Abortion State of Disunion: Roe v. Wade Has Been Overturned, Now What?

In a very grim turn of events, Roe v. Wade was overturned by SCOTUS last week. For the 90th episode of Private Parts Unknown, we're going to hold space for that grieving process — and also hear directly from the people litigating the case and an organization at the forefront of the pro-choice movement about what this means, how we got here, and what's to come. Host Courtney Kocak gives her reaction to Friday news and shares her personal experience with abortion. Then we talk through the biggest takeaways from Friday's press conference where the Center for Reproductive Rights and Mississippi Center for Justice discussed the devastating ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, with clips from the following speakers: Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights Julie Rikelman, Senior Director of U.S. Litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights Hillary Schneller, Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights Robert McDuff, Mississippi Center for Justice For more from The Center for Reproductive Rights: Follow them on Instagram @reprorights Follow them on Twitter @ReproRights Check out their website reproductiverights.org Background: On Friday, June 24th, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, overturning the constitutional right to an abortion as protected under Roe v. Wade, which determined that every person has the right to end a pregnancy before viability—typically around 23-24 weeks. As a result of this ruling, about half the states in the country are expected to take immediate action to ban or severely restrict abortion. This case was first filed in March 2018 by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi. The lawsuit aimed to block the state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The ban was struck down by a federal district court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The state of Mississippi then asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, and arguments were held in December 2021. Private Parts Unknown is a proud member of the Pleasure Podcast network. This episode is brought to you by: Dipsea is an audio erotica app full of short, sexy stories and guided sessions designed to turn you on. Dipsea is offering a 30-day free trial when you go to dipseastories.com/private. Calm is the #1 mental wellness app. Calm is offering an exclusive offer of 40% off a Calm Premium subscription at calm.com/private. Everlywell offers affordable, at-home lab tests (including STD tests!) that give you trusted, physician-reviewed results. Everlywell is offering a special discount of 20% off an at-home lab test at everlywell.com/private. https://linktr.ee/PrivatePartsUnknownAds If you love this episode, please leave us a 5-star rating and sexy review! —> ratethispodcast.com/private  Psst... sign up for our Private Parts Unknown newsletter for bonus content related to our episodes! privatepartsunknown.substack.com Let’s be friends on social media! Follow the show on Instagram @privatepartsunknown and Twitter @privatepartsun. Connect with hosts Courtney Kocak @courtneykocak and Sofiya @thesofiya on Instagram and Twitter.