Speaker 1: This is Latino USA, the radio journal of News and
Speaker 1: Kurture Latino USC Latin Latino USA. I'm Mariainojosa. We bring
Speaker 1: you stories that are underreported but that mattered to you,
Speaker 1: overlooked by the rest of the media, and while the
Speaker 1: country is struggling to deal with these, we listen to
Speaker 1: the stories of black and Latino studients United Latino Front,
Speaker 1: a cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of the movement.
Speaker 1: I'm Maria Inojosa, no bayan. For many women in the
Speaker 1: United States, the fall of Roe v. Wade has been
Speaker 1: going back to the time when abortion was not legal
Speaker 1: in this country. Only now things have definitely changed. Almost
Speaker 1: two years after the Dobbs decision, there's an increasing of
Speaker 1: policing of women and of pregnancies in general, and Brittany
Speaker 1: Watts knows what that's like in the flesh.
Speaker 2: Just makes me angry that somebody would make me seem
Speaker 2: so callous and so so hateful.
Speaker 1: Britney Wants is a thirty four year old black woman
Speaker 1: living in Ohio. This January, a grand jury in Ohio
Speaker 1: declined to indict her after she was arrested and charged
Speaker 1: with the quote unquote abuse of a corpse after she
Speaker 1: suffered a miscarriage. This is Brittany speaking about the moment
Speaker 1: when she went to seek care right after she lost
Speaker 1: the pregnancy.
Speaker 2: The nurse comes in and she's rubbing my back and
Speaker 2: talking to me and saying everything's going to be okay.
Speaker 2: Little do I know the nurse that was comforting me
Speaker 2: and saying that everything was going to be okay was
Speaker 2: the one who called the police.
Speaker 3: I had a mother who had a delivery at home
Speaker 3: and came in without the baby, and I need to
Speaker 3: have someone go find the baby or directly what I
Speaker 3: need to do with the lib or not. She says
Speaker 3: she didn't want to look. She didn't want the baby,
Speaker 3: and she didn't look.
Speaker 1: The Warren City Police proceeded to then go to Brittany
Speaker 1: Watt's home. They took her toilet apart, they retrieved the
Speaker 1: fetus and used it for forensic evidence. This story is
Speaker 1: escalo friante. It's bone chilling, but perhaps it's not that surprising.
Speaker 4: Pregnancy criminalization has been accelerating, and we released a report
Speaker 4: last September that shows that pregnancy criminalization is happening in
Speaker 4: most states to various degrees.
Speaker 1: This is Lurdis Rivera. She is president of Pregnancy Justice,
Speaker 1: a national organization dedicated to defending the rights of people
Speaker 1: who are pregnant.
Speaker 4: Between two thousand and six and the Dobbs decision in
Speaker 4: twenty twenty two, we found close to fourteen hundred cases
Speaker 4: of pregnancy criminalism, and we know this is an undercap
Speaker 4: The majority of the cases in our data are related
Speaker 4: to people who are accused of using drugs during pregnancy,
Speaker 4: which using drugs in and of itself is not a crime,
Speaker 4: its possession is the crime right. But because the person
Speaker 4: is pregnant, prosecutors have been very creative and interpreting laws
Speaker 4: to apply to people who are pregnant. But we're seeing
Speaker 4: all kinds of fact patterns, including falling down the stairs,
Speaker 4: taking a prescribed medication from your doctor, getting into a
Speaker 4: car accident while not wearing a seat belt, and then
Speaker 4: of course having a miscarriage or still birth, and being
Speaker 4: accused of causing this outcome. Well, we know there are
Speaker 4: many biological and health reasons that cause this outcome, but
Speaker 4: if we can't guarantee a perfect pregnancy, we are at
Speaker 4: risk of being surveiled and reported to law enforcement.
Speaker 1: Food media, and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm Marienno Posa.
Speaker 1: Today we continue our special election coverage for twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: the Latino Factor, how we vote. We're going to be
Speaker 1: talking about one of the top mobilizing issues for Latino
Speaker 1: and Latina voters, abortion and reproductive rights. Since the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, voters across
Speaker 1: the country have overwhelmingly shown up in support of abortion rights.
Speaker 1: Michigan is now the first state in the nation to
Speaker 1: guarantee the right to an abortion.
Speaker 5: The abortion access is the law of the land.
Speaker 6: In Ohio.
Speaker 7: The right to an abortion is now officially part of
Speaker 7: California's state constitution.
