Speaker 1: Welcome to Dick.
Speaker 2: It happened here the podcast for the situation continues to worsen.
Speaker 2: The thing that is worstening today is the rights war
Speaker 2: an abortion, which they are winning and are continuing to win,
Speaker 2: is not contained to simply abortion. It has been spreading.
Speaker 2: It has been getting worse. And yeah, with me to
Speaker 2: talk about it is Crystal, who once again is an
Speaker 2: abortion worker and an abortion union organizer and on the
Speaker 2: on the on the board of a bail fund, not
Speaker 2: bail fund Jesus Rist. Sorry, I'm getting my I'm getting
Speaker 2: my my funds crossed in my mind on the board
Speaker 2: of a of a of a Jesus Christ.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, sorry, sorry, I probably shouldn't have said that.
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, this is this is entirely my fault because
Speaker 2: we've been doing so much bail fund stuff that I mean,
Speaker 2: they're good. Yeah, it's like when my brain thinks fund,
Speaker 2: it just goes to it just goes to bail fund.
Speaker 2: Now all things that are good, Yeah, abortion funds that one,
Speaker 2: because just leave that and screw it, you know, like it, Well,
Speaker 2: we'll leave we'll leave me doing that in.
Speaker 4: H'll do it live RiPP and hell.
Speaker 2: Guy who said that, Yeah, yeah, Yeah, Crystal, welcome back. Yeah,
Speaker 2: glad to be talking to you again.
Speaker 3: Love suffering. I love talking about pain and suffering and
Speaker 3: also the good work that we're doing to mitigate it,
Speaker 3: but also pain and suffering.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so I guess yeah, I think we should
Speaker 2: start with sort of I don't know what frame me
Speaker 2: as a contagion is the right way to do it.
Speaker 2: I think it's probably not. But the way that the
Speaker 2: sort of the ripple like where where where are the
Speaker 2: sort of ripples of uh of of the sort of
Speaker 2: anti portion movements advance have been going.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because you know, if we're talking about you know,
Speaker 3: it's been a year since the jobs decision in Roe v.
Speaker 3: Way was return. You know, what does that mean? What
Speaker 3: does that imply? What have would have been the what
Speaker 3: has been in kind of like the aftermath of that.
Speaker 3: The one thing is that, you know, the strategies to
Speaker 3: get to that point worked. And I really hate saying
Speaker 3: like in terms of like they won or we lost,
Speaker 3: because we're all we're in America, we're all losing. We're
Speaker 3: all losing here except for the fascists, but so we
Speaker 3: we have We're seeing a lot of bad things happening
Speaker 3: because of the dab's decision, and that's those strategies worked
Speaker 3: in our current political environment to get us to that point.
Speaker 3: And and I mentioned before you know it's death by
Speaker 3: a thousand cuts is kind of like one of the
Speaker 3: ways in which you can describe the strategies like NonStop bands,
Speaker 3: NonStop restrictions just a constant onslaught basically uh bands that
Speaker 3: are their copycat legislation and you know they're they're being
Speaker 3: pumped out. People can just like literally plug in the
Speaker 3: templates and share them and it can be applied to
Speaker 3: a number of different things in different states and copycat legislation.
Speaker 3: So it worked, and where we're we are because that
Speaker 3: strategy worked and did not get enough resistance. Not enough
Speaker 3: was done to combat that strategy on the left with Democrats,
Speaker 3: and it immediately spread to the next autonomy based issue
Speaker 3: because and not saying that it didn't start before that,
Speaker 3: because you know, these fascists have been going after all
Speaker 3: kinds of issues of autonomy for decades, abortion being one
Speaker 3: of them, you know, prison, prison abolition being one of them,
Speaker 3: and then also trans healthcare and just you know LGBT
Speaker 3: in general, but like specifically trans healthcare that we have
Speaker 3: been seeing we are seeing a lot of the same
Speaker 3: restrictions and bands uh spreading to that very quickly, like
Speaker 3: faster than I. I mean, like I knew things were bad,
Speaker 3: you would think that I would just like, you know,
Speaker 3: expect the worst. But like I, I didn't think that
Speaker 3: we would see the legislation for the anti trans health
Speaker 3: uh healthcare and gender firming services legislation move as fast
Speaker 3: as it has, like I should have and I didn't,
Speaker 3: And it's been incredibly fast, and and it feels so
Speaker 3: similar and I should I don't even want to say
Speaker 3: it feels similar. It is. It's when I when I'm
Speaker 3: seeing it happen, I'm like, this is the same thing.
Speaker 3: They're using trap laws, which are laws that so uh
Speaker 3: target actual providers. I mean, I guess you can't really
Speaker 3: call them trap laws because abortion providers in that.
Speaker 2: Trap thing which not going to get it.
Speaker 5: Yeah, abortion services, but yeah, but uh, it's the same
Speaker 5: like type of of restrictions and bands, and we're seeing
Speaker 5: them spread to those kinds of health.
Speaker 3: Care services, so it's impacting other types of health care services.
Speaker 3: And it's I and I'm seeing a lot of the
Speaker 3: same legal back and forth where it's like, oh, this
Speaker 3: law went into effect, like for example, in Florida, and
Speaker 3: oh now it's being challenged in court, so it's it's
Speaker 3: not being it's not enforced right now, so it kind
Speaker 3: of goes goes back to the way it does before,
Speaker 3: which I mean, it's always good to see a restriction
Speaker 3: temporarily paused in a band temporarily paused because that relief
Speaker 3: is needed. I see that in abortion care, Like when
Speaker 3: when there is a band that is temporarily reversed by
Speaker 3: the courts, it is like, thank, thank god, I'm so happy,
Speaker 3: you know, we get some relief. We can we can
Speaker 3: see people for their healthcare services tomorrow. However, that back
Speaker 3: and forth is incredibly confusing and creates confusion and chaos
Speaker 3: on a and like on a mass scale, because it's
Speaker 3: like can I access these services? Can I not accesse
Speaker 3: these services? Can I get at these services in the
Speaker 3: stage where I have to travel out of state? It's
Speaker 3: more than like the individual can keep up with and
Speaker 3: confusion is the point. So like when I'm seeing some
Speaker 3: of these bands related to trans health services, I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 3: you know, I'm glad that I'm pretty sure I have
Speaker 3: to admit I have not read the news in the
Speaker 3: last couple of days. So I don't know if this
Speaker 3: has been walked back, but it seems like Florida has
Speaker 3: some relief right now. But I just know what that
Speaker 3: mass confusion looks like for individuals, and I'm like, this
Speaker 3: is so similar. Oh my god, this is this is
Speaker 3: the same type of fight. This is the same fight.
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, because like this is also
Speaker 2: another thing with the media is just just like active accomplices,
Speaker 2: Like this, this is a kind of thing where like
Speaker 2: it is really easy to look at this and go
Speaker 2: like they're doing this on purpose so they can generate
Speaker 2: fucking horror stories, which I don't think is why they're
Speaker 2: doing it. I think they're doing it because they're transphobed.
