Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, welcome to It could happen here, and it
Speaker 1: continues to happen here. UM. I'm Robert Evans. This is
Speaker 1: a podcast about things falling apart and what to do
Speaker 1: after that happens. And we are all currently dealing with
Speaker 1: the falling apart of several decades of progress on reproductive justice. UM.
Speaker 1: The Supreme Court leaking that UM they are coming for
Speaker 1: Roe v. Wade and UM. Yeah. Today I'm here with
Speaker 1: Christopher Wong and Sharine Lawnie Unice UM and my producers Sophie.
Speaker 1: We have two guests from the bridget Alliance in the
Speaker 1: Midwest Access Coalition. We're going to talk more about what
Speaker 1: they do in a second. Broadly speaking, both seek to
Speaker 1: UM attach people who are looking for reproductive healthcare and
Speaker 1: abortion access UM but cannot get it easily in their area,
Speaker 1: UM with clinics and the things that they need in
Speaker 1: order to get to the clinics and glue in transit
Speaker 1: and you know, time and hotels whatnot, UM, in order
Speaker 1: to make it easier to get access to that kind
Speaker 1: of healthcare in places like the Midwest, where folks have
Speaker 1: been spending decades making it much more difficult even prior
Speaker 1: to this recent ruling to get that kind of healthcare.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna let our guests introduce themselves. UM, you've
Speaker 1: got the floor. Well, Hi, I am O'Dell Shelley. I
Speaker 1: am the executive director at Deep Bridget Alliance, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna introduce my counterpart here. I'm Diana Parker, trusta from
Speaker 1: the executive director of the Midwest Access Coalition. And yeah,
Speaker 1: so y'all have been in some ways kind of dealing
Speaker 1: with elements of the post row world because obviously, like
Speaker 1: you know, we're all focused on this Supreme Court decision
Speaker 1: that's in the pipeline, but um, anti choice activists have
Speaker 1: been working very hard to essentially create a post row
Speaker 1: world in chunks of the United States prior to this point.
Speaker 1: So you all have been kind of dealing with the
Speaker 1: reality that a larger number of people are going to
Speaker 1: be living under for a while, right. Yeah. Yeah, Missouri
Speaker 1: has been able to effectively bad abortion state for years now.
Speaker 1: I think, Uh, there's maybe a handful of abortions that
Speaker 1: the one clinic there are able to do because of
Speaker 1: all of the trap laws, um, which is the targeted
Speaker 1: restrictions for abortion providers. Uh, and the waiting period, so
Speaker 1: people have to go to another state Kansas, Iowa or
Speaker 1: Illinois Missouri. Um, and we've been helping those books for years,
Speaker 1: and UM, I'm gonna guess this. I mean, just because
Speaker 1: you've been living in with this for a while, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna guess the announcement last week did not come as
Speaker 1: a total surprise. The timing of it certainly did, which
Speaker 1: for Diana and I came at the heels of a
Speaker 1: conference that we were at thankfully together, which is was
Speaker 1: kind of just pure luck for us so we could
Speaker 1: actually commiserate together. But no, ultimately this is not a
Speaker 1: huge surprise. I mean, I think we're all still waiting
Speaker 1: to see what actually happens in June. That the writing
Speaker 1: has been on the wall for months, in years, if
Speaker 1: not longer. And you know, as you were just pointing
Speaker 1: it out, essentially, for organizations like the Bridget Alliance and
Speaker 1: the Midwest Exist Coalition, we have been existing already because
Speaker 1: the protections of ROW are insufficient to actually secure abortion
Speaker 1: access for all in this country. So this has been
Speaker 1: our lived experience, and preparing for this moment has um
Speaker 1: It has been a long time coming, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: there have been a number of conversations that have been
Speaker 1: going on about what to do and how to prepare
Speaker 1: for this right because the primary change is going to be,
Speaker 1: at least initially until some they make some sort of
Speaker 1: federal push that states that have some sort of functional
Speaker 1: access to abortion are going to be flooded with an
Speaker 1: even higher number of people in need of care. Um,
Speaker 1: could you kind of walk us through what sort of
Speaker 1: steps have been taken to in order to kind of
Speaker 1: brace for that impact, so to speak. Yeah, So I
Speaker 1: think a couple of things. And and the first to
Speaker 1: sort of pull back on that for a second is
Speaker 1: to say that part of preparing for what's to come
Speaker 1: has been our orgs in the community that we exist in.