Speaker 1: And Latina and Latino latinx Latine voters are no exception. Currently,
Speaker 1: Latinas represent the largest group of women of color impacted
Speaker 1: by state abortion bands, and the community is sensitive to
Speaker 1: the issue. When researchers ask Latinos and latin that's why
Speaker 1: abortion policy was important to them, they responded that banning
Speaker 1: abortions puts women's lives at risk. This election, over thirty
Speaker 1: six million people in the Latino community are eligible to vote.
Speaker 1: That makes Latinos the second largest voting cohort, which accounts
Speaker 1: for almost fifteen percent of all voters, which means they
Speaker 1: cannot be ignored. As President Biden has admitted.
Speaker 8: We cannot do well in America if the Latino community
Speaker 8: doesn't do well.
Speaker 1: Historically, the Democratic Party has had an advantage with Latino voters.
Speaker 1: Do you know what they're out?
Speaker 6: Gore?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Center Obama.
Speaker 4: Do you believe Latino voters will not vote for a
Speaker 4: black candidate?
Speaker 1: Not I Illinois, they all voted for me. Still, Former
Speaker 1: President Trump has his own edge among Latino voters, specifically men.
Speaker 1: So this election, the stakes are high on so many
Speaker 1: intersecting fronts because study after study shows that when abortion
Speaker 1: access is taken away from people, it's women of color
Speaker 1: who suffer the most, and all over the country, from
Speaker 1: Colorado to Florida, Latinas are coming up with forms of
Speaker 1: resistance and are fighting back. So in this episode, we're
Speaker 1: going to talk with Lurs Ribera, who you heard at
Speaker 1: the top of the show, and with two other Latinas
Speaker 1: who are working on the ground, and we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about the state of reproductive rights post Row, then
Speaker 1: how those consequences are impacting how we vote. So Lure
Speaker 1: this welcome Buena Satades, and welcome Yemenida. Stephanie Lorraine Pignero,
Speaker 1: executive director of the Florida Access Network. It's the only
Speaker 1: queer and bipod led statewide abortion funding organization in the
Speaker 1: state of Florida. Stephanie, Hi, hello. And finally we're joined
Speaker 1: by America Amirez. She's program manager at COLOR which stands
Speaker 1: for Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights. It's
Speaker 1: a community rooted organization that makes sure that Latinos and
Speaker 1: Latinas can lead safe, healthy and self determined lives. When
Speaker 1: US America.
Speaker 9: Whens dast this depending on where we're at.
Speaker 1: So welcome all of you to Latino USA. But before
Speaker 1: we jump into the conversation, I just want to go
Speaker 1: around the room, as it were, to get us temperature
Speaker 1: check on all of you, because the three of you
Speaker 1: are literally on the front lines of the issue of
Speaker 1: reproductive justice. So just quickly, what's your temperature check? Like,
Speaker 1: how are you feeling? And we're going to start with
Speaker 1: you America. Ah, that's a tough question.
Speaker 7: I think.
Speaker 1: I think for a lot of repro workers, we're just the.
Speaker 9: Right like we're still trucking along but Valle la Pena,
Speaker 9: so we're still doing the best that we can. Even
Speaker 9: in the spaces like Colorado where we know that there's
Speaker 9: at least some sort of protections, we still have a
Speaker 9: ways to go.
Speaker 1: Ludez, what's your temperature check?
Speaker 4: You know, this is a really tough time in our movement,
Speaker 4: But I have to say that when I'm feeling discouraged,
Speaker 4: I channel Ma Abuela Carmin. Her family worked on a
Speaker 4: sugar plantation in Puerto Rico. She had fourteen pregnancies, She
Speaker 4: gave birth to ten children, and nine of whom grew
Speaker 4: up into adulthood. So I do this work in her name.
Speaker 4: I do this work in the name of the Puerto
Speaker 4: Rican women of my mother's generation and so many others
Speaker 4: who were sterilized without informed consent, and who were robbed
Speaker 4: of their bodily autonomy and agency. And I do this
Speaker 4: work for the communities like Befer Stubs in Brooklyn where
Speaker 4: I grew up, where in the name of war drugs,
Speaker 4: they were cruelly impacted by policies that prioritize criminalization over
Speaker 4: policies that meant to address discrimination. And so I can't
Speaker 4: afford to be discouraged. And I feel inspiration by my
Speaker 4: ancestors and my community.
Speaker 1: Stephanie, what's your temperature check?
