WEBVTT - Abortion: The Body Politic, Part 4 0:00:01.880 --> 0:00:05.600 I'm Katie Curic, and this is abortion the body Politic, 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:10.480 Part four at the Supreme Court today an historic upheaval. 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:15.280 Brow is dead. The Conservative Court world six to three 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:18.800 Friday to uphold a Republican backed Mississippi law that bands 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:22.480 abortion after fifteen weeks of pregnancy, and five of those 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:26.799 justices went even further, voting to overturn Roe versus Wade itself. 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:31.240 And the question of abortion has been returned to the states. 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.680 After the Supreme Court took away the federal rights an abortion. 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:41.320 On June, abortion rights supporters flooded city streets from Seattle 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:48.520 to Boston and right here in New York City about it. Already, 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:53.560 a delusive litigation is underway. Thirteen states have abortion bands 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:57.680 in place, designed to be triggered and take effect immediately 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:02.120 after row Fell as if this recording. At least six states, 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:06.240 including Missouri, have begun to enforce their trigger bands to 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:11.039 prohibit abortion entirely, but the anti abortion wins are not 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:16.440 all immediate. A judge has granted a restraining order blocking 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:20.800 Utah's abortion band from being enforced. At least two states 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:25.280 have temporarily blocked enforcement of their trigger law bands on abortion. 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:29.880 In the first three parts of this series, we traced 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:32.720 how we got to this point, because the Supreme Court 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:36.360 decision didn't happen in a vacuum, and in fact, the 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:40.360 dismantling of Row is still one moment in the long 0:01:40.520 --> 0:01:44.160 arc of reproductive rights in this country. There's still a 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.280 way to go, and part of that journey is understanding 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.800 how we tell stories about abortion in the first place. 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.200 Today we're examining how abortion has been explored and reflected 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:59.440 in popular culture and Hollywood, whether we realize it or not. 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:02.280 The movies we have loved and the TV shows we 0:02:02.320 --> 0:02:06.840 watch represent the collective imagination of our culture at any 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:13.000 particular moment in time. Filmmaker Gillian Ropespierre directed the ten 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:17.280 brom com Obvious Child, which is still held up eight 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:20.760 years later as a movie that got abortion right. We 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:23.440 happened to talk to Gillian on the day Roe v. 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:29.400 Wade was overturned before we talk about the role of 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:35.359 storytelling and conveying messages about abortion. Gillian, what was your 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:40.960 reaction when you heard the news? Yeah, Um, I'm an 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:43.600 easy cry, so I feel like I'm getting just you know, 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:49.800 we knew it was coming. It wasn't that a total surprise. Um. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.040 But I was sitting in room with my writing partner 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.799 this morning, and she's a woman, and uh, we stopped. 0:02:55.880 --> 0:03:00.280 We just looked at each other and started crying. UM, 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:03.240 and we couldn't. You don't finish our work. But I'm 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:06.880 glad we had each other. Um. And it's devasity, it's 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.280 good it. It feels like after the tears came just 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:18.520 like anger and pain. Um. But also I'm fueled by 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.720 I'll show you that's sort of why I even made 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:22.639 this movie in the first place. So I do feel 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.840 like after the tears and and I will work with 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.720 the anger to to continue to figure out how to 0:03:32.639 --> 0:03:36.000 protest and how to get out of this mook. I'm 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:40.960 trus what you think Hollywood's responsibility is and what it 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:45.680 can do to to change hearts and minds and inform 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:52.840 people about the importance of reproductive rights. Yeah, you know, 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.440 I think just to bring it back to sort of 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:59.840 the story of how I made Obvious Child and how 0:03:59.840 --> 0:04:01.400 I got it made. I made it outside of the 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:06.720 studio system. I didn't ask for that permission. But um, 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:09.600 the reason why we made it is because it almost 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:12.839 felt like a dare all these films that that came 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:16.680 out in the mid two thousands about um, young women 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:23.719 having unplanned pregnancies, and they never even mentioned the word abortion. 