Speaker 1: This this incredible expansive landscape of different types of organizations
Speaker 1: that have existed for decades to secure abortion access where
Speaker 1: the laws were insufficient, where um, people were faced with
Speaker 1: barriers like income in equity and geographic inequity and the
Speaker 1: unavailability of providers. UM. This network, though, has a existed
Speaker 1: largely unseen, and so a lot of preparing for what
Speaker 1: is to come is really embracing our existence, feeling affirmed
Speaker 1: in that and in our value, not shying away from
Speaker 1: the expertise within this community, which is held both by
Speaker 1: volunteers as well as staff UM and so I think
Speaker 1: a lot of the last couple of years has been
Speaker 1: focusing on really trying to harness that expertise and that
Speaker 1: knowledge and compassion and the fact that many of the
Speaker 1: people who are leading a lot of the efforts in
Speaker 1: the reproductive justice movement are people who have had abortions themselves,
Speaker 1: which is a enormous um and valuable part of how
Speaker 1: this movement moves and hopefully will continue to center the
Speaker 1: people most impacted by the fall of row UM. I think,
Speaker 1: more specifically for Bridget and or its like MAC preparation
Speaker 1: means deepening our relationships with the clinics that we work with.
Speaker 1: They are critical, of course, and their sanity is critical
Speaker 1: to abortion access. Is making sure that we have the
Speaker 1: sufficient funding to continue to staff train that volunteers systematically
Speaker 1: and mindfully UM and ideally do so in a sustainable
Speaker 1: way so that we're not all overwhelming ourselves with the
Speaker 1: sudden surge of need and the sudden surge of impact UM.
Speaker 1: And then you know, for Diana and I even personally,
Speaker 1: it means deepening the relationships that us practical support organizations
Speaker 1: have with one another, Because no one organization is going
Speaker 1: to be able to help every single abortion seeker who
Speaker 1: will need to travel. It will rely upon really strong
Speaker 1: and transparent collaboration. So those are some of the things
Speaker 1: that we've been focusing on. One of the things that
Speaker 1: strikes me as a problem that's going to be, if
Speaker 1: not immediate and pretty imminent for y'all, is we've are
Speaker 1: you seen threats and promises from legislators in some states
Speaker 1: to attempt to criminalize leaving a state where abortion is
Speaker 1: illegal in order to get access to healthcare? How what?
Speaker 1: What kind of preparation is even possible for that sort
Speaker 1: of world, because it does seem like we're staring down
Speaker 1: the barrel of that. Yeah, I think the only preparation
Speaker 1: we can have right now is to expect that the
Speaker 1: corners will allow them to do that. Um. They're very
Speaker 1: creative now that they've seen a go into effect and
Speaker 1: hold on as the law of the land, even though
Speaker 1: it's in direct violation of federal law. UM scoede us.
Speaker 1: The highest code up court of our country, uh is
Speaker 1: the one that has been allowing that to happen. And
Speaker 1: so that sends a huge message to all these UH
Speaker 1: force birth legislators that you know, bring us your worst
Speaker 1: take on the law. We will in a way to
Speaker 1: let you keep it. UM. We're we're working with you
Speaker 1: on this and UM you just need to get bolder
Speaker 1: and bolder and see what you can get away with. UH.