Speaker 5: We're feeling focused and hopeful about what our future looks
Speaker 5: like because we firmly believe that our future is in
Speaker 5: our hands and not in the hands of the state
Speaker 5: or politicians who are more interested in using abortion as
Speaker 5: an issue of political fodder than protecting the rights for
Speaker 5: us to live a future with bodily autonomy.
Speaker 1: So it appears that there has been a major shift
Speaker 1: in Latino Latina public opinion about the issue of abortion.
Speaker 1: As recently as the year twenty twenty, studies showed that
Speaker 1: only five percent of Latino voters said that abortion was
Speaker 1: one of their top issues, but when the fall of
Speaker 1: Roe v. Wade happened, those numbers significantly changed. Today, abortion
Speaker 1: is one of the top ten concerns for Latino and
Speaker 1: Latina voters. Stephanie, you work in the state of Florida, America.
Speaker 1: You're in Colorado, both of them with a significant Latino population. Stephanie,
Speaker 1: let's start with you in Florida. How have reproductive rights
Speaker 1: and abortion access changed since the fall of Roe v. Wade.
Speaker 5: The Florida abortion landscape has changed most drastically and significantly
Speaker 5: than it has in over twenty five years.
Speaker 1: Today of Judge World, women looking to get an abortion
Speaker 1: must pay twenty four hours after an initial doctor's visit
Speaker 1: before getting the procedure. Governor Ron Desantas signing a bill
Speaker 1: and to law Thursday that bans most abortions after fifteen weeks.
Speaker 4: Florida lawmakers have given final approval to a six week
Speaker 4: abortion band, paving the way for a tider grip on
Speaker 4: abortion access in the state.
Speaker 5: So wow. Florida was viewed as a quote abortion haven
Speaker 5: for many states in the South that had even less access.
Speaker 5: Now people are forced to leave the state and we
Speaker 5: are now weeding on pins and needles every week to
Speaker 5: hear what the State Supreme Court of Florida has to
Speaker 5: say about our right to continue to access abortion care.
Speaker 1: Amiti, guy, you're in Colorado. It was for a long
Speaker 1: time considered to be a swing state, but since two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight it has been pretty much a democratic
Speaker 1: and liberal stronghold. And that coupled with last year's laws
Speaker 1: expanding abortion access in Colorado, abortions appear to be politically
Speaker 1: safe in Colorado. Amedic Gay, you are on the ground,
Speaker 1: so can you just tell us what that looks like
Speaker 1: in your state? Yeah?
Speaker 9: So even though there's a lot of talk that Colorado
Speaker 9: is very progressive and although we have very few restricts
Speaker 9: and abortion, we knew that Roe v. Wade was not
Speaker 9: enough for our communities, and when Roe was overturned, we
Speaker 9: didn't have a state law that would expressly protect abortion,
Speaker 9: and so that was when we signed the Reproductive Health
Speaker 9: Equity Act in twenty twenty two, right before the Jobs decision.
Speaker 9: And since then, what we've seen is that abortion and
Speaker 9: abortion care and healthcare has been a top issue for
Speaker 9: our community, and we've seen a huge increase in curiosity
Speaker 9: and wanting to learn and engage in reproductive justice. But
Speaker 9: also we've seen a lot of influx of patients coming
Speaker 9: to Colorado. Although Colora is not a direct service organization,
Speaker 9: we work a lot with organizations that have either abortion
Speaker 9: funds or clinics or providers, and they talk a lot
Speaker 9: about how there's a strain right now on their systems
Speaker 9: to be able to provide services not just for Colorado's
Speaker 9: but for folks that are traveling to Colorado from other
Speaker 9: states to access services.
Speaker 1: So we talked about criminalization at the top of the episode.
Speaker 1: In the case of Brittany Wattson Ohio, and I just
Speaker 1: briefly want to give Amitiica and Stephanie the opportunity to
Speaker 1: jump in here and to give their perspective on this issue.
Speaker 1: So America to.
Speaker 9: Go a little bit further about the criminalization, I mean
Speaker 9: to also think about folks that are undocumented or young
Speaker 9: people who are already in those margins. We get a
Speaker 9: lot of concern of even wanting to get routine procedures
Speaker 9: done or routine care because of things like being criminalized.
Speaker 9: We've talked to young people who are in high school
Speaker 9: that don't want to go to states that don't protect
Speaker 9: abortion for college because they don't know what will happen
Speaker 9: once they're there. And that's not something that I considered
Speaker 9: when I was thinking about college. And so it's really
Speaker 9: concerning for us to know that there's just so many
Speaker 9: other things that people thinking about having to think about
Speaker 9: when it comes to this type of criminalization.