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:28.719 Um and and it was a nerving to to watch 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.560 those films, and it made it a silent enemy. And 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:36.039 I just my whole life, I've kept on waiting for 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:40.160 a film where um they made that they gave abortion 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:43.000 a happy ending. You know, I love Dirty Dancing and 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.840 I love Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and those are 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.799 movies that I watched as a child, and Dirty Dancing, 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.800 uh kind of was a scary depiction. You know, it 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.120 was true to the time. But I'm a little kid 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:59.680 in the eighties and I was terrified. Uh there was 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.520 blo she almost died. Um In Fast Times, it was 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:09.000 you know, she Jennifer Jason Lee's character had no reservations 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.520 about making that choice, which I thought was cool. But 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.520 my young brain only took away from that movie that 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:18.960 losing your virginity hurts, and guys suck and it's cool 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:21.920 to have an older brother. Um. But when I had 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:24.360 my abortion, I couldn't help but think of all of 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:30.240 these movies, these awful depictions, and yeah, I was scared, 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.360 and did I think I was did across my mind 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:36.680 that I could die. Yeah, but that was not you know, 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:41.640 the reality is I had a very nice abortion. I 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:46.360 wasn't met with anti choice protesters or mean doctors or 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:51.880 unsupportive parents are partner. It was not traumatizing, and I 0:05:51.920 --> 0:06:00.000 was relief. Um And and all of those movies, uh, 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.920 you know, kind of scared me. What about Knocked Up 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:08.760 in Juno for example? Where did you see the narrative 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:17.800 of those movies? Not kind of fulfilling your view of abortion? Right? Well, 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:22.839 I'm also a huge fan of rom coms. I love them, 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.039 and I feel like those movies were the ones that 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.440 were daring me to try to make a rom colm 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:31.240 with an abortion that had an happy ending, Like I 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.240 dare you, idiot, try it. You're going to fail because 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.239 because no one wants to see that movie. And so 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:42.160 that's sort of what spurred Obvious Child was to try 0:06:42.200 --> 0:06:45.640 to make a film where the abortion is the catalyst 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:50.120 for abudding romance and and to show that in a 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:53.279 movie with an abortion can be both funny and poignant 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:59.600 and entertaining. Um and it could you know, show positive. Yeah, 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.599 no stigma or shame is involved this. You know. Donna, 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:08.159 our main character had an abortion, without feeling guilty or traumatized, 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:12.640 and that was similar to my experience. Can you tell 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:15.640 me a little briefly for people who haven't seen it, 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:18.960 who probably will head to to YouTube to see it now, 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:23.080 But can you tell me a little more about the plot, 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:27.600 just so we can give people an idea? Yes, so um. 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:30.600 It's about a young woman in her twenties named Donna 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:34.960 Stern played by the amazing Jenny Slate and Donna Stern 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:37.960 is a born and raised New Yorker who's a stand 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:41.680 up comedian and her boyfriend dumps her and she has 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:48.480 a one night stand with the very handsome and tender 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:54.480 Jake Lacey. Uh. She realizes she had is pregnant and 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:59.040 she decides to have an abortion, and the movie sort 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:02.280 of shows her reeling from the pain of a breakup 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:07.000 and trying to figure out will she or won't She 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:12.239 tell Jake Lacey's character it's never, um, will she won't 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:19.080 she have the abortion? Maybe you want to tell him, no, why, 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:21.040 why you don't owe him anything? You don't even know 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:23.120 this guy. Maybe he just deserts to know that like 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:26.480 this happened, that I'm not a psycho and I'm going 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:28.880 to get an abortion um, and it's framed in a 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:34.360 you know, romantic comedy inspired by uh, you know, all 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:38.280 of the films from from my childhood that I devoured 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.600 and you know, the girl always gets the guy, but 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:46.720 now she also has her future. Unfortunately, I feel like, 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.720 you know, because we we missed, we we were we 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.120 couldn't tell everyone's story, and obviously, child we can only 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:56.800 tell one woman's story. And Donna came from privilege, and 0:08:56.880 --> 0:08:59.679 you know, had all this support. She lived in New York, 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:02.839 so she at access, and so you know, the hopes 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:05.840 were that other stories could sort of burst from this. 