Speaker 2: But you know, like one of the one of the
Speaker 2: things is very that's just fucking awful about this stuff
Speaker 2: is that like the the people who are reporting on
Speaker 2: this don't understand how these laws work, and so you know,
Speaker 2: like I mean, like I this is my job, right,
Speaker 2: Like I cover this for a living, and I will
Speaker 2: read a report about something and I can't tell what
Speaker 2: the law does because the person writing the fucking there's
Speaker 2: the stupid ass journalists who they've hired, who like have
Speaker 2: never talked to a transperson in their life, and like
Speaker 2: are only tangentially aware of what the law is, like
Speaker 2: like the concept of the law is something they were
Speaker 2: introduced to two years ago. Like they don't fuck they
Speaker 2: don't fucking know what these bills do, right, so you
Speaker 2: have to like go actually read the bill. But that
Speaker 2: doesn't help because you know this this is yeah, this
Speaker 2: is like, this is I think a very similar strategy
Speaker 2: of like there's there's this way in which like constant onslaught,
Speaker 2: constant sort of confusion, constant terror. And also you know,
Speaker 2: and the way that the strategy right now that is
Speaker 2: being sort of relied on the stop this stuff is
Speaker 2: to the courts that that is very similar to what
Speaker 2: the entire struggle over abortion biites look like. And you know,
Speaker 2: we know how that ended it. It doesn't it didn't work,
Speaker 2: and it's not going to work with with with transferrts either,
Speaker 2: and like it, and you know, and I think something
Speaker 2: that like we're going to see more of as you know,
Speaker 2: because like water, some of these bands will be struck down,
Speaker 2: but you know, you're gonna get the abortion thing where
Speaker 2: it's like Okay, so you like one bag gets struck down,
Speaker 2: so they pass another one that you just keep passing
Speaker 2: them until they can find one that their fucking judges
Speaker 2: will make.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they like reintroduce bills that are like practically
Speaker 3: the same thing but like slightly different, and they just
Speaker 3: like retry stuff after doing like political shenanigans and and
Speaker 3: and we're still we're still doing the legal back and
Speaker 3: forth approach. And abortion care like it's still the same thing,
Speaker 3: like it hasn't changed. And seeing that also happen, it's like, well,
Speaker 3: people need health care now, like with abortion care and
Speaker 3: trans healthcare, it's like you need that healthcare when you
Speaker 3: need it, like right now, today, tomorrow, and when there
Speaker 3: is confusion and this bad like the because the courts
Speaker 3: take forever like it it's and it changes a lot,
Speaker 3: and it's confusing when you see the news stories like
Speaker 3: you were saying, So it's interfering and lowering the quality
Speaker 3: of accessing like lowering the quality of that healthcare and
Speaker 3: accessing that health care, like the experience of accessing that
Speaker 3: health care now like today. And it's it's cumulative because
Speaker 3: like you you lose the ability to keep track of
Speaker 3: what you have the right to do and what you
Speaker 3: don't and and these are these are the same, Like
Speaker 3: there are issues of controlling your life and your body
Speaker 3: and of privacy as well, you know, your ability. It's
Speaker 3: like your business, it's your body, and the state is
Speaker 3: getting in the way. And and it hurts so much
Speaker 3: to this happening to even more people, because it's it's
Speaker 3: hard enough watching what happens to people who need abortions
Speaker 3: and seeing what they go through, and then having to
Speaker 3: see even more people who are also trying to access
Speaker 3: healthcare to help them have control over their lives and
Speaker 3: their bodies. Also having that, you know, having that impeded
Speaker 3: and and and and taken away from them too with
Speaker 3: a different type of health care, and seeing like that
Speaker 3: is just like oh my god, Like not only were
Speaker 3: we able, we were not able to maintain these services
Speaker 3: in this country, and we're also seeing it happened to
Speaker 3: another type of health care. And and another thing too,
Speaker 3: is like abortion providers are also trans healthcare providers. Like yeah,
Speaker 3: it's it's like body stuff. It's like you know, like
Speaker 3: it's they're they're like often the same building.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like like plant planned parenthood does both. Yeah, runs
Speaker 2: through planned parenthood.
Speaker 3: And a lot of independent clinics to a lot of
Speaker 3: independent abortion providers also provide trans healthcare as well and
Speaker 3: gender hormones. Uh, gender hormone, I keep saying gender hormone,
Speaker 3: even though that doesn't make any.
Speaker 1: Sense, But.
Speaker 3: Hormone therapy services and gender for me, I feel like
Speaker 3: I'm like combining those together. But they offer both.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but but that also means that like if you
Speaker 2: if if you knock out a clinic for like for
Speaker 2: one of the reasons, you've also knocked out the services
Speaker 2: for everyone else too, write so like it's you know,
Speaker 2: and I think this is something that's very important about
Speaker 2: the way the right seas is that the right seas
Speaker 2: this has the same fight very clearly, and that I
Speaker 2: don't know, I mean, I think I think in terms
Speaker 2: of the people who actually do organizing, I think it's
Speaker 2: like it's understood that it is the same fight, but
Speaker 2: I don't think it is as much in the general public.
Speaker 2: Even though the like for the people you're fighting against,
Speaker 2: they are you know, incredibly like viscerally and disturbingly clear
Speaker 2: about like what they want to do and about the
Speaker 2: fact that you know, like destroying people's autonomies and using
Speaker 2: the state to take control of me, just like literally
Speaker 2: physically take control of their bodies and define what they are,
Speaker 2: which is something they do like you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: then this is this is this is the thing that's
Speaker 2: been happening in these anti transports too, is like they've
Speaker 2: been like like legally defining what a woman is by
Speaker 2: like reproductive apparatuses and stuff like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that that's disgusting and and it makes me
Speaker 3: feel just like disgusted as like just like seeing that
Speaker 3: because like I feel like I don't even like fit
Speaker 3: some of the criteria that no as a says woman.
Speaker 3: I feel like it like and I'm just like, oh
Speaker 3: my god. And we're also like we're punishing people for
Speaker 3: not having like perfect health and like perfect pregnancies and
Speaker 3: being worn into the body that you know what I mean,
Speaker 3: Like people are being punished for not being the ideal
Speaker 3: cause like and I've asked, I've like stupidly asked this
Speaker 3: out loud, where I'm like, you know, I've asked out loud,
Speaker 3: like why are these bands so restrictive where people who
Speaker 3: are pregnant and you know, like they're just not having
Speaker 3: a perfect pregnancy, like there are complications like which which happened,
Speaker 3: and they're like being punished for not having the perfect
Speaker 3: pregnancy by these laws, like these abortion restrictions, And I'm
Speaker 3: like why would they do that, Like why like how
Speaker 3: can you not know that pregnancies go wrong? And how
Speaker 3: would you not know that? And then somebody said to
Speaker 3: me they were like, well, you know, like e've was
Speaker 3: punished with the ability with dangerous pregnancies, like if you
Speaker 3: look at their religion, like it was a punishment. So
Speaker 3: I'm like, yeah, like they're they just believe we should
Speaker 3: be like punished for not being born in the right body,
Speaker 3: not having the perfect pregnancy, not wanting a pregnancy, you know,
Speaker 3: like you're being punished for not and having the ideal
Speaker 3: because they believe that it is a it's a punishment,
Speaker 3: just like in I guess I'm trying to think of
Speaker 3: the word like naturally intrinsically or something. I don't know,
Speaker 3: and I don't subscribe to that ideology, but it's being
Speaker 3: forced on us. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean I think there's this way in
Speaker 2: which people have People have this tendency to conceive of
Speaker 2: like neoliberalism right specifically as this thing that's about like
Speaker 2: the retreat the retreat of state power. And that's never
Speaker 2: been what it is, right what like, you know, if
Speaker 2: you if you look at what neoliberalism actually looks like,
Speaker 2: it's fucking abortion bands, right, Like the people who are
Speaker 2: pushing that are the people who push Reagan into office.