Speaker 1: How about you, Stephanie.
Speaker 5: I think a way that we're seeing this happen in
Speaker 5: Florida is this past year a law was passed that
Speaker 5: requires hospitals ask on their admission forms whether a patient
Speaker 5: is lawfully present in the US. And what we're seeing
Speaker 5: is now people who are immigrants, who may be undocumented,
Speaker 5: are not getting the healthcare that they need. We're seeing
Speaker 5: increased police presence in front of abortion clinics, We're seeing
Speaker 5: an increased presence in surveillance, and they are scared. They're
Speaker 5: not only scared about what is happening, they're also confused,
Speaker 5: and rightfully so, are worried that what they are doing
Speaker 5: is wrong. And we obviously stand on the fact that
Speaker 5: getting an abortion, wanting an abortion, abortion, there is absolutely
Speaker 5: no shame and nothing wrong with getting that. However, because
Speaker 5: of the way these laws are being described and how
Speaker 5: they are being executed, people are worried that what they're
Speaker 5: doing is illegal, that getting an abortion is a crime,
Speaker 5: and that is also stoking fear in people, and that's
Speaker 5: by design to discourage people from accessing their bodily autonomy.
Speaker 4: And this is moat of this. If I can just
Speaker 4: add one other point, the overturning of ROW and the
Speaker 4: rolling back of abortion rights. This is part of a
Speaker 4: larger agenda to dismantle the games that have been made
Speaker 4: by the women's rights movement, the civil rights, LGBTQ rights,
Speaker 4: and workers' rights movements.
Speaker 5: This is no simple reform.
Speaker 1: It really is a revolution.
Speaker 10: We want to breathe by any means there.
Speaker 2: Well, lesbians and gay men have always been in the
Speaker 2: vanguard of struggles for liberation, and just in this concrete it's.
Speaker 1: Not a Democrat or Republican thing. It's a workers thing.
Speaker 1: The people are the ones that make these corporations go.
Speaker 1: It's not the other way around.
Speaker 5: We're demanding that the federal government do something to legalize
Speaker 5: abortion now that waiting until November is not enough.
Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino USA, what abortion allies and advocates
Speaker 1: can learn from the green wave in Latin America and
Speaker 1: will young voters show up to the polls come November
Speaker 1: stay with us, say.
Speaker 6: Yes, hey, we're back.
Speaker 1: Before the break, Nordes Rivera, Stephanie, Lorraine Bigneto, and America
Speaker 1: Amides gave us a snapshot of what the two years
Speaker 1: since the fall of Roe have been like. Now we're
Speaker 1: going to expand on the new possibilities post row when
Speaker 1: we take the shame out of abortion. So let's get
Speaker 1: back to the conversation. Stephanie, you actually call yourself an
Speaker 1: abortion storyteller. I'm sure that some people are saying, wait, what, so,
Speaker 1: what is an abortion storyteller? And why is it important
Speaker 1: in the context of the politics of today.
Speaker 5: So an abortion storyteller to me is someone who is
Speaker 5: reclaiming the narra about abortion and telling their story on
Speaker 5: their own terms. For me, I've had two abortions, one
Speaker 5: of them from a sexual assault in another because of
Speaker 5: needing it, and both happen as a minor, and both
Speaker 5: even today I would still not be able to access
Speaker 5: because in Florida you need parental involvement to access an abortion.
Speaker 5: If not, you have to go through a judicial intervention
Speaker 5: called a judicial bypass and get permission from a judge.
Speaker 5: So for me, it's really important to uplift my abortion
Speaker 5: story and uplift the fact that my abortion was my decision.
Speaker 5: And these barriers are very real because they are not
Speaker 5: just geographic. They're economic, they are religious, they are social.
Speaker 5: There are so many different barriers people are needing to
Speaker 5: face and accessing an abortion, and it is important that
Speaker 5: people hear the complexities of life that for some people,
Speaker 5: getting an abortion is as simple as I want an
Speaker 5: abortion and I'm going to go get one, And for
Speaker 5: other folks they need to attrasad all these barreas to
Speaker 5: access their bodily autonomy. And we deserve to hear all
Speaker 5: of those experiences because we are tired of having our
Speaker 5: stories and our narratives stolen from us and used to
Speaker 5: push political agendas that are unsupportive about abortion care, and
Speaker 5: not just by the opposition, but by our allies too.
Speaker 5: And that's what's most important about abortion storytelling is destigmatizing abortion,
Speaker 5: destigmatizing our narratives, and reclaiming what it means to access
Speaker 5: bodily autonomy on our own terms.
