rePROs Fight Back

Jennie Wetter

rePROs Fight Back, a multi-award winning podcast, does-dives into reproductive health, rights, and justice issues like abortion, birth control, sex education, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, gender equity, and more. New episodes debut every Tuesday, giving you an insider’s perspective on what is happening and what you can do to fight back.

  1. 3d ago

    North Carolina Has Over 6 CPCs for Every Abortion Clinic

    Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are unregulated storefronts that exist as a way of pushing out anti-abortion misinformation and blocking people’s access to care through deception, shame, delay, and intimidation. Tara Romano, Executive Director of Pro-Choice North Carolina, talks to us about North Carolina’s CPC landscape. The term "crisis pregnancy center" refers to anti-abortion facilities that mislead, confuse, delay, misinform, and purposefully re-direct pregnant people looking for education and services, including abortion care. North Carolina has 16 abortion clinics and approximately 100 CPCs, which are typically clustered around college campuses. CPCs in the state began receiving money from the sale of “Choose Life” license plates and $350,000 from general funds in 2013. By 2023, the number was closer to $20 million. Because these are not medical centers, they do not have medical restrictions or medical privacy restrictions.  Map photo citation: Swartzendruber A and Lambert D. Crisis Pregnancy Center Map. https://www.cpcmap.com. August 17, 2026. Accessed: August 24, 2026. For more information, check out When Science Finds a Way: https://wellcome.org/insights/podcast Support the show Follow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfb Facebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.com Rate and Review on Apple Podcast Thanks for listening & keep fighting back!

    North Carolina Has Over 6 CPCs for Every Abortion Clinic
  2. Aug 25

    Taking the Pulse of PEPFAR

    PEPFAR, or the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, started in 2003 and is the largest country-to-country bilateral investment in addressing any single disease. PEPFAR is not only funding, but expertise, and has saved millions of lives since the Bush administration. Dr. Jennifer Sherwood, Director of Research in the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) public policy office, talks to us about attacks to PEPFAR, the populations that are impacted, and some recent protections to PEPFAR’s crucial work.  Early in 2025, a pause on new funding going out into the field was announced, in combination with a stop-work order. Soon after, a PEPFAR waiver was announced, yet it included extremely specific restrictions. amfAR completed a survey across 46 different countries asking about grant status, service provision, and more. It found that nearly 80% of organizations surveyed had grant cuts or eliminations. Because of the cuts, amfAR documented 1,700 site closures, including drop-in clinics that are essential to key populations. Local organizations were also disproportionately impacted by closures and grant impacts.  The term “key populations” refers to populations that are at high risk of acquiring HIV and experiencing additional, structural barriers to care. Often, this is sex workers, men who have sex with men, other gay and bisexual men, transgender individuals, and those that use or inject drugs. Programs particular to key populations were absolutely decimated, as strongly documented in amfAR’s survey. These impacts are also being exacerbated by the recent expansion of the Global Gag Rule. For more information, check out When Science Finds a Way: https://wellcome.org/insights/podcast Support the show Follow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfb Facebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.com Rate and Review on Apple Podcast Thanks for listening & keep fighting back!

    Taking the Pulse of PEPFAR
  3. Aug 11

    5 Years On: The Taliban’s Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan

    Trigger warning: This episode references child marriage, maternal death, and suicide. August 15th marks the fifth anniversary of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan. Gender-based discrimination is a tenet of the Taliban’s policies, which is being enforced and institutionalized across the country. We hear from Metra Mehran, a self-described person exiled from Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover in 2021, and who now focuses on advocacy work related to gender apartheid with the End Gender Apartheid Campaign, as well as advocacy with Congress to hold the Taliban accountable through Amnesty International. In Afghanistan, there is a systematic level of discrimination that impacts every single facet of life for women and girls. Women cannot work, go to school beyond primary school, or have freedom of movement. The enforcement and institutionalization of this gender discrimination funnels into the crime of the grand-scale gender apartheid being perpetrated in Afghanistan. Child marriage has peaked in the past five years, interrupting a girl’s inability to finish their education. Women and girls face higher rates of domestic violence, reproductive violence, and suicide. And while underground schooling does exist, girls seek education at extreme risk to themselves and their families. Advocates are pushing to use the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to take Afghanistan to the International Court of Justice and encouraging the continued proceedings against Taliban leaders before the International Criminal Court. Conversations to include gender apartheid in treaty negotiations are also a testament to the strength and power of the women of Afghanistan. For more information, check out When Science Finds a Way: https://wellcome.org/insights/podcast Support the show Follow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfb Facebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.com Rate and Review on Apple Podcast Thanks for listening & keep fighting back!

    5 Years On: The Taliban’s Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
  4. Jul 21

    The Trans Sports Ban Cases Are Bigger Than Just Sports

    The Supreme Court has heard two cases on transgender women and girl’s ability to participate in school sports after states have issued categorical bans on trans women playing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Madiba Dennie, author of The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take It Back and Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at the legal commentary outlet Balls and Strikes, sits down to talk with us about these cases as part of the broad, comprehensive attacks on trans people’s health and wellbeing.  The Supreme Court justified this discriminatory decision against trans women and girls by arguing that the state cases don't turn on transgender status, but on sex alone—a step toward defining transgender people out of existence. It isn’t just sports and it isn’t just bathrooms; birth certificates, driver's licenses, freedom of travel, ability to work, ability to have healthcare, and ability to learn basic information in schools are all interconnected. The U.S. is also exporting this philosophy abroad through the expanded Global Gag Rule.  For more information, check out When Science Finds a Way: https://wellcome.org/insights/podcast Support the show Follow Us on Social: Twitter: @rePROsFightBack Instagram: @reprosfb Facebook: rePROs Fight Back Bluesky: @reprosfightback.bsky.social Buy rePROs Merch: Bonfire store Email us: jennie@reprosfightback.com Rate and Review on Apple Podcast Thanks for listening & keep fighting back!

    The Trans Sports Ban Cases Are Bigger Than Just Sports
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About

rePROs Fight Back, a multi-award winning podcast, does-dives into reproductive health, rights, and justice issues like abortion, birth control, sex education, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, gender equity, and more. New episodes debut every Tuesday, giving you an insider’s perspective on what is happening and what you can do to fight back.