Faith Organizer Terry Williams interviews Faith Choice Ohio Executive Director Elaina Ramsey about her recent sabbatical and the spiritual foundation behind the systemic centering of people’s wellness over productivity.
Grounding the discussion in the spiritual roots of sabbatical in Jewish and Christian theology, Elaina and Terry draw direct connections between time spent resting and core pro-choice values in the fight for reproductive health, rights, and justice — including ways that good rest helps us all sustain the ongoing fight to put abortion rights on the ballot in Ohio in 2023.
From the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion to the modern day struggle for intersectional reproductive freedom, religious voices have been at the forefront of fights that matter for generations. We’re here to amplify essential voices, tell stories that often go unheard, and lift up the holy and healing work of faithfully pro-choice activists like you.
Episodes
Thursday May 18, 2023
Thursday May 18, 2023
Faith Organizer Kelley Fox is joined by If/When/How's Senior Movement Building Director Jeryl Hayes to discuss the important work of moving hearts and minds to a better future for reproductive justice. Together, they discuss the work of finding common ground, even in the midst of institutions that have historically harmed the most marginalized.
Links to discussed content:
- If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice: www.ifwhenhow.org/
- Self Managed Abortion in Good Faith: www.faithchoiceohio.org/self-managed-abortion-in-good-faith-training
- Restorative & Transformative Justice Training: www.faithchoiceohio.org/restorative-and-transformative-justice-training
- This is the Fight of Our Lives: www.faithchoiceohio.org/blog/this-is-the-fight-of-our-lives
- The First Birth Control Pill Used Puerto Rican Women as Guinea Pigs: https://www.history.com/news/birth-control-pill-history-puerto-rico-enovid
Music by Korbin Jones.
Friday May 05, 2023
Friday May 05, 2023
Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams pull back the curtain on a proposed August special election, outlining how some Ohio legislators are plotting to enshrine permanent minority rule into the Ohio Constitution. Exploring the theological and social causes behind such anti-democratic behavior, Kelley and Terry share what hope in Ohio looks like for each of them in the midst of the struggle for peace, justice, and full liberation.
Links to discussed content:
- Text of Protect Choice Ohio's Abortion Ballot Initiative: https://protectchoiceohio.com/petition_language
- Info about HJR1/SJR2 (the effort to make it harder to amend Ohio’s Constitution): www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/22/abortion-ohio-constitution-amendment/
- Anti-HJR1 protest from May 3, 2023: www.dispatch.com/picture-gallery/news/2023/05/04/hjr-1-sjr-2-protest/11792819002/
- “The Mask You Live In” from the Representation Project: https://therepproject.org/films/the-mask-you-live-in/
- Episode 1 from Kelley’s independent podcast series about masculinity: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4VWZuXFXWRu7c8TQ7NQ3wB
- Restorative & Transformative Justice Training sign up: www.faithchoiceohio.org/restorative-and-transformative-justice-training
Image credit: Noreen Willhelm
Music by Korbin Jones
Friday Apr 21, 2023
Friday Apr 21, 2023
Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams explore the real future that reproductive justice values call us to create. Guided by Kelley’s latest work in teaching restorative and transformative justice at a local congregation, Kelley and Terry lay out a hopeful vision in which abortion justice, police abolition, the death of the carceral system, and thriving LGBTQ+ freedoms coexist to form the future we all deserve.
Links to discussed content:
- Afrofuturism and #blackspring by adrienne maree brown: https://adriennemareebrown.net/2015/05/02/afrofuturism-and-blackspring-new-school-afroturismtns/
- Watch Kelley's message at UU Cleveland from April 16th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8ib2DqDklg
- Restorative & Transformative Justice Training: www.faithchoiceohio.org/restorative-and-transformative-justice-training
- Ralph Yarl: www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/us/ralph-yarl-kansas-city-shooting.html
(Photo from Black Freedom Beyond Borders: Memories of Abolition Day)
Music by Korbin Jones
Friday Apr 07, 2023
Friday Mar 10, 2023
Friday Mar 10, 2023
Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams address recent developments in mifepristone availability due to corporate posturing, connecting the unstable nature of capitalist healthcare with the popularity of self-managed abortion.
Using daylight savings time as a study on how unpopular policies stay put when corporate interests hold sway, Kelley and Terry talk about how self-managing abortions can help patients take back some control over their own lives in ways the modern healthcare system simply doesn’t offer to many groups of people.