Speaker 2: The actual point of the state in neoliberalism and this
Speaker 2: and you know, and this is one that's incredibly compatible
Speaker 2: with this sort of like with the sort of religious
Speaker 2: fascists that they allied themselves with in order to come
Speaker 2: into power. Right, the way that's actually manifested is is
Speaker 2: just through the state directly taking control of your body.
Speaker 2: Because you know, like people, people aren't actually fucking natural
Speaker 2: market subjects. They're not like a woman is not as
Speaker 2: as these like stupid assholes always insist is like, oh,
Speaker 2: someone who gives birth, Like no, it's just like not true,
Speaker 2: it's not true. It's not and so and because it's
Speaker 2: not right with people, because that's the image that they
Speaker 2: have to like force you into. The only way they
Speaker 2: can do that is by using state ails to physically
Speaker 2: take control of your body and shape you into the
Speaker 2: thing that they think you are.
Speaker 3: Yep, yep. And and they're like, none of this stuff
Speaker 3: is siloed like you know, like pregnancy is related to abortion,
Speaker 3: care is related to just like trans care is like
Speaker 3: embedded in all of that as well. Uh, trans people
Speaker 3: get pregnant and have abortions. And also in terms of
Speaker 3: hormone therapy more like you know, like people besides trans
Speaker 3: people need hormone therapy as well. Like like none of
Speaker 3: these things are a silo by themselves, like they're all
Speaker 3: kind of embedded together, and the effect of that is
Speaker 3: that it's kind of become impossible to be a doctor
Speaker 3: and a healthcare provider for a lot of these services
Speaker 3: because they're so entwined and because like you know, we
Speaker 3: all we have our bodies, and like our our bodies
Speaker 3: aren't in separate like can take our body parts, aren't
Speaker 3: in separate containers. Like they're all like we're like all connected,
Speaker 3: Like it's all connected, and you can't really have one
Speaker 3: without the other. And now we're seeing doctors who can't
Speaker 3: safely do there what they have to do, like provide
Speaker 3: like the health careacter to like appropriate medical standards within
Speaker 3: these laws that exist. So you see doctors who are like, wow,
Speaker 3: I can't actually perform the health care that I need
Speaker 3: to perform without potentially losing my license. So I'm just
Speaker 3: going to leave the state. So you see a lot
Speaker 3: of doctors. Uh, there's been a lot of news stories
Speaker 3: about doctors, particularly the ones that I've seen. I'm sure
Speaker 3: that there's other types of doctors too, but like you know,
Speaker 3: obstetricians and obgi ns who are leaving states because they
Speaker 3: cannot safely practice the medicine as it's as you know,
Speaker 3: as sign and medicine wants them to, you know that
Speaker 3: without risking losing their license. So they're just leaving. And
Speaker 3: these are states that need those doctors. I mean, there's
Speaker 3: a lot that can be said about maternal and infomortality
Speaker 3: rates in the United States. So the fact that you
Speaker 3: have obgi ns like fleeing states, and I'm sure these
Speaker 3: are states that need those doctors and have low standard
Speaker 3: like low or have just like low quality outcomes or
Speaker 3: like bad outcomes when it comes to maternal and infomortality.
Speaker 3: And you're seeing this and it's like, well, this is
Speaker 3: just making all kinds of health care worse, Like it's
Speaker 3: becoming less safe to just be pregnant in general, even
Speaker 3: if you are caring and delivering a pregnancy in these
Speaker 3: states and I'm sure that you're going to see this
Speaker 3: also happen because of these trans healthcare bands. It's that
Speaker 3: you're going to see doctors fleeing in areas in which
Speaker 3: those doctors are needed because they are risk of losing
Speaker 3: their license and not being able to practice.
Speaker 2: And another thing I think that's very similar between these
Speaker 2: two things. It's like there's just not that you know,
Speaker 2: we've we've talked about this more broadly, like in a
Speaker 2: lot of the and in a lot of the comforts
Speaker 2: are like I've done on the show about labor stuff,
Speaker 2: my healthcare labor is that like just everywhere, even even
Speaker 2: in even in sectors where like there's no there's no
Speaker 2: sort of legal threat, right, there's they're just massive labor
Speaker 2: shortages because these these these for profit healthcare companies are
Speaker 2: you know, don't want to fucking bring in another person
Speaker 2: on a shift because that costing more money and that's
Speaker 2: less money than they can pocket, and you know, and yeah,
Speaker 2: and and and and but and both both abortion services
Speaker 2: and trans healthcare are fields. I mean, there are just
Speaker 2: there's just not that many people. Like they're just like
Speaker 2: the the the numbers are so small that like like
Speaker 2: I can I can ask my friends, and they know,
Speaker 2: like every provider in the city yep, oh yeah.
Speaker 3: And it's like two providers, yeah, like abortion providers, like
Speaker 3: two places to get hormones.
Speaker 4: It's like and and and again this isn't plan Like
Speaker 4: I live in Chicago, right, this is a place where
Speaker 4: it's like it's pretty easy to get hormones, right, compared
Speaker 4: to I mean, this is this is like one yeah,
Speaker 4: well but I mean like genuiney like this is a
Speaker 4: this is the thing we you know, this is like
Speaker 4: if you want to get like look at other parallels, right,
Speaker 4: this is like Chicago has always been i mean not always,
Speaker 4: but for i mean like half a century, probably longer
Speaker 4: than that, has been a place where people like trans
Speaker 4: people from around the country, particularly from the South, have
Speaker 4: like upwroarded their lives and fled to because it was
Speaker 4: a place where you could actually get.
Speaker 1: Care and you know.
Speaker 2: But like but even here, it's fucking hard as ship.
Speaker 2: Like yeah, it's really hard, and you know, and and
Speaker 2: a lot like the like like my one of one
Speaker 2: of the local clinics has been on strike for months
Speaker 2: and months and months because they're the place that they
Speaker 2: work for, like slashed a bunch of services and so
Speaker 2: and this like this this this kind of struggle is
Speaker 2: you know, like this is this is the thing that's
Speaker 2: happening in places where it's even where it's legal, and
Speaker 2: then suddenly the state bans it, and suddenly, you know,
Speaker 2: people are leaving the field, people are leaving states. Becomes
Speaker 2: even harder the services that already exist just even more
Speaker 2: over tax It's just like it's the exact same like collapse,
Speaker 2: just like rippling through the entire sector.
Speaker 3: And none of these jobs pay a lot either, Like yeah,
Speaker 3: like I just in general, like I'm sure, like I'm
Speaker 3: not citing a specific job, but I'm sure that there
Speaker 3: are abortion providers like who are like medical assistants and
Speaker 3: hormone therapy like medical assistants that are making like fifteen
Speaker 3: bucks an hour, which is ridiculous considering you're also being
Speaker 3: threatened with violence. You're also having to deal with patients
Speaker 3: who who are also experiencing the same national health crisis
Speaker 3: that you are, Like you're experiencing it together, Like this
Speaker 3: is something like it's not like, oh, I'm suffering by
Speaker 3: myself as a worker, or oh, these patients are suffering
Speaker 3: as individual I mean they are suffering into visual but
Speaker 3: you know, like they're suffering alone as individuals, they're experiencing
Speaker 3: like the same sort of like grief is like a
Speaker 3: lot of the other people who are accessing the same
Speaker 3: services as them. And it's like while we are all
Speaker 3: in this sinking boat together and and it's so hard
Speaker 3: to recruit into these roles, so like we need more
Speaker 3: more abortion care and trans health providers, and it's hard
Speaker 3: to get people to commit to that when you you
Speaker 3: can't live on that and you can't sustain that, like
Speaker 3: you can't stay in that job and keep doing it
Speaker 3: for years when you're literally being like you're you're you're
Speaker 3: being traumatized, you're experiencing suffering, You're witnessing suffering because I'm killed.