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:10.160 I really thought that there is going to be this 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:18.920 giant change in in movies in the depiction of of 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:22.120 unplanned pregnancy and abortion. And I think there were you know, 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:26.640 there's some great films m Eliza Hitman, who's a pal 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:30.080 of mine, never, rarely sometimes always. I just watched I'm 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.960 Pregnant yesterday for the first time, and I thought that 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:36.240 was really great film. You know, there's so many stories 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:39.880 to be told. What now for Hollywood? Do you think 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:46.520 this will create a whole new um interest in films 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:51.000 about reproductive rights? I sure hope. So it feels like 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:55.280 we're too late, But I sure hope so, because um, 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:59.880 we have to continue to make art and tell us 0:09:59.880 --> 0:10:05.040 to worries that don't silence our experiences because I think, um, 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.320 I think silence is the greatest weapon. But I also 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:13.240 uh don't think Hollywood in the studio system is built 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.920 to take risks. I UM, I personally don't think telling 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.360 these stories are risky. I think we've seen in a 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:24.400 lot of films that these stories work well. You know, 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:31.480 that can be both entertaining and also important. My name's 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.160 page and I was twenty nine when I had my abortion. 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:42.160 My abortion story begins with mating my boyfriend Charlie. In 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:48.480 the summer. We started dating and absolutely fell over hill, 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:55.040 head over heels in love um and practiced very safe sex, 0:10:55.080 --> 0:11:00.760 ironic lay and we felt pregnant about two months in. 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:05.800 It was interesting because when I read the pregnancy result, 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:12.079 I felt excitement as my first feeling. I told him 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:17.679 right away and he was excited and so very um 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:21.640 you know, a nice emotion at the start that ended 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:26.920 up really challenging the decision making process. Um. And really 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.720 I had very little to go off. I couldn't talk 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.240 to my friends about it or my family. I had 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:37.200 never known anyone who had ever gotten an abortion. All 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:39.559 I had to go off was what I had understood 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:44.440 of it from popular culture references, and for me growing up, 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:47.760 that was the movie Dirty Dancing, where it was essentially 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.079 a girl living on the streets who gets butchered in 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:53.960 a garage. I've you said, he wasn't real empty the 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.559 guy had dirty knife. In the folding cable I could 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:01.800 hear was screaming in the hallway, or Juno, who she 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:05.439 gets shamed out of it. Your baby probably has a 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:09.719 beating heart, you know, it can feel pain. And he 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:16.560 dos fingernails, finger nails really and one day, you know, 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.080 we go pick up groceries. I'd be like, okay, now 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:22.720 we can do it. And then in the next aisle 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.880 he would say my job don't pay enough. I don't 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:27.720 see how he can do it. And then the next 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:30.959 style I would say, well, maybe I can go back 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:33.240 to Australia, and then the next stile was what we 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:36.480 can't give up every It was just so volatile in 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.960 terms of decision making, because what I learned from movies 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:42.920 is that if you can do it, you should do it. 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:46.440 I have a personality where if something makes me scared, 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:50.240 I'll try to run really almost lean into it, you know, 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.240 whether it's moving overseas or pursuing a career that I 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:56.720 don't think I'm ready for X of imposter syndrome or 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.240 whatever else, or running the New York City Marathon. And 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:04.440 what my therapist actually shared, what she said, you know, yes, 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:09.400 but you were your time to prepare or to get 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:13.040 comfortable with the choice. And she said, you didn't turn 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.240 away from this because you were scared. You turned away 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.600 from this was because it wasn't a choice. Um, it 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:25.400 wasn't your choice. I chose to go the medicine route 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:30.480 because I wanted to avoid a procedure um and you know, 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:33.359 going under, whether it's a general anesthetic or a local anesthetic. 