co founder and executive 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:14.920 director of Access Reproductive Care Southeast. We've been funding abortion 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:19.520 since July of and every single year there has been 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.320 some sort of abortion banner restriction in every one of 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:28.120 the states that we work in. About of folks in 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:31.600 our region live in a county without an abortion provider. Um. 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:35.920 When we're thinking about the Southeast, the state of Georgia 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:41.039 has more abortion clinics than Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and South 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:45.920 Carolina combined. The reality is that people are traveling hours, 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:52.120 crossing state lines just to get simple healthcare. Oriaki Najaku's 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:57.520 organization AR Southeast is an abortion fund. Abortion funds have 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:02.240 become a key part of accessing abortions in today's increasingly 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:07.080 restrictive climate. In fact, there are more than ninety grassroots 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:11.039 organizations across the country working to help people get the 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:15.800 abortions they need. Abortion funds are like mutual aid funds, 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:19.200 and so essentially we're making sure the material conditions of 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:23.040 folks who are seeking abortions are being met. And so 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:28.400 what that looks like is providing rides, lodging, childcare, translation 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:32.799 and interpretation services. Um. You know, there's like a whole 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:35.440 range of things as far as things that might be 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.240 barriers for people to get to the appointment, where abortion 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:43.520 funds step in to support people in their community. According 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:47.680 to the Goopmaker Institute, one was the worst year for 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:53.440 abortion rights in almost half a century. Conservative led state legislators, 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:58.120 emboldened by the Supreme court six to three anti abortion majority, 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:04.560 enacted one d eight abortion restrictions in nineteen states. That's 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.919 the most of any year since Roe was established. The 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:11.920 thing is, restrictions don't stop people from seeking out and 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:16.400 getting abortions. Just look at Texas. After it's six week 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.240 abortion BAM went into effect in September, abortions in that 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:26.800 state dropped by only much less than expected. Instead, more 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.960 Texans traveled out of state or ordered abortion pills online. 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:35.400 Once again, here's Oreaku. You know, I think that we're 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:40.040 prepared for this moment that we're in. Um, We've gotten 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.600 a lot of practice, getting people across state lines, getting 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:47.520 people out of the region to get care. And for me, 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:50.680 you know, I'm not taking a doomsday approach and doing 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:55.080 this work. And it's not to not honor the realness 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.080 you know, of the situation that we're in, but it's like, 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:00.520 what are we what are we doing? Like, what are 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:04.360 we building power for? That? Future? To me is like 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:07.200 so dreamy and so amazing that I'm like, I will 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:09.600 do whatever it takes to try to get people to 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:12.560 be like, come on, this is for our collective liberation. 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:15.000 So how far are you willing to go? What risks 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.240 are you willing to take? Because personally, I don't want 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:20.840 to be here fifty years from now, still talking about 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:24.040 the legality of Rome, still trying to figure out how 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:27.000 to overcome all of these barriers, and I want to 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.600 experience reproductive justice in my lifetime, you know, not only 0:08:30.640 --> 0:08:35.320 for me, but for future generations too. Would you be 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.640 open to sharing your abortion story? Wow? Like, I love 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:42.080 telling my story. Actually, one of the things that was 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:45.480 important to us and making this series was sharing first 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:50.760 person abortion stories because these restrictions, this Supreme Court reversal 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:56.360 affects real people, real lives, and real families. The stories 0:08:56.400 --> 0:09:00.440 will share over the course of this series span generations, 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:06.480 socioeconomic status, is gender identities, and the country itself. When 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.839 I had told him that I was pregnant, he was 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.000 kind of like, Okay, we'll go get an abortion, like 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:13.320 it was going to be so easy, like one too right. 