Speaker 2: Like that that happens to me and threatened, yeah, like.
Speaker 3: Just like like violent threats are something that both types
Speaker 3: of health services have in common now, which is so depressing.
Speaker 3: But uh, it's we're all we're all being threatened by
Speaker 3: by the right and by fascists. Like I try to
Speaker 3: like sometimes it's like the right conservatives, I'm like, they're fascists,
Speaker 3: They're they're it's fascism.
Speaker 1: There's literally like a lot of these people like to
Speaker 1: show up to this stuff.
Speaker 2: It's it's like it's literally the same groups a proud
Speaker 2: boys who show up to like different things over and over.
Speaker 1: Again, and they get relabeled by the.
Speaker 2: Media as like concerned parents or like the Christian outreach groups,
Speaker 2: depending on like what thing they're at, and it's like, okay,
Speaker 2: these no, like these are fascists who tried to overthrow
Speaker 2: the governments and seize power, like this is this this
Speaker 2: is three years ago, Like come on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like these are people who are actively they
Speaker 3: are ruining the lives of my loved ones and people
Speaker 3: in my community, like my neighbors, Like they are ruining
Speaker 3: my and my neighbors' lives like actively in ways that
Speaker 3: are just getting worse. So it is one fight. I
Speaker 3: really want everyone to realize that. I feel like it
Speaker 3: is being realized more and more now. But you know,
Speaker 3: the more people who learn it, the better and the
Speaker 3: ways in which just I just feel like the Jobs
Speaker 3: decision and the overturn of Robi Wade meant more than
Speaker 3: just people couldn't get abortions. I think it's just the
Speaker 3: destruction of healthcare in general in this country, and it
Speaker 3: was it turned it into like just like a mad
Speaker 3: dash to do the exact same thing to health services
Speaker 3: that trans people need. Yeah, so fun.
Speaker 2: Another one of the parts of this fight, and I
Speaker 2: think the part of this fight that is the least
Speaker 2: popular in terms of like who will actually back you,
Speaker 2: which is both like healthcare workers both doing abortion care
Speaker 2: and who during trans healthcare fighting what is essentially like
Speaker 2: a three way war where they are they are under
Speaker 2: assault from the right and from the state who are
Speaker 2: trying to criminalize the health care that they provide and
Speaker 2: you know, directly target them through trap laws and through
Speaker 2: that I don't we need to figure out what their
Speaker 2: name for the version of the anti translots, but you know,
Speaker 2: so they're being specifically targeted by the state, and then
Speaker 2: they're also fighting a conflict with their own employers and
Speaker 2: whether that's whether that's private healthcare providers or that's NGOs
Speaker 2: who are you know, don't want to pay them shit.
Speaker 2: You know, our funnel are funneling all of this fucking
Speaker 2: money into paying somebody's fucking dipshit cousin like three hundred
Speaker 2: thousand dollars a year to be like the vice executive
Speaker 2: director of like policy marketing or something.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and and.
Speaker 2: The way, the way in which you know this this
Speaker 2: is this has turned into a union struggle that is
Speaker 2: deeply like it kind of in a lot of ways,
Speaker 2: deeply unpopular among liberals because they just don't they don't
Speaker 2: see like healthcare providers as workers.
Speaker 3: Yeah. It it has been such a strange experience union
Speaker 3: organizing and and and contract negotiating during a national health crisis.
Speaker 3: And after the fall of Ruby Wait it was so like,
Speaker 3: you know, Ruby Waight is overturned and we got to
Speaker 3: go to the barging table and that's where money and
Speaker 3: it's it's it's definitely it's it's it's really hard because
Speaker 3: the stress is so compounded for all of the workers.
Speaker 3: And I know I've had uh peers in the community
Speaker 3: and in the abortion providing abortion advocacy community say things like,
Speaker 3: you know, you expect a snake to be a snake,
Speaker 3: Like you know that the right is going to attack
Speaker 3: you and the fascists are going to do whatever they
Speaker 3: can to take away your right to autonomy and privacy.
Speaker 3: But it hurts a lot more Like personally, I think
Speaker 3: it hurts so much more. And it's been so painful
Speaker 3: in the last year to see the ways in which
Speaker 3: the people on our side, the people who have the
Speaker 3: same goals as us, ultimately like of like, you know,
Speaker 3: we want people to have abortions and we want people
Speaker 3: to access health care, and they are to have them
Speaker 3: hurt you yeah, because yeah, because like they're not supposed
Speaker 3: to be snakes, and it hurts. It hurts a lot more.
Speaker 3: And a lot of the same people, don't. I feel
Speaker 3: like they're the same kind of folks who didn't understand
Speaker 3: the immediacy of needing to protect because so you know, LGBT,
Speaker 3: I feel like we should have gone harder for the tea,
Speaker 3: you know, like all these like how long has we
Speaker 3: have we had the acronym LGBT and like, and it's
Speaker 3: like this whole time, it's like we like we could
Speaker 3: have seen this coming. We shouldn't. It was like it
Speaker 3: clearly was like the same with Roe v WA, where
Speaker 3: it's like they are coming for rov Wade, this is coming.
Speaker 3: We could have done so much more to prepare. And
Speaker 3: I feel like in the a lot of the same way,
Speaker 3: the same people who are like devaluing the labor who
Speaker 3: didn't do enough to protect abortion services are the same
Speaker 3: people who didn't do enough to protect just like trans
Speaker 3: people in general.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think there's like there's I think there's
Speaker 2: definitely a sort of expendability thing there too, right, I
Speaker 2: mean this is something that it's like very explicitly in
Speaker 2: the two thousands, like the sort of I don't I
Speaker 2: don't know what the technical term for them is, but
Speaker 2: like big gay, like you know, the big big abortion
Speaker 2: and big gay. Yeah, well the big the big sort
Speaker 2: of like LGBTQ like NGOs, right, you're like human rights
Speaker 2: campaign like groups like that very explicitly made a decision
Speaker 2: in the two thousands where they were like, Okay, we're
Speaker 2: gonna drop our demands for stuff like trans healthcare and
Speaker 2: trans recognition in order to sort of build a broader
Speaker 2: base to get like gay marriage and shit. And that
Speaker 2: that was a very supos decision that they made, and
Speaker 2: you know, and it worked for them, right, Like yeah,
Speaker 2: like we got gay marriage, right.
Speaker 1: Well we didn't. Well we didn't.
Speaker 2: Actually we got through the fucking courts, not through like
Speaker 2: the legal process, right, and it took ages too, but
Speaker 2: like yeah, but like that was you know, and like
Speaker 2: they they eventually sort of came back around them, were like,
Speaker 2: we're trans allies, but then you know, all of the
Speaker 2: shit was happening. I mean, so this has been going
Speaker 2: on since like twenty like twenty sixteen, right is like
Speaker 2: the first like the first bathroom bills start, and you know,
Speaker 2: I mean it was over half a decade where things
Speaker 2: could have been done and they just weren't.
Speaker 1: And you know, like it's it's the it's the same thing, like.
Speaker 2: Like people just get used as like like people's health
Speaker 2: just gets in their body get used as bargaining chips. Yep.