Speaker 1: So we can't really predict how they're going to do that,
Speaker 1: although Missouri has indicated that they're going to consider an
Speaker 1: I guessing as it's fertilized a resident and UM a
Speaker 1: resident of the state, that they have, you know, responsibility
Speaker 1: for protecting UM, completely ignoring the fact that it's growing
Speaker 1: inside a complete human being that has rights. UM. But
Speaker 1: that's that's the latest that I've heard of them figuring
Speaker 1: out how to restrict someone's someone's travel UM. But it
Speaker 1: would require a significant shift in how we understand constitutional
Speaker 1: law and UM the basis for our legal system, and
Speaker 1: that that seems like something that I don't know, like
Speaker 1: really genuinely seems to be on the table in this moment.
Speaker 1: I maybe we have I think it's Louisiana who's trying
Speaker 1: to like part part part of their bill is that
Speaker 1: they like literally it says that they can disobey the
Speaker 1: federal government, which we had a civil war about that,
Speaker 1: we had we had a nullification crisis about that. We like, so, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess I'm wondering what your impression is on like
Speaker 1: how far this can go? Like, do do we get
Speaker 1: to the point where states can just like tell the
Speaker 1: federal government no? Yeah, yeah, I mean that's what the
Speaker 1: architect of the st law essentially told the part is
Speaker 1: that they don't have jurisdiction and all the laws that
Speaker 1: they have passed in the hundreds are actually um enforceable,
Speaker 1: and the federal government has no authority to stop them,
Speaker 1: and uh, they are the fifth district ants. Tootis has
Speaker 1: indicated that maybe you are right, maybe that is the
Speaker 1: correct way to interpret our constitution. UM. So I feel
Speaker 1: like all of that, all of our decades centuries of
Speaker 1: um figuring out what the law means for this country
Speaker 1: is just up in the air, and we may be
Speaker 1: looking at laws now that are just more and more
Speaker 1: buzz are um, as long as you know the GOP
Speaker 1: and the right have control over so many bodies of
Speaker 1: our governments. You it really is, I can't even fathom.
Speaker 1: I don't think we can predict what's going to come honestly, Um,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm also wondering, to put it crudely, will
Speaker 1: legislators in states that are currently committing because we have
Speaker 1: seen an umber states California kind of leading the pack
Speaker 1: committing to maintain um access to to to abortion and
Speaker 1: other forms of reproductive health care that are being threatened
Speaker 1: right now? Do do you like, do you feel like
Speaker 1: you have a good chance that they are going to
Speaker 1: back you, especially in the event of, you know, laws
Speaker 1: that would potentially open people like you up to criminal
Speaker 1: charges just for trying to support people in getting you know,
Speaker 1: reproductive health care outside of their state. Is your question?
Speaker 1: Do you do we think that elected officials that are
Speaker 1: pro choice are going to back us? Yeah? Yeah, yeah?
Speaker 1: Do you like it's entirely possible that we're going to
Speaker 1: see some sort of federal law that not just criminalizes
Speaker 1: abortion or even like prior to that criminalizes aiding people
Speaker 1: in seeking abortion outside of states that have banned it, right,
Speaker 1: Like that's on the table. How does that change the landscape?