0:09:14.120 --> 0:09:16.600 I found out I was pregnant a week before sp 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.120 E went into effect. All I could think when I 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.680 called planned parenthood was I will not die because of 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:25.959 this pregnancy and because no one will listen to me 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:28.560 and no one will help me. We went home that 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:32.679 day knowing that our pregnancy likely would need to be terminated, 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.160 but with no real clear answer on when we would 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:39.200 know exactly what was causing the issue. But there's a 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:44.320 lot of like big abortion clinics um around me where 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:48.760 they disguised themselves as oh, come here to seek you know, 0:09:49.760 --> 0:09:54.360 you're pregnancy crisis, like abortion care, and they're not really 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:57.440 there to help you get an abortion. I just remember 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:01.000 walking in and seeing so many people boll there. So 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:03.880 we're still in the pandemic and there's at least fifty 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:08.120 people in that waiting room. And so that alone gave 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:12.800 me anxiety. And I called my insurance and I was confused, 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:19.080 and they explained that, oh, actually, only medically necessary abortions 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:22.040 are covered. I can't afford an abortion. I was a 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:26.000 Medicaid recipient and because of the Height Amendment that you 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:29.640 can't medicate recipients, can't you know, use their Medicaid to 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.000 cover abortion costs. It was also a full time student 0:10:32.040 --> 0:10:34.280 at the time a couple of years emancipated from the 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.520 foster care system, so I was essentially like on my own. 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.560 I didn't have any money at the time. I was 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:42.360 working at like Planet Fitness, so a gym for like 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:47.200 ten dollars an hour. Despite this being the largest public 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.040 university in the state, the nearest clinic was over an 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.680 hour and a half away. I didn't have a car. 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:58.000 Public transit in Georgia is questionable at best. I almost 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.439 missed the twelve week mark down her because of how 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:02.960 it back up. But there is there's only one clinic 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:07.480 in my area that, um, you know, manages abortion here. 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.680 She refused to give me the medication because she was 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:14.440 afraid that I would change my mind. I didn't know 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:16.840 if it was actually gonna work. I didn't know if 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.400 I was going to bleed out. I didn't know what 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:23.120 to expect, even though I knew an abortion was what 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:27.079 I wanted. I had spent so many years having shame 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:32.040 about abortion like instilled an ingrained into me that I 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.920 was too scared to ask any of my friends for help. 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:38.880 I think that was just like the hardest part of 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:45.760 it was the feeling that like internalized shame when I 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:50.880 knew there was nothing to be ashamed about. More than 0:11:51.000 --> 0:11:55.559 thirty people and county have shared their experiences for this project. 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:59.600 It's my producer, Lauren Hansen, who's been on the listening 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:04.800 end of most of these stories. Each person's story is unique. 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:09.680 Sometimes they're totally uneventful, and sometimes they're wrapped up in 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:14.679 so much trauma and like this raw emotion. But then 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:19.320 a lot of them have these threads. Like every single 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:22.440 person I have spoken to, no matter if they had 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.760 a support system around them, no matter if they were 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:30.200 completely alone and scared, they all felt in some way 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:35.040 alone and they felt a lot of shame. And it's 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:40.600 remarkable to me that across decades, across race and class, 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:44.360 that is true with abortion stories, and it's crazy. And 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.040 that's what all those shout your abortion and we testify 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.000 groups are trying to do, is like this does not 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.439 need to be the case. You yourself had an abortion 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:56.880 and it's something that you're willing to talk about now, 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:01.080 perhaps something that you didn't feel comfortable talking about before 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:05.040 you really explored this whole subject. What has made you 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.960 more willing to tell your story? I mean, it's so funny, 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:12.000 it's so true. I really hadn't told many people, and 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.880 then I started reporting this and I literally just started 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:18.240 saying the word abortion. It was like the word abortion 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.880 made me like talk smaller, you know, And by just 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:26.240 having these conversations, I would want more comfortable and someone 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.640 would share their story and I'd be like, well, actually, 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.000 I had an abortion too, and I felt like it 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.120 helped make us be more on the same page and 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:37.200 make it like a safe space and to some degree 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.720 I understood what they went through. So I actually, through reporting, 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:42.920 shared my story just one on one with a few people. 