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.599 And this to me felt like I could do in 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.360 the privacy of my home. It would still have the 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:43.160 same results. Um, it just seemed like more appropriate choice 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:47.280 for where I was, at least in the pregnancy. I 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.320 think even though I had clear direction, it's still such 0:13:50.360 --> 0:13:53.040 an overwhelming moment that I had times where I was like, wait, 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.000 did I write that down correctly? Have I taken an 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:58.480 hour to early hour too late? Because you just felt 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:00.440 like you've got a lot of weight on this moment 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:08.280 um and then taking the tablets. It was like very 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:13.679 very very bad cramps. And it lasts some time, um, 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:18.000 and you are kind of alone. You're alone while it happens, 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:21.280 and when you're going back and forth to the bathroom, 0:14:21.360 --> 0:14:23.280 and so it can feel a little bit lonely, but 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:24.920 you kind of get to a point where like, I 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:26.800 just need to get through and I want it done now. 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.280 I'm happy with my choice. I'm glad what I decided 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:36.320 to do. And it put a lot of things on 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:40.640 my radar, having children and having a family, potentially marriage 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.160 and what that really means to me. And so there's 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:45.680 gifts that have come out of it, and it's made 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:51.680 me really really UM. I can't ignore what's happening in 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:56.360 America and I'm a part of it. And I don't 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.680 want anyone to feel some of the bad feelings that 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:02.600 I experienced. And if I can be there for someone, 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.240 even strangers, I would want them to message me because 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:10.000 I don't. No one's alone. It's actually shocking how not 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.440 alone we are and how many people take this option. 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:30.120 After the break a comedy show about abortion, Hi, how 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:33.200 are you do you think? It's like a tin fabulous. 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:35.560 At the end of April, I went to see a 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:38.720 comedy show. It was at the historic Cherry Lane Theater 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:42.400 in a quaint little pocket of Manhattan's West Village. The 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.360 night we went, the show was still in previews, but 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:48.920 that didn't matter. It was a packed house. Hi everyone, 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:50.800 if you're here for Alison, leave me. The line starts 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.080 right here. Please have your baggy Gregy ready and off 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.760 stand your ticket. Thank you so much. It was called 0:15:56.000 --> 0:16:00.000 Oh God, a show about abortion. The comedian is Alice 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:05.440 and leave. Thank you for being here, Thank you for 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:10.360 coming to what my dad calls my special show. Now. 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.560 My parents are super supportive. My mom texted me kill 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:16.000 it tonight. That was like, already did so why there's 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:24.440 a show I had an abortion three years ago. Thank you. Um, 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:29.080 I'm still trying to lose the no baby weights. I'm 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.920 gonna challenge. I'm not surprised that I needed an abortion. 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:35.560 I am surprised I needed one when I was old 0:16:35.680 --> 0:16:40.320 enough to run for presidents That after the show, I 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:42.880 headed to the green room so Allison and I could 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.240 talk shop. I mean, oh God, how did you decide 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:51.760 to do a show about abortion? I really I it 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:55.560 kind of happened organically. I mean, obviously the experience happened 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:57.920 to me. It was not planned, but as a stand 0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.440 up on somebody who just like writes about what happens 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:02.480 and what I see in the world and things I 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:04.960 think are funny, and I was like going through that experience, 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:07.080 and I was like, there's funny stuff here that isn't 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:11.160 the normal stand up abortion content. I feel like when 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.000 people get up and talk about abortion and stand up, 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:17.480 it's usually theoretical or someone liners. I feel like people 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:19.120 don't tell the whole story because like no one really 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.000 wants to sit in it that long, because it makes 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.919 people uncomfortable even though it shouldn't. So I wrote a 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:28.520 couple of jokes bombed so hard every time I told them, 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.080 like the first like five times, just getting up and 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:32.639 doing a ten or fifteen minutes set and in the 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:34.840 middle