Speaker 1: Where do you suspect that, like in kind of a
Speaker 1: similar way to have some of these some of the
Speaker 1: legislators and states trying to ban abortion said like we're
Speaker 1: just going to ignore federal law if that contradicts our
Speaker 1: state law. Do you think that, um? Do you think
Speaker 1: that pro choice legislators in states you know, like California
Speaker 1: are going to be willing to go to the mat
Speaker 1: and protect you? Or are are we? I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess I I know this is kind of an unknown,
Speaker 1: but I'm kind of these must be conversations that y'all
Speaker 1: are having, right, I mean, I really freaking hope that
Speaker 1: they are. And if they're listening, please please prepare to
Speaker 1: do so. And it's really heartening to see states like
Speaker 1: California and Oregon, in Illinois and New York and Connecticut
Speaker 1: for instance, UM, come up with really clear language around
Speaker 1: their support of not just choice, which was the language
Speaker 1: of the past, but abortion and are saying that and
Speaker 1: are starting to invest in things like abortion funding and
Speaker 1: trouble to themselves actually, you know, put forth their own
Speaker 1: efforts to contribute to the people will need to travel
Speaker 1: into their states. UM. And you know, Diana was just
Speaker 1: speaking the other day with a bunch of electing officials
Speaker 1: in Chicago, So I think I think this is also
Speaker 1: why what I was talking about earlier in terms of
Speaker 1: orgs like ours, coming coming into the light is so important,
Speaker 1: is that we were going to need those relationships with
Speaker 1: those politicians. We're gonna need them to know us and
Speaker 1: see us and understand that we're a critical part of
Speaker 1: how we're going to serve their constituents and that, yeah,
Speaker 1: we're going to need them to back us. Will they
Speaker 1: I can't say definitively, but I really freaking hope so yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and hopefully those you know, as deal said just now,
Speaker 1: I was UM in a press conference yesterday the city
Speaker 1: the Mayor's office announced this fund to support abortion procedure
Speaker 1: funding and practical support. And my hope is with UM
Speaker 1: municipalities will talk to each other and give each other
Speaker 1: the models for doing UH this protective, preemptive UH support
Speaker 1: for people traveling to our states for abortion here and
Speaker 1: UM yeah, I'm in with talks with the a c
Speaker 1: l U in Illinois to talk about potential UM bills
Speaker 1: that are floating around to even further protect UH pub
Speaker 1: in this state. Specifically, I know of one that wants
Speaker 1: to explicitly protect providers from being extradited or sued or
Speaker 1: shut down by prosecutors in other states that want to
Speaker 1: claim that they have to jurisdiction because like, like I said,
Speaker 1: they figured out a way to give residency status to
Speaker 1: fertilized eggs or something. You know, it's just completely fun
Speaker 1: that That's kind of what we're staring at, right Like
Speaker 1: that that's that's the thing that you have to be
Speaker 1: concerned with, is like out of state law enforcement. I
Speaker 1: don't know, like and and that's the thing. No one
Speaker 1: knows what it's going to look like, right Like, we
Speaker 1: know that they have a vested kind of interest already
Speaker 1: and do being parts of this through bounties, which is
Speaker 1: kind of like the thing that I'm worried about. Are
Speaker 1: we going to see like out of state law enforcement
Speaker 1: bounty hunting people trying to folks up with reproductive healthcare?
Speaker 1: And I guess that's just kind of an unknown at
Speaker 1: this point, but it's right, and it really depends on
Speaker 1: like our local protected state juristics, Like how far are
Speaker 1: they going to go to protect us from those entities
Speaker 1: that are going to try to come in for us?
Speaker 1: Um Just just today, one of our staff members tweeted
Speaker 1: about practical support funds and who to support throughout the
Speaker 1: country that provides the sort of travel logistics for people
Speaker 1: and they got followed by a sheriff department in Missouri. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so there are already you know, targeting and surveilling uh,
Speaker 1: abortion seekers and the people who support them. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: of course I'm sure that there's a degree to which
Speaker 1: some of these folks are working with um, shall we say,
Speaker 1: non state actors in order to like, I know they've
Speaker 1: been prepping with that for a while as well. Um,
Speaker 1: what is I mean one of the things that I
Speaker 1: know because I've been having some conversations with friends of
Speaker 1: mine who are and like I guess we could say
Speaker 1: adjacently adjacent organizations to to where y'all work and who
Speaker 1: are at in some cases the convention you were at,
Speaker 1: who are concerned that as providing people with reproductive healthcare
Speaker 1: becomes illegal. Um, there's going to be a lot of
Speaker 1: fair weather friends kind of revealed and I I am interested, like,
Speaker 1: is this a thing that in order to be engaged
Speaker 1: in providing people with reproductive health care you have to
Speaker 1: be willing to engage in illegalism at this point? Like,
Speaker 1: is that really where we are? That's really interesting question. Yeah.
Speaker 1: As as a member, like as I go and threes, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, looked at our state governments are federal governments.
Speaker 1: We can't engage in anything that's legal. Um. But people
Speaker 1: have forever on their own dumb things that the state
Speaker 1: has considered illegal in order to have bodily autonomy. UM.