Speaker 3: And I feel like in these all of these situations
Speaker 3: that we're talking about, it it's not looking out for
Speaker 3: the most vulnerable. Because so if you're talking about you know,
Speaker 3: healthcare and I don't want to say women's rights, I
Speaker 3: mean it used to be women's rights, and then now
Speaker 3: it's just like you know, like abortion access and you're
Speaker 3: not looking like who needs this the most, and you're
Speaker 3: not looking out for the most vulnerable. And part of
Speaker 3: that part of it in terms of abortion services is
Speaker 3: the compromising, you know, compromising on bands like oh, a
Speaker 3: fifteen week abortion ban is reasonable. No, it's not. No
Speaker 3: abortion of ban is reasonable. But so that's what abortion services.
Speaker 3: And then with with the fight for queer liberation. You know,
Speaker 3: who's the most vulnerable? Will trans people have been the
Speaker 3: most vulnerable and not looking out for them? And then
Speaker 3: the frontline workers, Like, who's the most vulnerable when it
Speaker 3: comes to people doing this work providing these services, The
Speaker 3: frontline workers, the people who don't who don't make much
Speaker 3: who you know, the people who a aren't managers or
Speaker 3: CEOs and I mean, like you know, senior management and
Speaker 3: CEOs and things like that, are They're in different situations
Speaker 3: than the people who are answering the phone and scheduling
Speaker 3: and talking to the patients and taking their blood pressure
Speaker 3: and giving them their medication. And yeah, it's just not
Speaker 3: looking out for the people in the most vulnerable situations.
Speaker 3: It's killing us. It's literally killing us.
Speaker 1: You have to.
Speaker 3: It's just so much focus on the wrong things when
Speaker 3: we really should be focused on the most vulnerable all around.
Speaker 2: And I think also like the extent to which all
Speaker 2: of these struggles are labor struggles, right, I mean, this
Speaker 2: is one of the things about trans healthcare as we've
Speaker 2: talked about them that much, is that, like I think
Speaker 2: this is sort of a product of like the kinds
Speaker 2: of trans people who get representation, but you know, like
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of people who think that,
Speaker 2: like the average trans person is like a fucking tech
Speaker 2: worker in California, And it's like no, like the like
Speaker 2: the the the the the actual like median trans person
Speaker 2: like works at a works at a EPs warehouse or
Speaker 2: you know, it's like a vet tech or like you know,
Speaker 2: does all of this ship that you know works like
Speaker 2: just really shitty service jobs and like you know the
Speaker 2: stuff for like like i mean struggles like we're not
Speaker 2: even having because we're we've been like kicked all the
Speaker 2: way back down to like can.
Speaker 1: We legally exist?
Speaker 2: But like you know, things like like people getting housing
Speaker 2: right like that that kind of stuff like those are
Speaker 2: labor struggles.
Speaker 1: The struggle for abortion.
Speaker 2: Is is also labor struggle because like again, like you
Speaker 2: can't fucking have abortions without workers who do the abortions.
Speaker 2: Like they don't, they don't just magically spring fully formed
Speaker 2: from like the mind of an ngo.
Speaker 3: Like and also like I mean, you need you need
Speaker 3: labor protections in order to access healthcare. It's just a fact, yeah,
Speaker 3: like you know, because that's just yet another obstacle that
Speaker 3: patients are experiencing. Is getting off work like yeah, you
Speaker 3: got kids and you got to like fly to like
Speaker 3: across the country to access healthcare services, and you got
Speaker 3: to recover from those healthcare services, and it's like you
Speaker 3: gotta have PTO and like how many people don't have that?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: And it works the other way too, right, where like
Speaker 2: like this is the thing we've been seeing with Starbucks,
Speaker 2: We've been seeing as at Google too. People trying to
Speaker 2: unionize is like having healthcare is a is a thing
Speaker 2: that your your work uses and like hangs over your
Speaker 2: head like to control you. And this has been an
Speaker 2: explicit thing. Like Starbucks specifically did this thing where they're like, well,
Speaker 2: if you try to unionize, like we can't guarantee you're
Speaker 2: gonna have like we're gonna like get ready of your
Speaker 2: trans healthcare. Oh jesus yeah, and like you know and
Speaker 2: like this kind of like you know that that's like
Speaker 2: like them just like dropping the mask and saying the
Speaker 2: quiet part loud, but like you know, like people's people's
Speaker 2: access to healthcare is an enormous union busting tactic.
Speaker 1: So it's like it's literally just like on.
Speaker 2: Both sides of the struggle, like it is it is.
Speaker 2: It is just at all levels a labor struggle and
Speaker 2: it's not thought of like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and again, like I know, I brought up silos
Speaker 3: before in terms of like types of healthcare, but the
Speaker 3: same silos. It's kind of like a liberal it's like
Speaker 3: liberal siloing where you're separating the issues and you can't.
Speaker 3: They're all connected. Abortion care, pregnancy care, raising your families,
Speaker 3: police violence, prison abolition, trans healthcare, labor rights, unionizing, They're
Speaker 3: all connected, and we don't connect the dots enough. I
Speaker 3: think in this country, at least the people who have
Speaker 3: power don't. And I think the separation of these issues
Speaker 3: has has really hurt us. And we're stronger together, you know,
Speaker 3: safety and solidarity and all that. So if every abortion
Speaker 3: care worker and abortion volunteer, abortion advocate, and you know,
Speaker 3: queer liberation advocate, trans health advocate, just transliberation advocate, union organizer,
Speaker 3: no or union member, even if you're like working for
Speaker 3: if you're a plumber, you know, if we all can
Speaker 3: identify that we have are it's all one fight and
Speaker 3: it's all connected, will be better off for it. So yeah,
Speaker 3: if we can.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think something that's also is really important
Speaker 2: is that, like I mean, this is historically like you know,
Speaker 2: if you want to look at how working classicivements are defeated,
Speaker 2: it's you pick people off by finding something that you know, like,
Speaker 2: for example, like like one of one of the ways
Speaker 2: you can sort of beat a worker's to amit is
Speaker 2: by like that movement not dealing with the sort of
Speaker 2: rapid patriarchy and the movements. And you know, you can
Speaker 2: radicalize people to the right by just sort of like
Speaker 2: by like doing sort of misogyist politics, or you can
Speaker 2: do the thing that like the you know, this is
Speaker 2: this is the sort of the Christian democratic strategy in uh,
Speaker 2: like in Europe was you know, they they they recognized
Speaker 2: that the workers groupments like weren't really like organizing women
Speaker 2: in any substantive way, and so they you know, they
Speaker 2: were able to create this massive sort of anti communist
Speaker 2: like like center right bulwark against like organized labor by
Speaker 2: like actually organizing women, right, and you know, and this
Speaker 2: is this is something that they sort of do everywhere,
Speaker 2: which is like yeah, like if if if if you,
Speaker 2: if you aren't fighting all of these things at the
Speaker 2: same time and conceptualizing you at the same time, like
Speaker 2: you will get you will get picked apart one by
Speaker 2: one in your individual struggle and the movement will collapse
Speaker 2: and die and that's really hard, and you know, like
Speaker 2: the deck has been stacked against us, but that that's
Speaker 2: that's the cards that we have, and yeah, we have
Speaker 2: to deal with them.