Links to discussed content:
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Walgreens won't sell abortion pills in red states that threatened legal action: www.npr.org/2023/03/04/1161143595/walgreens-abortion-pill-mifepristone-republican-threat-legal-action
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The History of Daylight Savings Time: www.colorado.edu/coloradan/2022/11/07/history-daylight-saving-time#:~:text=It%20was%20first%...was%20repealed%20a%20year%20later.
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AidAccess: https://aidaccess.org/
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Plan C Pills: https://plancpills.org/
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Walgreens & Theranos: https://qz.com/2074304/how-safeway-and-walgreens-fell-for-the-theranos-pipe-dream
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Labor Wars & the Railroad Industry: www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/theminewars-labor-wars-us/
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Another Norfolk Southern Train Derails in Ohio: www.nytimes.com/2023/03/05/us/ohio-train-derailment.html
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Federal safety board to investigate Norfolk Southern after train derailments: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/norfolk-southern-train-conductor-fatally-struck-dump-truck-ohio-steel-rcna73811
Music by Korbin Jones
Friday Feb 24, 2023
Friday Feb 24, 2023
Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams explain what’s up with the abortion ballot initiative in Ohio, connecting the dots between reproductive freedom and a world of restorative and transformative justice possibilities.
Examining the ballot initiative through a faith-rooted lens, Kelley and Terry talk about why the broad, inclusive nature of the very simple amendment to Ohio’s constitution — one that recognizes rights to contraception, fertility treatment, continuing pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion — could bring much needed relief to a whole lot of Ohioans.
Links to discussed content:
- Ohio abortion-rights campaign unveils ballot proposal in first official step for possible statewide November vote: www.cleveland.com/news/2023/02/ohio-abortion-rights-campaign-unveils-ballot-proposal-in-first-official-step-for-statewide-vote.html?outputType=amp
- The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety Ballot Initiative text: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23686428/abortion-amendment-summary-and-text.pdf
- Volunteer to Collect Signatures: https://protectchoiceohio.com/volunteer
- Restorative & Transformative Justice Trainings: www.faithchoiceohio.org/restorative-and-transformative-justice-training
Music by Korbin Jones
Friday Feb 10, 2023
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Friday Jan 27, 2023
Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams take a long look at mutual aid and community care in light of the systemic uncertainty that is Ohio’s current abortion legislation landscape.
Kelley and Terry articulate why compassion and direct action will always be a part of the fight for reproductive freedom no matter what legislative, electoral, or institutional battles are fought and won for abortion seekers in this post-Roe era.
Links to discussed content:
- NEWS: Abortion rights, in-fighting and Democratic power -- what Jason Stephens’ rise to power means: www.cleveland.com/news/2023/01/abortion-rights-in-fighting-and-democratic-power-what-jason-stephens-rise-to-power-means-analysis.html
- (Episode 66) We Want Us All To Win: Elections, Mutual Aid, and Other Ways to Create a Just Future: https://faithchoiceohio.podbean.com/e/we-want-us-all-to-win-elections-mutual-aid-and-other-ways-to-create-a-just-future/
Music by Korbin Jones
Friday Jan 13, 2023
Friday Jan 13, 2023
Faith Organizer Kelley Fox joins up with Executive Director Elaina Ramsey to discuss all that went into preparing faithful responses to the fall of Roe in 2022 and all the plans we have in the year ahead. Coming into 2023, Kelley and Elaina discuss the emotions and struggles of 2022, but also the last few years of surviving a pandemic-filled world with grit & grace.
Links to discussed content:
- Our 2023 Trainings: www.faithchoiceohio.org/trainings
- New Year, New Name: www.faithchoiceohio.org/blog/new-year-new-name
- Volunteer with The Jubilee Fund for Abortion Access: www.faithchoiceohio.org/jubileefund
- Our Proudest Faithfully Pro-Choice Moments of 2022: www.faithchoiceohio.org/blog/our-proudest-faithfully-pro-choice-moments-of-2022
- NEWS: "Groups Seek to Put Abortion Access on the Ohio Ballot": https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/local/groups-seek-to-put-abortion-access-on-the-ohio-ballot/KUTXL3A6BJF2ZGTQGVUU7YOSVA/
- NEWS: "U.S. FDA Allows Abortion Pills to Be Sold at Retail Pharmacies": https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-says-abortion-pills-can-be-sold-retail-pharmacies-new-york-times-reports-2023-01-03/
Music by Korbin Jones
Wednesday Dec 28, 2022
Wednesday Dec 28, 2022
Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams close out the year with an episode jam-packed full of resources for all of our justice-minded listeners. With a show notes section filled to the brim with books, audio articles, and even app recommendations, Kelley and Terry want to make sure you have all the best faithfully pro-choice info heading into 2023 and beyond!