Speaker 1: There are people who can't afford it. There are people
Speaker 1: who are just so far from the nearest clinic that
Speaker 1: they can't even fathom how to make that trip. Uh.
Speaker 1: They're undocumented folks. Uh. There are people near the borders
Speaker 1: that can't even physically move past a border checkpoint because
Speaker 1: they're just trapped there and can't get care um in
Speaker 1: other parts of their state where it's available. UM. So
Speaker 1: there that that will be a thing. I think that
Speaker 1: is going to increase, because the need will not decrease. UM.
Speaker 1: And I do not like my organization and we can't
Speaker 1: really see anything about that. But you know, personally, I'm like,
Speaker 1: you do whatever it takes to live your life and thrive. UM.
Speaker 1: Laws are made up especially now. Yeah, that is nice
Speaker 1: to hear because I, you know, I try to keep
Speaker 1: abreast of the sides of this fight that are you know,
Speaker 1: working through five O one sees and and the like
Speaker 1: and engaging in electoralism. The people who are you know,
Speaker 1: doing stuff like trying to figure out ways to um
Speaker 1: provide access to like miso pills and whatnot to people, UM,
Speaker 1: because that's just where we are. We've talked about the
Speaker 1: degree to which you guys have already been living in
Speaker 1: some people's future, you know, just because of the specific
Speaker 1: nature of what your organizations have been doing, UM, and
Speaker 1: the degree to which you know you knew some of
Speaker 1: this is coming. What has surprised you outside of just
Speaker 1: like the fact that it got leaked ahead of time
Speaker 1: about kind of what we've seen in the last weekend
Speaker 1: change mm hmmm mm hmm. I think I am. I'm
Speaker 1: not so much surprised by the response from folks. UM.
Speaker 1: I'm a little frustrated that it took this moment for
Speaker 1: people to realize what has been happening in this country
Speaker 1: for the past decade, few decades. Honestly, this is this
Speaker 1: is a very long game, uh for the antis. But
Speaker 1: ever since Trump was put into office and started just
Speaker 1: flooding the federal courts with very young, very anti conservative
Speaker 1: judges UM and SPA was a huge flag. UM. But
Speaker 1: I think I was surprised that there was a maths
Speaker 1: amount of people that we're going to step up when
Speaker 1: the decision came out. Um, it's it gives me hope.
Speaker 1: I hope it's sustained for the many many years we're
Speaker 1: going to need uh practical support and abortion funds while
Speaker 1: we fight for legal rights. Um. Yeah, so I guess
Speaker 1: the surprise is a mixed it's a bad for me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I was gonna say something similar that I think I've
Speaker 1: been pleasantly surprised at how well educated and informed a
Speaker 1: lot of our supporters and newer supporters are about as
Speaker 1: Diana mentioned, the existence of abortion funds and practical support organizations.
Speaker 1: That practical support is even being talked about is huge.
Speaker 1: We couldn't get this conversation and into the media a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago. So like, this is really remarkable
Speaker 1: and important. But what's more, there seems to be also
Speaker 1: like a understanding of why we have to exist. Um,
Speaker 1: it doesn't seem to be shocking people quite as much
Speaker 1: of but there certainly are still tons of people who
Speaker 1: are shocked by this. But for many, they're not shocked
Speaker 1: that for some abortion has simply been inaccessible and what
Speaker 1: those reasons are. Um, and you know that's things obviously
Speaker 1: to a lot of the really hard, important conversations that
Speaker 1: have been had over the last couple of years about
Speaker 1: racial justice. And I think that, you know, it's a
Speaker 1: silver lining for sure, but I'm I'm grateful to find
Speaker 1: that the depth of the conversations is there now and
Speaker 1: hopefully that means that the commitment is going to be
Speaker 1: sustained in long term, because this is a little bit
Speaker 1: of deja vu for us in the sense that we've
Speaker 1: had little moments like these ever since our organizations existed. Um,
Speaker 1: when a single band goes into place or threatened to
Speaker 1: go into place, this like swell occurs using my hands
Speaker 1: a lot, which obviously can't see if you're listening to
Speaker 1: me right now, So I'm gonna put my hands down, um,
Speaker 1: and you know, and that and that brings out a
Speaker 1: lot of really incredible donors and a lot of really
Speaker 1: incredible offers for volunteers, and and then they tend to
Speaker 1: go away. Um. And especially when when Biden was you know, elected,
Speaker 1: and there was definitely this like moment where everyone was like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're cool, right, which this guy hasn't said the word abortion,
Speaker 1: but we're still fine. And we're not We're like the
Speaker 1: furthest from fine. So yeah, again, like pleasantly surprised that
Speaker 1: people seem to have, um a sense of why we're here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just wanted to bring up the website. Did Biden
Speaker 1: say abortion yet or it just like it's so unfortunately
Speaker 1: hilarious to me, um, but I've is really glad it exists. Um.