Speaker 3: And to to like be a little bit to look
Speaker 3: more like on the positive side, because like you know,
Speaker 3: it's like, yeah, we we've had our ass is kicked
Speaker 3: and we've lost so much. We have lost so much,
Speaker 3: We've lost so many of our basic human rights in
Speaker 3: this country. But like abortions are still happening, and TRANSHLTH
Speaker 3: is still being provided, and there are communities looking out
Speaker 3: for people who are in need of these services and
Speaker 3: in need of safety because like it's not just about
Speaker 3: the basic health services, but you know, you have to
Speaker 3: be safe. Well, you know, if you're pregnant and you
Speaker 3: need health care, you want to be safe. And then
Speaker 3: also if you're like a trans individual and you don't
Speaker 3: feel safe, it's helpful to have those organizations there. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 3: that's totally what I have in mind. And on the
Speaker 3: right side, like that is like those are still being
Speaker 3: like the healthcare is still being provided even if it
Speaker 3: has been decimated and people are having to move mountains
Speaker 3: in order to get there. You know, abortions are happening,
Speaker 3: and every day where I'm still doing I'm still getting
Speaker 3: people abortions. There are workers who are helping people get
Speaker 3: the health care that they need, the hormones that they need,
Speaker 3: and there are people like you know, teaching defense and
Speaker 3: security and working together. And we need to continue to
Speaker 3: do this because I you know, I am really angry
Speaker 3: and I am really just fucked in the head now
Speaker 3: because of everything that I've experienced and had to witness,
Speaker 3: and it's soul crushing, but I just keep doing it
Speaker 3: because that it just needs to happen like this. People
Speaker 3: need this health care, people need this information, people need
Speaker 3: to be connected safety and solidarity, and I just you know,
Speaker 3: we have to keep going, like you know, so we
Speaker 3: have to defend the workers providing these services. We have
Speaker 3: to defend people accessing these services, whether it's abortion or
Speaker 3: trans health, and we need to just keep doing it
Speaker 3: no matter how awful we feel. And you know, this
Speaker 3: has been an incredibly hard year and I have had
Speaker 3: conversations that I never would have wanted to have ever
Speaker 3: and that are hard to carry with me. And I'm
Speaker 3: going to carry these conversations. You know, these memories are
Speaker 3: like in my head now and that I have them
Speaker 3: for the rest of my life maybe, and they're they're
Speaker 3: in my head, you know, they're there. I've it's happened,
Speaker 3: and I'm just really grateful for the other people doing
Speaker 3: this work and that they're there and that I'm not
Speaker 3: the only one feeling this way, and that we have
Speaker 3: each other's backs, and that we we do have the
Speaker 3: same fight, Like knowing that we have the same fight,
Speaker 3: I'm like, you know that solidarity means means everything right now,
Speaker 3: because it's more than just like winning or losing. Like, yeah,
Speaker 3: we've we've lost a lot, and we're continuing to lose
Speaker 3: a lot, but we're all still here and we all
Speaker 3: still need we still need like care, We need to
Speaker 3: just take care of ourselves and each other still. So
Speaker 3: I'm going to keep doing this work. I know that
Speaker 3: other people are going to keep doing this work, and
Speaker 3: I know that there will always be help available, whether
Speaker 3: you know, finding it is one thing, but I know
Speaker 3: that it will always be there, and I try to
Speaker 3: take solace in that because this is this is a
Speaker 3: collective trauma that our generation is going to see out
Speaker 3: for the rest of our lives, and it's going to
Speaker 3: bleed into the next generation. And there's a lot I
Speaker 3: hope for, you know, before I die, there's a lot
Speaker 3: I hope to see. So I hope that I see
Speaker 3: it to end. This is not a positive note because
Speaker 3: I know at the very beginning, I know, like when
Speaker 3: we first started talking Mia, I saw we wanted to
Speaker 3: end in a positive note. So that involves me sharing
Speaker 3: like the thing that cheers me up the most and
Speaker 3: that like pushes all the right buttons for me. But
Speaker 3: there have been some good things in terms of like
Speaker 3: abortion access in the last six months, so I want
Speaker 3: to share that it all starts. It starts with Partners Clinic.
Speaker 3: They Partner's Clinic is an ull trimester clinic in in
Speaker 3: Maryland and they opened this year and they were doing
Speaker 3: fundraising and first of all, they're amazing. They're an amazing
Speaker 3: team of workers, amazing abortion providers. I love Partners Clinic there.
Speaker 3: I just I could not, I cannot praise them enough.
Speaker 3: And they they were fundraising to open their clinic and
Speaker 3: have everything that they need and you know, you know,
Speaker 3: have money for staff and everything. And it was picked
Speaker 3: up by prison culture more commonly that's like her online handle.
Speaker 3: A lot of people like know her as prison Culture,
Speaker 3: but Maryamikaba and she started fundraising for them, and she
Speaker 3: was able to help so much that they surpassed their
Speaker 3: goal and they opened. And now we have another all
Speaker 3: trimester abortion clinic in the United States, staffed by the
Speaker 3: most compassionate, amazing, hardworking individuals. And that cheered me up
Speaker 3: so much because I obviously love maryam Akaba and and
Speaker 3: prison abolition. I know, I'm a prison abolitionist, so seeing
Speaker 3: her like seeing her see how the issues are connected
Speaker 3: that they're like that, you know, they go together, and
Speaker 3: organizing for that on top of the work that she
Speaker 3: is already doing for abolition, I was just like so
Speaker 3: happy to see that. And on the topic of all
Speaker 3: trimester abortion clinics, there is another one opening up as well,
Speaker 3: and this cheers me up immensely as well. They are
Speaker 3: called the Valley Abortion Group. They're not open yet, they're
Speaker 3: currently fundraising. I could probably send you the link to post.
Speaker 3: Maybe Yeah, so they're not open yet, but you know
Speaker 3: they're getting there. And they're called the Value Abortion Group.