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.000 And I certainly felt that if I was asking others 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.000 to come to the table and share their story, that 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:51.640 I should absolutely do the same. So yeah, I was like, well, 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:54.439 I might as well share my abortion story and tell me, 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.120 can you share it with me? Now? Yeah, it's well, 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:00.360 it's funny. It's definitely one of those that's not it's 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.960 not much of a story because I was so privileged 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.199 to live in New York at the time, have insurance, 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:10.600 and I had a support system my boyfriend who became 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:13.360 my husband. We got pregnant. How old were you at 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:15.600 the time. I was twenty four and I've been out 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.000 of school for a few years. I had just gotten 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:21.920 what I considered like a real job. Um. I was 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.600 a publicist at an art book company and I was 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.960 being asked to like fly to London for this publicity 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:32.200 conference and I go to have what I thought was 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.000 my abortion. So I'm already like calling it my boss 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:38.760 and saying, I have a root canal. I can't come 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:41.520 in because I know nothing, you know nothing about the process. 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:44.520 And so I go in and I was really early. 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:46.760 I was so early that you couldn't see it in 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:52.000 the the sonogram that goes inside. And at that time, 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:54.600 which would have been two thousand and four, UM, I 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:56.880 guess you did have to see it, even in New York. 0:14:57.360 --> 0:14:59.360 And so they were like, you have to come back. 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:03.560 So I made an appointment, but in between my I 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:05.600 had a week three weeks, so I was pregnant for 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:08.760 like three more weeks, which felt crazy to me. I 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:10.680 flew to London on that trip that I was so 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.600 excited about my first time abroad, and then I was 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.200 out at dinner with like the more senior women and 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.080 they were also cool, like they're editors of these art 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.200 books and I just loved everything about them. And one 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:26.360 of them was like, Lauren, how was that flight for you? 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.280 And I was like it was fine. They're like, you know, 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.960 because of the the root canal and I was like, yes, yes, 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:34.880 it actually now that you say it, and stopping to 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.520 eat and you know, just like falling over my lives 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.160 and we get I get back to New York and 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:44.880 my my appointment is coming up, and I went to 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:49.440 the Brooklyn based Planned Parenthood and I had my abortion. 0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.320 It was unbelievably easy, I think it. I was there 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.520 for maybe like an hour, like remember like being given 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:57.960 cookies afterward and sitting in this room and there were 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.640 other women in this room and it felt like easy 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:04.280 and safe, and my boyfriend came and picked me up 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:07.160 and we walked. I remember walking back to his apartment 0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:10.359 and we watched the OC the rest of the afternoon 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:13.560 and it was so easy. But I what's crazy to 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:15.640 me looking back on how easy that was. And I 0:16:15.640 --> 0:16:18.800 felt supported by my boyfriend. There was no question that 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.520 this was my decision, and we were both like a duh, 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:23.400 Like I just got this job, I had this whole 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.880 life ahead of me. But I never told anyone. I 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:29.440 lived with like four roommates at the time, and I 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:32.120 had the light of them or keep it quiet, and 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:34.880 and it was not for judgment. I mean maybe I 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:36.720 just didn't know. I didn't know how to share it. 