Speaker 1: And then they someone reached out to the someone in
Speaker 1: the Biden administration to make a comment on this when
Speaker 1: the when the the draft was leaked, and they said, well,
Speaker 1: we tweeted it or like whatever it's and it's like
Speaker 1: it's he said it once in a tweet and like
Speaker 1: once in like a statement or something. So I just
Speaker 1: think it's there, you go. I don't know what more
Speaker 1: we want, but like, I just think it's important to
Speaker 1: what you were saying earlier. Um, how legislators in Oregon
Speaker 1: or California, like it's so important they're saying the word abortion,
Speaker 1: not just pro choice, because I think a lot of
Speaker 1: people are a lot of people are scared about that
Speaker 1: word for some reason, or it sounds scary to them
Speaker 1: if they're not that educated about what pro choice means
Speaker 1: or what abortion means. So I think I have a
Speaker 1: little bit more hope seeing more people even saying that word, UM,
Speaker 1: because it yeah, yeah, I think the statistics is something
Speaker 1: like the antis have been using the word abortion three
Speaker 1: times as much as we have, and that is why
Speaker 1: it's so stigmatized and difficult to talk about. And I
Speaker 1: definitely try to encourage people to say the word abortion,
Speaker 1: to talk about abortion with everyone they know. Uh, just
Speaker 1: so we can stop hiding. I guess kind of the
Speaker 1: last thing I'd like to ask, and we can we
Speaker 1: can cut this bit if this winds up not being
Speaker 1: something you want to get into. But have you have
Speaker 1: you felt an additional need to worry about given how
Speaker 1: public you are in your advocacy personal protection UM, as
Speaker 1: things kind of have heated up, you know, we were
Speaker 1: we were recently at the conference that you mentioned before, UM,
Speaker 1: and it definitely with all of my colleagues in one place,
Speaker 1: it definitely made me feel a little vulnerable for myself
Speaker 1: and them. But honestly, the people who are targeted or
Speaker 1: the providers by far UM, I'm not worried about my
Speaker 1: physical safety. UM. I'm worried about the physical safety over
Speaker 1: of our providers and the fact that our government is
Speaker 1: responding to peaceful protesters outside kavanas Um House and talking
Speaker 1: and and asked for I think Susan Collins on the
Speaker 1: sidewalk outside her residents results in legislation being media immediately,
Speaker 1: they all somehow got together for once in their lives
Speaker 1: to do something about the terrorists who chalked sidewalks by
Speaker 1: legislators home. Um uh is it's it's really demoralizing. Um,
Speaker 1: because we have our providers have seen violence and um yeah,
Speaker 1: they've seen violence every day, murders, ASCID attacks, bombings. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Chris Sharene, do you have anything else you wanted to
Speaker 1: get into. Yeah, I wanted to ask one thing, so,
Speaker 1: you know, Okay, seeing this sort of increasing fectlessness or
Speaker 1: politicians even by their standards, and you know, their response
Speaker 1: to this being let's give more power to the U. S. Marshals,
Speaker 1: which is maybe great, the worst idea I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: But what can just people do about this in it?