Speaker 3: They're gonna be another ultrimester clinic and they're going to
Speaker 3: be located in New Mexico, and they're I just want
Speaker 3: to point out that their acronym is VAGE, which I
Speaker 3: just I think is really important to point out. Hell yeah,
Speaker 3: So you know, we saw partners open and that was amazing,
Speaker 3: and now we're going to have another one opening up
Speaker 3: and that's amazing. So, you know, love and support for
Speaker 3: Value Abortion Group because honestly, the more we need a
Speaker 3: abortion clinics period, like we need more of them, but
Speaker 3: especially all trimester, especially now that these bands have been
Speaker 3: pushing people further and further along into the pregnancy before
Speaker 3: they can access these services. It's so important for them
Speaker 3: to exist. And on this topic, I also want to
Speaker 3: bring up that, you know, there are stories out there
Speaker 3: of people who it takes them six months to get
Speaker 3: an abortion appointment. Six months christ I just want to
Speaker 3: bring that up because that's happening. Because I know that
Speaker 3: I've said like five weeks a lot while we're talking,
Speaker 3: but like it takes some people six months. So it's
Speaker 3: really important for these ultramester abortion clinics to exist and
Speaker 3: for us and the communities that we're part of to
Speaker 3: welcome them with open arms and like big love. And
Speaker 3: also on the same topic of good news, things that
Speaker 3: cheer me up, prison abolition, abortion access, all of these
Speaker 3: good good topics. Prison culture. Mary Macaba is now fundraising
Speaker 3: for another abortion practical support group, and I have to
Speaker 3: mention this up because mention this because this fundraising is
Speaker 3: happening right now. So if you go to prison Cultures Twitter,
Speaker 3: she's like fundraising for it every single day. But she
Speaker 3: is fundraising for the Online Abortion Resource Squad, So Online
Speaker 3: Abortion Resource Squad or OARS for short. What they are
Speaker 3: is they are entirely volunteer organization, which is why they
Speaker 3: need to pay them for their labor. This is really
Speaker 3: important work that Daily Monitors moderates and provides quality posts
Speaker 3: on Our abortion was our slash abortion? How should I
Speaker 3: read that? So basically our slash abortion. So the reddit
Speaker 3: the subreddit for just abortion on Reddit, which I think
Speaker 3: that like when I immediately say that, some people might
Speaker 3: not realize how important that is. But as these bands
Speaker 3: have just spread and gotten worse and the abortion access
Speaker 3: deserts have widened, it is so important for people to
Speaker 3: be able to access quality information, and a lot of
Speaker 3: people go to Reddit, Like so many people go to
Speaker 3: Reddit to find out information, So like the Daily page
Speaker 3: hits for our slash Abortion is just up and up
Speaker 3: and up and up. And there's a group of volunteers
Speaker 3: that you know, like don'tate their their their hours, their
Speaker 3: free time, you know, their energy to give people the
Speaker 3: answers that they're looking for and to like walk them
Speaker 3: through a process. Because a lot of people, you know,
Speaker 3: they want to help, so they post links. So they're like, oh,
Speaker 3: you you're in a band state and you can't access services,
Speaker 3: so they just post a link to I don't know,
Speaker 3: like aid access. But it's more than it's not that easy,
Speaker 3: Like you can't just like give somebody a link to
Speaker 3: aid access and be like here's your abortion. No, Like
Speaker 3: you need to ask questions, You need somebody to assist you,
Speaker 3: follow up questions if something doesn't work, like oh my god,
Speaker 3: the payment's not working, like you need help? And or
Speaker 3: is the Online Abortion Resource Squad. They go into our
Speaker 3: Abortion every single day and they make sure that people
Speaker 3: get help. And they've been doing this labor for free,
Speaker 3: and now prison culture is helping them basically get them,
Speaker 3: get them paid, get them money, get them, get them
Speaker 3: make it so that way they can do that, like
Speaker 3: you know, they don't have to you know, find different
Speaker 3: options for employment. You know, they don't have to struggle
Speaker 3: to get by, like they there's money sustaining them, so
Speaker 3: that way they can make sure that people have their
Speaker 3: questions answered all day and that is so important. Like
Speaker 3: I just like, I just I never thought, like if
Speaker 3: you had asked me, like like seven years ago, if
Speaker 3: I thought people posting on Reddit would be life saving,
Speaker 3: I would have totally like just not taken that seriously.
Speaker 3: But now I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, people
Speaker 3: are flocking to Reddit every day just try to find
Speaker 3: out how to get an abortion, and there are people
Speaker 3: volunteering their time to get them quality answers and make
Speaker 3: sure that they get the care that they're looking for.
Speaker 3: And I love that. I love that an abolitionist, like
Speaker 3: a prison abolition police in prison abolitionists, has identified that
Speaker 3: this is a significant need that people in these different
Speaker 3: communities that are typically like a little bit siloed are
Speaker 3: supporting each other's causes. I think that abolition and abortion
Speaker 3: go hand in hand. And this just cheers me up immensely.
Speaker 3: And the fact that like there are resource hubs online
Speaker 3: that are that are like that are coming to bat
Speaker 3: you know, like, oh, this horrible thing has happened, Roe v.
Speaker 3: Wade has been overturned, and what are we going to do?
Speaker 3: And it's like, well, go go answer people's questions on Reddit,
Speaker 3: and yeah, So I wanted to share that because I
Speaker 3: said a lot of sad stuff about how horrifying and
Speaker 3: traumatic and this all is and how there's so much
Speaker 3: human suffering. So it's just because of that, I just
Speaker 3: I also wanted to to take time to say, like, hey,
Speaker 3: there are people making sure that people get care. There
Speaker 3: are amazing people, you know, working to get people paid
Speaker 3: and get people funding and make it so that way
Speaker 3: this work is sustainable, because like, sustainability is its own thing,
Speaker 3: Like yeah, who, Like it is hard to fight against fascism,
Speaker 3: Like it's we're being we're having our are basic human
Speaker 3: rights violated on a daily basis, and we are being dehumanized,
Speaker 3: and that is incredibly difficult to fight constantly on top
Speaker 3: of having to pay your bills and you know, like
Speaker 3: deal with whatever the heck's going on in your life.
Speaker 3: So I'm just like, I'm really grateful for Mary Micaba
Speaker 3: and everyone who has helped her. I'm really grateful for
Speaker 3: partners and Value Abortion Group Badge and I am really
Speaker 3: grateful for the Online Abortion Resource squad Ors and all
Speaker 3: of their amazing volunteers. And I hope that like, if
Speaker 3: somebody is feeling helpless and and like feeling like they
Speaker 3: don't know what to do in these really scary times,
Speaker 3: they can look toward like look to these examples and
Speaker 3: be like, well, I can provide good information to people.
Speaker 3: I can share donation opportunities or donate myself, and I
Speaker 3: can uplift this stuff and recognize how valuable even posting
Speaker 3: online can be sometimes because I posting online usually not
Speaker 3: a good thing. But you know, if you are helping
Speaker 3: somebody get healthcare and you're utilizing like, you know, a
Speaker 3: popular platform to spread that information, you're doing a great
Speaker 3: job and you deserve all the shout outs. So yeah,
Speaker 3: so yeah, those are some really those that's what's cheering
Speaker 3: me up in the year twenty twenty three. As I
Speaker 3: approach like June twenty fourth, the anniversary, I'm like, oh
Speaker 3: my god, everything's really awful, But this is what's cheering
Speaker 3: me up.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I don't know, well, okay, I guess I
Speaker 2: do know why this is spontaneously leapt to my head.
Speaker 1: But the thing that I the thing that.
Speaker 2: I always think about is the there's a Zappatista slogan
Speaker 2: that goes to pot of lives, the struggle continues, And yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean I don't have anything else.
Speaker 1: It's you know, but I mean that struggle. Look like
Speaker 1: the thing.
Speaker 2: About this right, like there there's a reason that it's
Speaker 2: a like they have to spend all of this effort
Speaker 2: on it because there is actually a struggle. And the
Speaker 2: fact that they have to they spend so much effort,
Speaker 2: so much resources, so much of their time, and so
Speaker 2: much of their power on this, like is also proof
Speaker 2: of their weakness. That this is not something that they
Speaker 2: can do just sort of neutrally right, and it's it's
Speaker 2: something that can be stopped and can be rolled back.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I mean the the fact that it is
Speaker 2: a struggle like it in and of itself like implies
Speaker 2: that they're wrong in in and of itself, demonstrates that
Speaker 2: we are also still fighting, and we are going to
Speaker 2: continue fighting and one day we are going to beat
Speaker 2: these fuckers.