Speaker 1: Even though I haven't Stephanie called myself an abortion storyteller,
Speaker 1: I have talked about the fact that when I was
Speaker 1: in college, I had two abortions, and at this point,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't have any shame. I'm thankful that
Speaker 1: I was able to have those abortions. That's why I
Speaker 1: talk publicly about it. But I want to ask you, Stephanie,
Speaker 1: because on the one hand, storytelling is all about making
Speaker 1: this public right, But on the other hand, the central
Speaker 1: issue around Roe v.
Speaker 6: Wade.
Speaker 1: I'm not a legal scholar, but I believe is about
Speaker 1: the right to privacy. And yet in your case, Stephanie,
Speaker 1: you had to go before a judge to get this
Speaker 1: judicial bypass is so public and that was what allowed
Speaker 1: you to actually be able to get access to an abortion.
Speaker 1: So for you, where does privacy enter into the conversation.
Speaker 5: I am also not a legal scholar, but that is
Speaker 5: where I feel that our abortion rights and legal scholars
Speaker 5: have more to grow. And absolutely we all deserve our
Speaker 5: right to privacy about the decisions that we make around
Speaker 5: our healthcare and around our bodies. But we continue to
Speaker 5: have these repetitive, circular conversations about privacy and whether who
Speaker 5: deserves it and who's more deserving of it. When we
Speaker 5: need to reframe abortion and as an issue of human rights,
Speaker 5: abortion as an issue of self determination that we all
Speaker 5: deserve about our future. Because when we normalize abortion, we
Speaker 5: are able to have bipartisan conversations. And that is what
Speaker 5: when I talk to Miawilita, to my loved ones who
Speaker 5: may have heard of abortion in the political sense, in
Speaker 5: the way that it's been politicized, But when we have
Speaker 5: conversations one on one about what would you do? Would
Speaker 5: you still support me? And do you still love me?
Speaker 5: They still love me. Mayawlia still loves me. The people
Speaker 5: who love me and my life still love me, and
Speaker 5: that is what's important to continue to lift up. And
Speaker 5: that's why we continue to tell our stories and talk
Speaker 5: to each other, because it's not just about telling the public.
Speaker 5: You don't have to tell the public. You don't have
Speaker 5: to come on a podcast. You don't have to do
Speaker 5: those things for your story to be valid. Sharing with yourself,
Speaker 5: sharing with your God, sharing with the people who you
Speaker 5: love to remind them, because everyone loves someone who has
Speaker 5: had an abortion, whether we know it or not.
Speaker 1: For me, when I ended up having to tell my
Speaker 1: mom and my dad about the abortions, you know, I
Speaker 1: was so scared and the reaction from my Mexican parents.
Speaker 1: My mom was like, Amihita, I would have wanted to
Speaker 1: be there with you. You should have told me. I
Speaker 1: would have held your hand.
Speaker 5: One last thing I just want to add, because you've
Speaker 5: brought up your mom and I just think it's so beautiful.
Speaker 5: When I needed an abortion when I was sixteen, my
Speaker 5: mom was not supportive and that was unfortunate because my
Speaker 5: mom was my biggest ally in so many other ways.
Speaker 5: And now fifteen years later, my mom is one of
Speaker 5: our most active volunteers at my abortion Fund WOW, driving
Speaker 5: people to and from their appointments and making them feel
Speaker 5: affirmed and loved on because a lot of people are
Speaker 5: going through their abortion by themselves because of that social stigma.
Speaker 5: And I want to make sure that I say that
Speaker 5: because people need to hear that people can be transformed
Speaker 5: and love is what transforms us when we tell our
Speaker 5: abortion stories.
Speaker 1: So America, about the question of again, things evolving, what
Speaker 1: has changed? I think a lot about terminology. When I
Speaker 1: was growing up, when we got to the term reproductive rights,
Speaker 1: it was a big deal to talk about reproductive rights.
Speaker 1: The term now that you use to describe your work
Speaker 1: is the framework of reproductive justice. So why do you
Speaker 1: think it's essential to understand reproductive justice in the context
Speaker 1: of this particular political moment.