like trying to slip in this abortion material, and 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:38.040 like you could just you could feel people men crossing 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.640 their arms, just like really closing down. And it's like 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:43.600 it's because I wasn't confident and yet I was still 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.919 you know, new jokes are always kind of weaker just 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.000 because you're not ready to say them yet. And the 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.239 way that you do when they're done, also popping them 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.720 in the middle of a routine. That's sort of hard 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:57.880 thing to right. But I eventually got to a point 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:00.480 where that wasn't that hard because I like the jokes 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.000 that like, I had the confidence where people were like, 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:06.560 she's bringing this up and then being like we can, 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:08.480 She's going to guide us through this, like this is 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:10.959 not going to be awful. And so I kind of 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.200 started getting the material together and I had like five minutes, 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.000 and then I had ten minutes, and then I kept 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:18.560 being like, oh, this and this, and and I all 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:20.399 of a sudden I had like fifteen or twenty minutes 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:23.000 that worked, and I was like, well, if I could 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:26.120 do twenty, I could probably do an hour. I mean 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.480 that kind of insane ego logic where I'm yeah, I 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.720 can do anything, right. I went to Planned Parenthood in 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:34.480 Soho in New York City, the fancy downtown neighborhood, because 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:37.600 I'm a fancy bitch um, and I was nervous that 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:39.960 there would be protesters, just because in TV and film 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:43.239 and the news, I've always seen tons of protesters in 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.359 front of abortion clinics. I'm like, I don't like wire 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.600 hangers in my closet. I don't want them in front 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:50.560 of my healthcare clinics. Okay, But I went and there 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.439 were not like all, you know, there weren't all of 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.600 the crazy things that you would expect. There were just 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:58.080 like four old Catholic people standing across the street silently, 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:02.720 like it just looks like that painted American gothic twice, 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:06.080 but like less scary because they didn't even have a pitchfork. 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:11.480 Thank god. There is a much more intimidating force outside 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:13.639 of the Plan Parenthood and SOHO in New York that 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:16.680 is threatening women who are seeking abortions, and that is 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.200 across the street from Plan Parenthood there is a luxury 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:24.960 maternity wear store called Hatch. What who own is that? 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:29.680 Mike Pets Like, how did you determine what else you 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:33.320 wanted to talk about? Because you talk obviously about growing up, 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:38.720 and it really becomes kind of a full social commentary 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:41.200 on your life in a way. I guess the most 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:43.760 natural way to tell this story is to like step 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:45.920 back and look at it from the bigger picture of like, 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:49.880 how do I feel about sex and abortion? And I started? 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:52.400 The thing that's changed the most since I started writing 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:56.040 it is like, what is this serious thing I'm saying? 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:58.560 And and what is the what is the come? Like? 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:00.520 What am I trying to tell people by telling them 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.680 about abortion? And it really because it happened to me 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:07.680 when I was so much older. The motherhood conversation with 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:12.120 myself was so real in a way that at five, 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:15.040 I probably wouldn't have thought about that, and it would 0:20:15.119 --> 0:20:17.920 and and it it impacts you know what people think 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:21.400 your choices are less like if you're and need an abortion, 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:24.080 no one's like and now she'll never be a mother, 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:26.640 Like she's made her choice. No, you have a whole 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:29.200 life of your fertility in front of you. But when 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:35.080 you're older, it kind of is this definitive decision. Women's 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:38.280 identity and motherhood are like so collapsed in our culture 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:42.679 that it's actually everything you do, every decision you make, 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:46.160 everything you do is kind of connected to this idea 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:49.760 and this identity. And that's terrible. But what's hard about 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:54.040 managing these fears about fertility is that, like there is 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:58.880 no kitchen timer on men's fertility, women's fertility is very set. 