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.280 It felt weird to share, so we just kept it 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.640 between us. And I never told my parents, and then, 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:46.400 you know, in preparation for this podcast, I was like, 0:16:46.440 --> 0:16:49.160 I couldn't tell my parents. Like my parents are very 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:52.240 supportive people. So I was on vacation with them just 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:56.320 the other month and talking about doing this series, and 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.720 it was after dinner and I was like, well, actually 0:16:59.880 --> 0:17:02.800 been meeting to tell you guys that twenty years ago 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.960 I had an abortion. And my mom goes, oh, I 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:10.359 actually had an abortion too, And I was like what 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.640 And if we just talk about these things, you realize 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.720 like how common it is that thing of you know me? 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.600 Like everybody does know someone who has an abortion and 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:24.679 it doesn't have to be a story, or it can 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:28.159 be traumatic, but it exists and it's necessary for that person, 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:42.080 whatever their reason is. We'll be right back. It's an 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:47.680 extremely hot day here in Illinois. I am walking into 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:55.280 the Fairview Heights Planned Parenthood Facility and Regional Logistics Center 0:17:56.040 --> 0:18:01.080 to talk to staff members, hopefully a uple of patients, 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.520 to really get a look at what life is like 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:21.000 in a clinic that provides abortion care. Let's go. This 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:25.760 is a new facility and it's really beautiful, supermodern, clean 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:32.560 and very cool. I might add, this Planned Parenthood clinic 0:18:32.720 --> 0:18:36.119 is buzzing with activity compared to the Missouri clinic we 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:40.400 visited just across the state line. And on the day 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:44.840 we're here, a patient is willing to share her story. Hi. 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:48.880 How are you? Hi? I'm Katie. I'm Hannah. It's nice 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.360 to Hannah, very nice to meet you too. Who's this? 0:18:51.880 --> 0:18:58.679 That's Azrael Hi? He is sixteen months. Anna and I 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:02.159 meet in the clinics family room, a bright, sunlit space 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.399 with toys being bag strewn about and a giant blackboard 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:10.360 with chalk and some leftover scribbles from other families who 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.479 have also used the space. Hannah and I sit on 0:19:13.480 --> 0:19:16.800 one of the great couches. Her son plays next to her. 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.679 Tell me about yourself, Hannah. How old you are? And 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:25.520 you're thirty years old? Yes, God, it took thirty years 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:27.520 to get here, but I guess we're here now. And 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:31.359 you have a little boy obviously sixteen months, Yes, I do. 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:33.399 And I also have twin girls that are eight there 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:36.840 will be nine in June. Yes, so we have. We 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:40.080 got a full house at home, like, it's very full. 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:43.439 Our family is. So it's not that I don't want kids, 0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:48.240 I really do, but uh, this this time around was 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:51.320 just a bit different. We had some big plans and 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:55.320 so that those big plans really didn't include a little 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:57.760 bity one. Do you have a partner? I do? Yes, 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:00.439 I have a boyfriend. We've been together for now almost 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:03.200 two years. And how do How does he feel about 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:07.119 your decision to terminate the pregnancy. He doesn't know, He 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:10.920 doesn't know the plot thickens. He doesn't know what kind 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:15.119 of hardship would it be for you to have another baby? 0:20:15.160 --> 0:20:19.720 At this point? The more the merrier is what I've 0:20:19.760 --> 0:20:25.280 always said, but I don't know with all the time 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:28.800 that I lost, I felt like I didn't lose the 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:31.080 time because I got to raise him, you know, for 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:33.960 the first year of his life. But I want my 0:20:34.119 --> 0:20:37.879 job back. I want a career, and I want my 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:41.160 children to know, like mommy went to school and mommy 0:20:41.200 --> 0:20:46.960 does this now, and mommy makes money. You're here, You're 0:20:47.040 --> 0:20:51.800 here to pick up a till to have a medication abortion? Yes, 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:58.000 why did you choose that? It was less invasive? And 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:01.520 it was also less time. I you that if we 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.960 had we had to take care of this, so to speak, 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:09.119 in a god this sounds horrible, but in a in 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:13.439 a more secretive way, this was the best option. And 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:15.440 we were early enough. You know, I caught it at 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:20.160 like five weeks, so it was extremely early, and I 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.560 was like, I took probably about two two and a 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.080 half weeks to think about it, and then the rest 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:29.560 of the time was scheduling it. You couldn't get this 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:33.159 in the state of Missouri, and so you had to 0:21:33.320 --> 0:21:35.800 How far did you come? It's a three and a 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:40.080 half hour drive, but we took our time. We stopped 0:21:40.080 --> 0:21:42.240 off with a candy story, you know, and stuff like that. 