Speaker 9: If we look at reproductive rights, that's the legal protections
Speaker 9: that protect the right to reproductive health care services, which
Speaker 9: is usually focused on abortion and contraception. Reproductive justice is
Speaker 9: based on a human rights framework, saying that it doesn't
Speaker 9: matter where you are, who you are, what you look like,
Speaker 9: where you're from, how much you make, you deserve these
Speaker 9: rights because you are a person. So the tenets of
Speaker 9: reproductive justice, as it was coined in June of nineteen
Speaker 9: ninety four, are one to be able to decide when
Speaker 9: and if you will have a child, in the conditions
Speaker 9: under which you'll define and expand that family that includes
Speaker 9: your fertility, adoption, and your breathing options. The second is
Speaker 9: to decide to not have children and access to preventing
Speaker 9: or ending a pregnancy in a safe and dignified manner.
Speaker 9: The third tenant of reproductive justice is a human right
Speaker 9: to care for your family in safe environments and healthy
Speaker 9: and sustainable communities. And we've also been able to add
Speaker 9: an intentional wording around a person having the human right
Speaker 9: to be able to express their gender identity, their expression,
Speaker 9: and their sexual orientation freely. This is really really important
Speaker 9: in that reproductive justice comes as a body of work
Speaker 9: from twelve Black women. It is rooted in black liberation
Speaker 9: and ensuring that people have the ability and the accessibility
Speaker 9: to be able to make the best decisions for themselves.
Speaker 4: And what America described is really the true right to life.
Speaker 4: And we have to stop giving the abortion opponents a
Speaker 4: free past to claim the mental of life when their
Speaker 4: focus on fetal rights is causing harm to the health
Speaker 4: and lives of people were pregnant and ripping families apart,
Speaker 4: when maternal and infant mortality is on the rise in
Speaker 4: this country. It's the highest among all industrialized nations, in
Speaker 4: the highest among states with abortion bands. There is an
Speaker 4: increasing trend of suicide and overdose among pregnant people, so
Speaker 4: we have to stop giving them a free past. What
Speaker 4: America described as reproductive justice, that is right to life
Speaker 4: and right to health, and that is what we stand for.
Speaker 1: One of the things that has come out of this
Speaker 1: particular moment in the United States is this interesting turn
Speaker 1: towards Latin America. And in Latin America you have this
Speaker 1: movement it's called the feminist Green Wave, and they've had
Speaker 1: major reproductive justice wins in countries like Mexico and Argentina
Speaker 1: by placing continual pressure for decades. Ludas, can you talk
Speaker 1: about what advocates and allies can learn from the Latin
Speaker 1: American Green Wave Lao la verde and how can it
Speaker 1: be applied here in the United States.
Speaker 4: So unlike in the US where we now joined Poland,
Speaker 4: Nicaragua and then Salvadora in going backwards on abortion rights,
Speaker 4: countries like Mexico, Colombia, Arendina, Chile have made strides. And
Speaker 4: it's because of a combination of many different strategies, including
Speaker 4: the legal strategy, but also organizing on the street, public health,
Speaker 4: narrative change, all of this coming together to make progress.
Speaker 4: And I just want to share the Court's reasoning in
Speaker 4: the Mexico Supreme Court decision from September twenty twenty three,
Speaker 4: because I think this really captures what the feminists on
Speaker 4: the ground are helping to make the policymakers and the
Speaker 4: change makers and the courts understand. So this is the
Speaker 4: court's reasoning quote. The criminalization of abortion constitutes an act
Speaker 4: of violence and discrimination based on gender, as it perpetuates
Speaker 4: the stereotype that women and pregnant individuals can only exercise
Speaker 4: their sexuality for procreation and reinforces the gender role that
Speaker 4: imposes motherhood as a compulsory destiny.
Speaker 10: Heldado zumpas somas in la lucha historica or dad or
Speaker 10: surignia il sicio.
Speaker 4: So the Mexico Supreme Court gets it two bad hours, doesn't.
Speaker 9: And I think i'd also like to add that there
Speaker 9: is a myth that Latinos who might also identify as
Speaker 9: religious Catholics or cultural Catholics. I think that ends up
Speaker 9: bleeding into one which is also not true. Latino support abortion.
Speaker 9: We've been having abortion since the beginning of time. This
Speaker 9: is not something that is only exclusively happening in one area.
Speaker 9: Access and care is important to all of us, and
Speaker 9: so we are seeing these countries are part of this movement.
Speaker 9: It's because Latinos support it, all right, So let's talk politics.
Speaker 1: Young voters are making it really clear that they're quite
Speaker 1: dissatisfied with President Joe Biden because of his support of
Speaker 1: Israel's war on Gaza and last month, although Biden did
Speaker 1: win the Michigan primary, there were almost fifty thousand votes
Speaker 1: for the uncommitted option on the Democratic ballot. And in Virginia,
Speaker 1: during a speech on reproductive rights, young protesters came out
Speaker 1: to voice their frustrations.
