Last year in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and struck down the federal right to abortion. With a vote of six-to-three the high court returned the authority over abortion back to the states.
Texas like many other Republican controlled states immediately outlawed or severely restricted abortion. And the United States quickly became a patchwork of areas where a women’s reproductive health rights varied greatly.
The fight over abortion has fractured America, but the need for quality abortion care is nationwide. In post-Roe America, more than 25 million women between the ages of 15 and 44 live in states where abortion has been restricted according to the Associated Press.
In at least 20 states abortion remains legal up to at least the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg made history during her 1993 confirmation hearing by strongly endorsing abortion rights. She said that the decision whether or not to bear a child is "central to a woman's life, to her well-being and dignity." She argued that when government controls this decision, it is treating women as "less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices."
Ginsburg also said that abortion rights are essential for women's equality. She pointed out that women are often the ones who are most affected by laws that restrict abortion access. These laws can make it difficult for women to get the education and jobs they need, and they can also lead to unsafe abortions.
This means in about half of the country women are living in a women’s rights deserts.
In post-Roe America legislators from all 50 states who are in support of reproductive freedom went into action to fight abortion restrictions at the state level.
The State Innovation Exchange’s Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council chronicled these battles in statehouses across the country in this five-part, first-of-its-kind docuseries.
Filmed over the course of the 2023 legislative session, the series “Fractured: Stories from Post Roe America” features intimate interviews and behind-the-scenes access, taking viewers on a journey across 10 states as America’s political and cultural divide continues to widen.
Guest:
Eme Crawford is the producer of "Fractured."
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*This interview will be recorded on Tuesday, June 27