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:46.840 So yeah, I know. So it took took about five hours. 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:50.440 Took about five hours about that, Yeah, because we took 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:53.680 our time. Did the people in front of the clinic 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:58.000 try to pressure you or approach you? Yes? So that 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:00.360 was as scary I thought they worked here. What did 0:22:00.359 --> 0:22:03.360 they say? They were talking about? How? She said, did 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.600 you have an ultrasound yet? Have you gone and seen 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:10.400 the doctor? Every question under the sun. Hey, I'll adopt 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:13.040 your baby. She wanted to adopt my baby, and I 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:15.320 was like, you have no idea who I am. Would 0:22:15.359 --> 0:22:18.120 it be easier if you could do this near your 0:22:18.160 --> 0:22:23.240 home in Missouri? Yes? Oh gosh, yes, so much easier 0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:24.800 if I didn't have to travel. I mean, do you 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:29.119 know that I have had eleven dollars okay, eleven, and 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:31.320 it was gonna get me lodging, It's gonna get the 0:22:31.320 --> 0:22:34.480 five dollars for the pill, and then it's gonna get 0:22:34.520 --> 0:22:38.320 me my gas. I drive a Yukon. It's the nineties. 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:45.399 It's a gas guzzler. So it's it's extremely extremely costly 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:48.200 to have to not be in my own stamped and 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:50.320 to have to not be near anybody that I know. 0:22:50.560 --> 0:22:53.600 It like, I don't know anybody here you know, so 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:56.080 last night, and I didn't get to bring anybody either. 0:22:56.240 --> 0:22:59.160 So last night, you know, I had like a probably 0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:01.120 about an hour and a half off of just bawling, 0:23:02.000 --> 0:23:05.200 you know, so not being near my home. That also 0:23:05.240 --> 0:23:09.200 stuff that I didn't have my best friend, my god, 0:23:09.359 --> 0:23:15.440 you know, so it sucked perfect finding your medicine here 0:23:15.440 --> 0:23:18.399 for you are writing my drugs man. Okay, so the 0:23:18.440 --> 0:23:19.960 doctor has to be the one to give you the 0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:22.480 first dose of medicine. Okay, this is the medicine that 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:24.679 you're going to take home. Put all four tablets in 0:23:24.720 --> 0:23:28.239 between your teeth and your cheek, okay, and they need 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:30.119 to be in there for at least thirty minutes, and 0:23:30.160 --> 0:23:33.760 it's the exact twenty four or forty eight hours between 0:23:33.840 --> 0:23:40.080 twenty four I'm just making sure I get this, okay, Okay, awesome. 0:23:45.640 --> 0:23:49.400 There's two types of abortion. There's medication abortion, and then 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:53.240 there's what we call procedural abortion. I know it's commonly 0:23:53.280 --> 0:23:56.159 referred to as surgical, but I think that can be 0:23:56.160 --> 0:23:58.960 really scary for patients to hear because it's, you know, 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:01.919 a surgery. Sounds gets really intense, and we're not actually 0:24:01.920 --> 0:24:05.479 doing any cutting. We're not using a scalpel. We're actually 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:08.680 using an opening that already exists in the body to 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:12.200 remove the pregnancy from the uterus. My name is Dr 0:24:12.320 --> 0:24:15.240 Mira Shaw and I am a family medicine physician. I 0:24:15.280 --> 0:24:18.960 am the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Heads of 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:22.320 Mechanic in New York. I'm also the medical director of 0:24:22.359 --> 0:24:26.040 Whole Women's Health Alliance in South Bend, Indiana. So the 0:24:26.080 --> 0:24:30.080 other method of abortion is medication abortion. It's a process 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:34.359 where patients take first one pill called Mifie prestone. And 0:24:34.400 --> 0:24:38.040 what Miffi pristone does is it stops the pregnancy from 0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:41.919 growing and from thriving in the uterus. It is safe 0:24:42.160 --> 0:24:46.600 up to eleven weeks gestational age. And what patients do 0:24:46.720 --> 0:24:49.720 is they first take the Miffie prestone and then they 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:54.240 follow up with four pills of a medication called missa Prostel. 0:24:54.640 --> 0:24:57.720 What missa Prostel does is that it induces cramping and 0:24:57.840 --> 0:25:01.960 bleeding and expulsion of the pregnancy from the uterus. We 0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:05.040 have patients typically take one set of four pills if 0:25:05.040 --> 0:25:09.840 they're below nine weeks, if they're between nine and eleven weeks, 0:25:09.840 --> 0:25:12.359 and we'll have them take two sets of those four 0:25:12.400 --> 0:25:16.280 pills four hours apart from one another. We provide them 0:25:16.280 --> 0:25:20.520 with anti nausea medication because they may already be nauseous 0:25:20.520 --> 0:25:23.800 from being pregnant, but sometimes the mesa prostyl can induce 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:27.520 nausea if they weren't already nauseous before um. And we 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:31.679 also give them high dose ibprofen to help ease the 0:25:31.800 --> 0:25:35.080 cramping that they that they will feel um while they're 0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:38.639 expelling the pregnancy. The way that the f d A 0:25:39.000 --> 0:25:42.679 has regulated NiFi pristone is it's kept it on the 0:25:42.720 --> 0:25:47.199 REMS list, which means that it is highly regulated and 0:25:47.240 --> 0:25:52.000