Speaker 6: No, have you killed.
Speaker 1: Women? Have you killed Pala America? Can you tell us
Speaker 1: what you're hearing on the ground in Colorado? In terms
Speaker 1: of young voters, I think young.
Speaker 9: People honestly are looking for representation to align with their
Speaker 9: values and that's just difficult to come by either way.
Speaker 9: We know that there's a lot of support for abortion
Speaker 9: within the state, and we have part of our polling
Speaker 9: to be able to support that. It's difficult to say
Speaker 9: whether or not they're going to go one way or another.
Speaker 9: In terms of the presidential election, but we do know
Speaker 9: that it's still important for us to talk to them
Speaker 9: about what's at stake. It's important for us to acknowledge
Speaker 9: that young people are taking all of this into consideration
Speaker 9: when it comes to their voting decisions, and so it's
Speaker 9: really important and vital now more than ever for them
Speaker 9: to vote along their values. But at the same time,
Speaker 9: they're not living these single issue lives, and so it's
Speaker 9: just really really complicated.
Speaker 1: And Stephanie, how are you and the Florida Access Network
Speaker 1: engaging specifically with young voters in your state.
Speaker 5: You know, we organize in a few different communities around Florida,
Speaker 5: and we are involved with Amendment four putting abortion on
Speaker 5: the ballot in Florida, and young people are voting with
Speaker 5: their values, and right now they don't feel like they
Speaker 5: are being represented, especially not on the executive level. So
Speaker 5: the concern is that folks are distracted. They're not interested
Speaker 5: in voting down blue no matter what, which is the
Speaker 5: typical tactic by the Democratic Party. They want to vote
Speaker 5: for folks who share their values, for folks who are
Speaker 5: speaking out against the genocide and Palestine, for folks who
Speaker 5: are wanting to protect abortion access, and expand abortion access
Speaker 5: no matter what, and unfortunately they are not seeing those
Speaker 5: values represented. So what we are seeing is people are
Speaker 5: voting with their conscience and voting with their values, and
Speaker 5: we're curious about what that's going to look like in
Speaker 5: Florida in the ballot box, especially with abortion being on
Speaker 5: the ballot.
Speaker 1: Stephanie, can you say a little bit more about what's
Speaker 1: happening in Florida right now in terms of abortion being
Speaker 1: on the ballot.
Speaker 5: So right now we are in a legal battle trying
Speaker 5: to make sure that abortion is able to get on
Speaker 5: the ballot.
Speaker 8: This court has until April first to make the ruling,
Speaker 8: and so if this does make the November ballot, it'll
Speaker 8: take sixty percent of voters to pass it and put
Speaker 8: it in the Florida Constitution.
Speaker 5: With political changes and with changes to the makeup of
Speaker 5: the state Supreme Court, the supermajority Republican legislature has been
Speaker 5: able to pass anti abortion laws back to back with
Speaker 5: the hope of getting a reinterpretation of this state constitutional
Speaker 5: protection for abortion rights. So now what the opportunity to
Speaker 5: have voters vote directly for putting abortion on the ballot
Speaker 5: and the protection of abortion. It is an incredible opportunity
Speaker 5: for Floridians to show that they care about abortion rights
Speaker 5: and that abortion rights are important to them and in
Speaker 5: other states like Ohio. That gives us a lot of
Speaker 5: hope that we are on the right side of history.
Speaker 5: And it is not enough, right because what this ballot
Speaker 5: initiative actually does is it restores abortion rights in Florida
Speaker 5: to pre being overturned. It is twenty four week viability
Speaker 5: ban and still does not undo parental involvement laws like
Speaker 5: the one that impacted me. So while we think it
Speaker 5: is an important opportunity for Floridians to be able to
Speaker 5: vote for the direct right for abortion in Florida, we
Speaker 5: also know that it is not enough that it is
Speaker 5: codifying an abortion ban, and this is why we encourage
Speaker 5: states around the country to really consider what does it
Speaker 5: mean to dismantle anti abortion laws altogether America.
Speaker 1: Bring us up to date in terms of what's happening
Speaker 1: in Colorado with the dulying efforts on abortion there.
Speaker 9: Yeah, so we're currently in the process of collecting petition
Speaker 9: signatures for our ballot measure that we are running. So
Speaker 9: it's a constitutional amendment.
Speaker 7: This pro abortion initiative would take protections here in Colorado
Speaker 7: one step further by adding abortion rights to the state's constitution.