Speaker 3: Yep, I believe it. I mean, like, yeah, I'm like
Speaker 3: talking openly and honestly about the toll of the human suffering,
Speaker 3: but I believe that we can stop this if we
Speaker 3: if we keep going, and I I hope I see
Speaker 3: that in my lifetime. And I uh, and I think
Speaker 3: it's it's a sada shakuri. I think where is where
Speaker 3: there's oppression, there is resistance that that that makes me
Speaker 3: feel better, you know, like because which ah, God, God,
Speaker 3: just like I know is speaking of liberals, there's I
Speaker 3: just don't understand the take where it's like, oh, these
Speaker 3: red states are getting what they deserve, Texas is getting
Speaker 3: what the deserves, Florida is getting with what they deserve,
Speaker 3: and it's like no, like they they're being oppressed and
Speaker 3: they are fighting their oppression. And I love people in
Speaker 3: those states and I love the people fighting, and I
Speaker 3: I just I don't know how you can look at
Speaker 3: that and not be filled with like love and awe,
Speaker 3: just like in the way that I'm filled with like
Speaker 3: love and awe when I see like how hard people
Speaker 3: are working to navigate these barriers and to access the
Speaker 3: health care that they need, Like I'm just like you
Speaker 3: are being so brave, you are You're so strong to
Speaker 3: do this, and like not everyone is seeing it, you know,
Speaker 3: because like these are like you know, private like journeys
Speaker 3: to get healthcare. But like I'm seeing it and I'm like, God,
Speaker 3: these people are so amazing and people are fighting so
Speaker 3: hard and they are continuing to struggle and they're not
Speaker 3: giving I mean, some people are giving up because like
Speaker 3: the state is like forcing it on them, but like
Speaker 3: a lot of people aren't giving up. And I am
Speaker 3: I'm constantly in awe about that because yeah, yeah, it's
Speaker 3: a lot of witnessing human suffering and people suffer, but
Speaker 3: also it's witnessing a lot of people be really strong
Speaker 3: and really fight and for what they deserve. And I'm
Speaker 3: so glad I get to witness that too, even though
Speaker 3: I wish, you know, I didn't have to see all
Speaker 3: the suffering, but you know, I'm really grateful to see
Speaker 3: the struggle too. I love human beings and I'm just
Speaker 3: we're awesome, Like we I mean, a lot of us aren't,
Speaker 3: but the rest of us are ores putting up a
Speaker 3: good fight. So I think we can win. I think
Speaker 3: we can win.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So, I know we've talked about a few links.
Speaker 2: Do you have anything else that any other links that
Speaker 2: you want to talk about to send people to? So, yeah,
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, do you have anything else you want to
Speaker 2: send people to so that they can help support the
Speaker 2: struggles that are going on.
Speaker 3: I don't think I have any additional ones I want
Speaker 3: to give right now. I think that the ones that
Speaker 3: I've brought up like deserve all of the attention right now.
Speaker 3: So I'm just gonna like say him again. So I
Speaker 3: know previously I mentioned the Texas Equal Access Fund the
Speaker 3: T Fund, and Texas is doing a lot right now,
Speaker 3: and honestly, the other Texas funds are two that was
Speaker 3: just like the one that I see the most. Chicago
Speaker 3: Abortion Fund is doing amazing work right now. Partners Clinic,
Speaker 3: which is located in Maryland, like shout out to their team.
Speaker 3: I love them so much. They are they they are
Speaker 3: like the light in the darkness right now. Valley Abortion
Speaker 3: Group Badge, which will hopefully be opening I don't know
Speaker 3: when they're opening, but I'm looking forward to them opening
Speaker 3: so much in New Mexico. And and then the online
Speaker 3: Abortion Resource squad Ors the Saints of our slash Abortion Like,
Speaker 3: I just I want to like shout them out with
Speaker 3: this like platform that I have right now, So Google
Speaker 3: all them, check them out, click the links, and then
Speaker 3: of course, you know again your local abortion Fund, like
Speaker 3: it just just don't get tired of hearing donate to
Speaker 3: your local bortion fun just like say it again, just
Speaker 3: like right on the back of your eyeballs. It's that.
Speaker 3: That's that's what we getting. That's what's getting people healthcare
Speaker 3: right now, people who can't wait. So yeah, I just
Speaker 3: like uplifting all those things again, Like I'm sure like
Speaker 3: there are there are a lot of amazing groups doing work.
Speaker 3: I could probably like take like an hour listing all
Speaker 3: of them, but uh like right now, those are the
Speaker 3: ones where I'm like, hell, yeah, this is amazing.
Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, thank you, thank you again so much
Speaker 2: for for coming and talking with us about this.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I love talking about all of the pain and suffering.
Speaker 3: And you know, catch me outside screaming at the sky
Speaker 3: and shaking my fist and drinking a lot of mimosas. Yeah,
Speaker 3: in the next couple of weeks. This is a rough
Speaker 3: This is a rough month. This is a rough month.
Speaker 3: I'm not happy to be here, but I'm happy about
Speaker 3: some things. Just this is not It's been a hard year.
Speaker 3: It's been a really hard year. But I'm happy to
Speaker 3: be on this podcast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I hope all of you in literally whatever
Speaker 2: way you can, like do something to make this better,
Speaker 2: because we all owe it to each other, and we
Speaker 2: owe it to everyone who has to live under the
Speaker 2: system that you know, like hasn't built in our name
Speaker 2: to do something and not to just sort of sit
Speaker 2: back and let this just let the engine to suffering
Speaker 2: keep rolling over more people.
Speaker 3: And even small things are valuable too. I feel like
Speaker 3: a lot I've known a lot of people who are like,
Speaker 3: you know, like, oh, you know, I got a lot
Speaker 3: going on and I can't I don't know how to.
Speaker 3: I just can't help that much. And it's like even
Speaker 3: the little things you do are meaningful, Like even like
Speaker 3: ten dollars is like like somebody who's traveling's lunch, you know,
Speaker 3: Like that's a big deal. So don't don't undersell the
Speaker 3: little things that you can do. Even little things are
Speaker 3: really meaningful right now, Like what you have the capacity for,
Speaker 3: no one's gonna I'm not gonna shake a stick at it.
Speaker 3: I think any contribution is incredibly valuable, no matter how small.
Speaker 2: So unless you're rich, yeah, unless you're rich, which can Unless.
Speaker 3: You're rich, then what are you doing? Like why there
Speaker 3: are some people I'm like, why are they like, oh
Speaker 3: oh oh, while I'm here, while I'm actually speaking of
Speaker 3: rich while I'm on a podcast, and we can talk
Speaker 3: about things like people who can help, like I'm thinking
Speaker 3: about like Taylor Swift right now, Like Taylor Swift can
Speaker 3: probably donate so much money to abortion funds right because,
Speaker 3: like she's touring right now and she's used to having
Speaker 3: all these concerts and various parts of the world, and
Speaker 3: those hotel prices are going up like crazy. So, like
Speaker 3: I know that she had a concert in Chicago recently,
Speaker 3: and there the Chicago Abortion Fund was like trying to
Speaker 3: book hotels for traveling abortion patients. So patients who are
Speaker 3: traveling from band States to get abortion services in Chicago,
Speaker 3: and they were paying like way more for the hotel
Speaker 3: hotel costs because of the local Taylor Swift concert. And
Speaker 3: it's like, Taylor Swift, donate to abortion funds. What are
Speaker 3: you doing? You're driving up hotel prices for patients. What
Speaker 3: do you donate? Donate to abortion Funds, Taylor Swift. So
Speaker 3: that's what I just wanted to add that or any
Speaker 3: artists who's driving up hotel prices, Come on, people need
Speaker 3: health care. What are you doing?
Speaker 2: Wonderful system that we live in, a wonderful opportunity in
Speaker 2: this generation to make it not be like that, I know, right, like.
Speaker 3: I was having to ask, but.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so I guess that's my that's my closing message,
Speaker 2: to go out into the world and make the world
Speaker 2: not fucking like this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, can we not?
Speaker 2: Yeah? It could Happen here as a production of cool
Speaker 2: Zone Media.
Speaker 3: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website
Speaker 3: cool zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the
Speaker 3: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Speaker 1: You can find sources for It Could Happen Here, updated
Speaker 1: monthly at cool zonemedia dot com slash sources.
Speaker 3: Thanks for listening.