Host Suki Wessling moderates a special Independence Day panel discussion about abortion and California’s status as an Abortion Sanctuary State. Our panel includes Pam Conelly, Chief Operations Officer at Encompass Community Services and a board member of Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Dr. Jen Hastings, a Family Physician and Assistant Clinical Professor at the UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine who was the physician at Westside Planned Parenthood from 1998-2018, and Dr. Gail Newel, who is an OBGYN, Health Officer for the County of Santa Cruz, and Associate Clinical Professor at UCSF. We discuss the roots of abortion stigma, and how stigma manifests itself everywhere from conversations between friends to communications between healthcare providers. We also discuss California’s status as a sanctuary station for abortion seekers, and what that will mean for our healthcare system.
Access the full, unedited version of this conversation at The Babblery.
Resources: Related and mentioned on the show
The abortion debate post-Roe
- Facts are Important: Abortion is Healthcare
- National Network of Abortion Funds
- The Far Right and Far Left Agree on One Thing: Women Don’t Count
- Abortion and Religion: Reclaiming the Narrative
This will be the topic of an upcoming show in our series. Stay tuned for an air date. - Book: Untold Stories: Life, Love, and Reproduction
- Hyde Amendment (Wikipedia)
Abortion in California
- California Future of Abortion Council
- California Future of Abortion Council Announces Support for Package of Legislation – National Health Law Program
- Preparing for a Post-Roe America
This article from UCSF helps providers understand the sorts of issues they might face in the coming months. - Imprisoned for a Stillbirth: Kings County Is Criminalizing Pregnancy Loss
“Even in California, the right to an abortion is not decided nor guaranteed. Do not take it for granted, do something. Do it Now.”
What happens after a person has an abortion?
- The Turnaway Study
This study followed outcomes for women turned away from abortions as well as their children. It is the first solid piece of evidence of what abortion advocates know anecdotally, that abortion care is health care and restriction of abortion leads to worse health and mental health outcomes for pregnant people and their children. - We Testify
One way to dissolve stigma is to tell stories. Here are many stories that speak to the importance of abortion access.