Speaker 7: But this anti abortion initiative would identify a human being
Speaker 7: from the moment of conception, making abortion illegal here in
Speaker 7: this state.
Speaker 9: So right now we're going through the process of making
Speaker 9: sure that it gets on the ballot. But we know
Speaker 9: that when abortion is on the ballot, abortion wins. We've
Speaker 9: been seeing this since the DABS decision, and so we're
Speaker 9: really trying to work towards that same thing. But ensuring
Speaker 9: that we're working towards that access, that's what's really important
Speaker 9: for us. This isn't the end all be all. This
Speaker 9: is just one part of the puzzle in order to
Speaker 9: provide some of that access. But that's currently what we're
Speaker 9: working towards this year.
Speaker 1: So when you say working, it really is a lot
Speaker 1: of hard work. Frankly, decades upon decades of work by
Speaker 1: women and allies on the issue of reproductive justice, and
Speaker 1: a lot of that time it can be dark sometimes.
Speaker 1: So to end, tell us what gives you hope, what
Speaker 1: brings you joy. We're going to start with you, America.
Speaker 1: What is something that brings you joy or hope? In
Speaker 1: twenty twenty.
Speaker 9: Four, my job is really working within the realm of
Speaker 9: youth leadership, and so it brings me a lot of
Speaker 9: joy to work with other young Latinas who are passionate
Speaker 9: about the issue, equipping them with the same tools, the
Speaker 9: same mentorship that I was able to come up with,
Speaker 9: and to be able to see really the stars and
Speaker 9: their eyes of really the hope that they have to
Speaker 9: be a part of that change or part of that impact.
Speaker 1: And so I have a lot of hope. Thank you, Luda.
Speaker 1: This is what brings you some joy or hope these days.
Speaker 4: I'm really taking the long view, and the overturning of
Speaker 4: ROBE was devastating in many respects, and I think we're
Speaker 4: seeing the consequences of that, and at the same time,
Speaker 4: it is also an opportunity to create a different vision
Speaker 4: for reproductive rights and justice. And what gives me hope
Speaker 4: also is that we're able to help people in their
Speaker 4: darkest hour and that we're a resource with so many
Speaker 4: that would otherwise face the criminal legal system alone. So
Speaker 4: if folks are facing criminalization because of their pregnancy and
Speaker 4: they need help, I really hope that they would reach
Speaker 4: out to.
Speaker 1: Us, take us out. Stephanie.
Speaker 5: What's giving me hope is modeling sustainable leadership for my team,
Speaker 5: because if we can't continue to live and thrive, there
Speaker 5: is no movement. There is no way we are frontline workers.
Speaker 5: And what else brings me joy is enjoying the outdoors
Speaker 5: and enjoying Florida before it drowns. There's so much beauty here,
Speaker 5: like there's springs, there's beaches, there's just so much the sun.
Speaker 5: And trying to nourish myself with the sun and the
Speaker 5: water while I'm on this earth and earthly being brings
Speaker 5: me a lot of joy and a lot of hope
Speaker 5: to be able to continue to live and create a
Speaker 5: utopia for me and for my community.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Stephanie America and Luris. Thank you
Speaker 1: for joining us on this roundtable as we delve into
Speaker 1: politics and Latino and Latino voters and the issues that
Speaker 1: matter to us, which has got to say us. Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining me on Leatino USA. Thank you for.
Speaker 5: Having us, Thank you, thank you so much for the congo.
Speaker 1: This episode was produced by Monica Morales Garcia. It was
Speaker 1: edited by Victoria Strada. It was mixed by Stephanie Lebau.
Speaker 1: The Latino USA team includes Renaldo Leanos, Junior Andrello Pez Cruzado,
Speaker 1: Lori mar Marquez, Marta Martinez, Mike Sargent, Nor Saudi and
Speaker 1: Nancy Trujuillo. Benileiramidez is our co executive producer. Our senior
Speaker 1: engineer is Julia Caruso. Our marketing manager is Luis Luna.
Speaker 1: Our theme music was composed by Sege Rubinos. I'm your
Speaker 1: host and executive producer Maria noo Hosta. Remember join us
Speaker 1: on our next episode. In the meantime, look for us
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Speaker 1: remember not Teva yas Muga Tao.
Speaker 5: Funding for Latino USA is coverage of a culture of
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Speaker 5: the Robert Wood Foundation. Latino USA is made possible in
Speaker 5: part by the TAU Foundation and W. K. Kellogg Foundation,
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