Speaker 1: You know, I mean we've talked about like giving to
Speaker 1: abortion funds, but like what, how how can people get
Speaker 1: involved and how can people get involved in a way
Speaker 1: that's sustainable of the long term. Yeah, I mean, definitely
Speaker 1: give two abortion funds, give to practical support organizations like
Speaker 1: the Midwest Access Coalition and the bridget Alliance. UM. If
Speaker 1: you are interested in volunteering, reach out to your local organization. UM.
Speaker 1: There are a couple of really great resources for lists
Speaker 1: of those organizations and where they are, like the National
Speaker 1: Network of Abortion Funds. UM. And you do bear with
Speaker 1: all of us because we are handling a flurry of
Speaker 1: emails and that's incredible, But we won't be able to
Speaker 1: plug you in immediately. UM. It might even take a
Speaker 1: little bit of time. But then I think that you know,
Speaker 1: voting is still critical, especially in local UM, in any
Speaker 1: local elections, especially if we're thinking about how we're going
Speaker 1: to prevent the possible criminalization of abortion seekers and of
Speaker 1: abortion providers. We need to make sure that we've got
Speaker 1: the judges in good local elected officials at the very least,
Speaker 1: So do not stop doing that. UM. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: those would be the things that I would say, focus
Speaker 1: on and the thing that I always say, which is
Speaker 1: just like talk about it. Like I am totally that
Speaker 1: person who is like the downer at the dinner party
Speaker 1: talking about abortion, But be that person and go and
Speaker 1: talk about it and share why it's important and how
Speaker 1: it's not just about abortion and it's not just about
Speaker 1: women it's at families, it's about parents, it's about queer folks,
Speaker 1: it's it's about immigrants, it's about miners. Um, You've got
Speaker 1: a lot to be worried about right now, So don't
Speaker 1: stop talking, listening, reading, consuming whatever you can. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: just to jump off that, if you are in a
Speaker 1: safe state, you're not going You're not going to be
Speaker 1: safe forever. Uh, They're gonna come after us. They're going
Speaker 1: to come after the legislators, the supreme courts of those states.
Speaker 1: They're usually a thin margin, um as far as conservative
Speaker 1: versus progressive judges on state supreme courts. So find out
Speaker 1: who your local org is that is leading that voter
Speaker 1: turnout to make sure that people are voting for the
Speaker 1: right judges go in. Um. And also I wanna lift
Speaker 1: up escorts. Escorts are on the ground many days of
Speaker 1: the week. They will put you to work and they're
Speaker 1: going to be needed more and more. UM. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's that's all very important and a good note
Speaker 1: to end on. Does anyone else have anything else or
Speaker 1: are we um? Should we should? We? Let y'all get
Speaker 1: back to your very important work. UM, And thank you
Speaker 1: again for for making the time for us absolutely thank
Speaker 1: you for covering us and talking about it. Yeah, happy
Speaker 1: to do so we'll be we'll be continuing to to
Speaker 1: do that. And I hope you all. Um, um, jeez,
Speaker 1: I don't even know what to say. Like, I hope you.
Speaker 1: I hope you function up for the people who are
Speaker 1: sucking shut up, you know. But I hope the support
Speaker 1: doesn't like dissipate as like the trend goes away or whatever.
Speaker 1: You know. I think that's so disheartening if that happens.
Speaker 1: And like, hopefully the flood of emails but not necessarily
Speaker 1: remains a flood for you. But like, I hope that
Speaker 1: people are actually serious about doing something. And um, I
Speaker 1: think this time they might be just because I keep
Speaker 1: being surprised about little things, so I'm not gonna expect
Speaker 1: anything anymore. Maybe people were surprising, But I really appreciate
Speaker 1: the work you do. Um, So thanks for coming out
Speaker 1: to talk to us. Thank you, Thank for us. It
Speaker 1: could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website
Speaker 1: cool zone media dot com, or check us out on
Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to podcasts. You can find sources for it could
Speaker 1: happen here. Updated monthly at cool Zone Media dot com
Speaker 1: slash Sources. Thanks for listening.