Crossing the Line Population Media Center

Many at the forefront of the abortion access movement(s) predicted the overturn of Roe v. Wade would be the tip of the iceberg on legislation curbing bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom -- and they were right. In March 2023, Texas U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk appeared sympathetic to arguments from the anti-abortion coalition the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in a case that is attempting to overturn the FDA's approval of the abortion pill mifepristone - one of two pills used for a medical abortion, which accounts for over half of U.S. abortions. In this bonus episode, you'll hear from Plan C Pills co-founder Elisa Wells, Imani Wilson Shabazz, and Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, CEO of Power to Decide about how safe the abortion pills are and how to access abortion pills regardless of what happens with the current lawsuit. Finally, you'll go on a journey with a young woman in Alabama who receives her first abortion pill from Dr. Diane Horvath on her last trip to Alabama to perform abortions before the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

In the months following the overturn of Roe v Wade, pregnant people in America have had to adjust to the "new normal" where national protections on abortion care no longer exist. Voters have made it clear in the recent mid-terms that abortion rights are an important issue for them. Healthcare providers have also had to adapt, including, in some cases, moving services out of restrictive states. A new all-trimester abortion clinic opens in Maryland and other providers give an update on how they are finding solutions to providing abortion care, one day at a time.

When staying pregnant is a matter of life or death, when does the survival of the mother, or pregnant person, become the priority? As abortions are removed as an option in the treatment plan for patients with severe health conditions - can the consequences prove fatal?

Movement leaders -- striving to ensure all people have access to abortion since the fall of Roe -- contend that the current and future success of abortion care is the abortion pill. Whether obtaining the pill at clinics, via telemedicine providers, or a self-managed abortion (SMA), access to abortion pills levels out the playing field for millions of people who otherwise might not have access, particularly youth, BIPOC, LGBTQI++, and under-resourced people. In this episode, leaders in the abortion pill space break down how to get them, use them, and why they're critical.

As states in the US move to restrict abortion following the Roe v Wade overturn, pro-choice activists, are moving just as fast in designing creative ways to ensure access to abortion access for all people - regardless of what state they live in. Whether it be codifying abortion protections into law, passing decriminalization policy at the city level, or mobilizing communities to share resources -- grassroots organizers are making waves. We follow organizers far and wide- from Kansas to Texas to Arizona - to see how they get the job done.

Following the fall of Roe v. Wade, Michigan women face an uncertain future due to a 1931 "zombie law " on the books that would criminalize abortion. Mobilizing into action are a pro-choice mother-daughter duo and an army of volunteer escorts at Northland Family Planning who protect clinic patients from armed protesters or "Anti's." Due to Michigan being an open-carry state, the escorts wear bodycams to monitor the" Anti's" activity. Lead Escort Marie and other volunteers mobilize to get enough signatures for a ballot initiative to amend outdated laws -- and keep abortion legal in Michigan.