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:00.800 If you're a woman, you're and with all the eggs 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.320 you're ever going to have forever and if you're pregnant 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:05.280 with a daughter, all the eggs she's ever going to 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:08.400 have are already inside of you, which explains a lot 0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:12.600 of our love of big purses, you know, just like 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:15.520 dig around. You're like, all right, phone, pea's wallet, Kleenex, 0:21:15.600 --> 0:21:18.320 a Clementine from two and a half weeks ago, my eggs, 0:21:18.400 --> 0:21:23.120 her eggs. All right, let's go out. We're ready. Men 0:21:23.359 --> 0:21:27.760 create sperm throughout their lives. Men are creating sperm at 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:33.800 the rate that everline is creating unflattering pants constantly. Like okay, 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:37.280 to put it in context, Richard gear is seventy, his 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:40.960 wife is thirty six. We don't have time to get 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:44.400 into all of the problems with that relationship. But when 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:47.399 they have sex, she is the one that's worried that 0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:49.000 she's not going to be able to be a parent 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:51.200 because she's too old. She is the one who is 0:21:51.200 --> 0:21:54.240 worried the thirty six year old, not the seventy year old, 0:21:54.600 --> 0:21:56.960 which is crazy because in every other context, he's the 0:21:57.000 --> 0:22:02.840 one you're worried about walking downstairs eatings. What words we 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:07.840 culturally decided we don't say anymore. Why did you decide? 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:12.760 I mean, especially now, it's so prescient that this was 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:15.040 an important piece of work for you to do and 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:19.280 an important issue for you to tackle comedically. I just 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:23.440 feel like abortion gets such like a heavy hand in 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:26.600 pop culture so often, and it is always treated as 0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:29.320 this like trauma, and I think it is for many 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:32.399 women who experience it, but it's not for everyone who 0:22:32.480 --> 0:22:35.159 experiences it, and it doesn't have to be necessarily. I 0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:40.040 think a lot of the trauma is imposed by by 0:22:40.200 --> 0:22:46.119 society because of the the morality that is imposed on 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:49.680 women who choose to terminate a pregnancy, yes, and also 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:52.199 the women who have to jump through way more hoops 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:54.399 to do it. I mentioned in the show, But like, 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:58.440 of course I'm an incredibly incredibly privileged woman in the 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:01.359 circumstance I had resource, says, I was in New York City, Like, 0:23:01.440 --> 0:23:04.040 I did not have to drive hundreds of miles or 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:07.240 spend money I didn't have, Like it really was a 0:23:07.320 --> 0:23:10.040 lot easier for me, yeah, or not more or not 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:12.800 be able to have an abortion all right, because you 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:15.520 just didn't have access and you had no choice exactly, 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:18.240 and so like, so much of that trauma is based 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:22.200 on the politics of abortion. But also I think that 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:25.080 there's just a lot of people with a narrative that 0:23:25.160 --> 0:23:27.800 looks like mine, and I hadn't seen it reflected in 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:31.040 stand up. Very often when women talk about their bodies 0:23:31.119 --> 0:23:36.119 on stage, it's inherently politicized. I've heard so many men 0:23:36.280 --> 0:23:38.720 tell me so many things about their bodies into a 0:23:38.760 --> 0:23:42.280 microphone and it never once gets a reaction of like, 0:23:43.200 --> 0:23:45.760 but like when women do it all the time, it does. 0:23:45.920 --> 0:23:48.120 And so I've heard like here and there people talk 0:23:48.160 --> 0:23:50.440 about abortion a little in passing, just to be like 0:23:50.640 --> 0:23:53.840 starting that conversation, and I was like, I think I 0:23:53.920 --> 0:23:56.760 could tell the whole thing. Like I think laying out 0:23:56.840 --> 0:24:01.560 every detail makes it seem so much more mundane because 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:04.240 you're like, oh, and then you do this, and then 0:24:04.240 --> 0:24:05.760 you do this, and you had to get there like this, 0:24:05.960 --> 0:24:09.520 and that, Like it makes it a task or like 0:24:09.680 --> 0:24:14.320 an errand um when presented procedure, like removing a skin 0:24:14.440 --> 0:24:17.560 tag or getting a colonoscopy, or like any of the 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:21.680 things that like we easily can joke about and depict 0:24:21.880 --> 0:24:25.560 as not politicized and not traumas. And so I thought 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:30.840 I could do this. Probably I've said abortion more in 0:24:30.920 --> 0:24:34.040 the last two years that I've said cumulatively in my 0:24:34.240 --> 0:24:38.520 entire life, and it does get easier, and even just 0:24:38.600 --> 0:24:41.200 talking about it like this or about the show with 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:44.440 a friend, like I'm finding that like there's just ease 0:24:44.520 --> 0:24:47.000 to it, and like that's all that's my only goal 0:24:47.040 --> 0:24:48.520 for well, my goal is like for it to be 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:51.320 funny first and foremost, and number two just be like, 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:54.040 can't we just talk about this more? Can't we all 0:24:54.080 --> 0:24:58.000 just say this more? I had the incredible experience of 0:24:58.160 --> 0:25:00.440 many times when I first started working out the show 0:25:00.480 --> 0:25:04.040 in much smaller spaces where I was like, got off 0:25:04.080 --> 0:25:05.119