R-Soul: Reclaiming the Soul of Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice

Too Stressed to be Blessed? How Your Trauma Can Steal Your Power

Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams explore how personal and societal trauma rooted in constant anti-abortion assaults on reproductive freedom can drive unhealthy behaviors within social justice systems. Using the recent case of Francine Coeytaux as a case study, Kelley & Terry give concrete strategies for tending to your own trauma, maintaining behaviors that are in alignment with your values, and making amends when you’ve done something harmful — whether you intended to harm others or not.

Links to discussed content: 

• The Atlantic Article: "The Abortion Backup Plan No One Is Talking About," by Olga Khazan: www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/10/plan-c-secret-option-mail-order-abortion/620324...
• Kelley's blog post on self-care in the midst of state oppression: www.ohiorcrc.org/blog/resisting-burnout-and-harm-in-the-midst-of-state-oppression
• Sign up for our "Self Managed Abortion in Good Faith" training: www.ohiorcrc.org/trainings

Music by Korbin Jones

Triggered: The Manipulative Truth Behind Ohio’s Extremist Abortion Bans

Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams tackle the latest abortion ban proposed in the Ohio General Assembly and give a rundown of the real reasons that extremist politicians keep putting forward bills that try to ban abortion in Ohio. With special attention to Senate Bill 123 (the so-called “Trigger Ban”), Kelley and Terry talk about class solidarity, the legislature’s stigmatizing assault on reproductive freedom, and the cult-like religious roots of this harmful, anti-Ohioan crusade against abortion.

Links to discussed content:

• Abortion Bans are Against My Religion! – Sign on to the faith community letter opposing abortion bans today: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/abortion-bans-are-against-my-religion
  
  

• Senate Bill 123 (Trigger Ban) text as introduced in the Ohio General Assembly: www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-documents?id=GA134-SB-123
  
  

• Abortion is Still Legal in Ohio – Find clinics and other information here: www.abortionislegalinohio.com/
  
  

• Liver & Onions (and Abortion) – R-Soul podcast from August 2020: https://ohiorcrc.podbean.com/e/liver-onions-and-abortions/
  
  

• A Record 106 Abortion Restrictions Have Already Passed in 2021: https://www.thecut.com/2021/10/states-passed-a-record-106-abortion-restrictions-in-2021.html
  
  

• Senate Bill 23 (the Six-Week Abortion Ban) that was passed in Ohio in 2019 but isn’t in effect due to legal challenges & the law’s unconstitutionality: www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-documents?id=GA133-SB-23
  
  

• 2019 testimony against the Six-Week Abortion Ban by Elaina Ramsey, our Executive Director: https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/cm_pub_api/api/unwrap/chamber/133rd_ga/ready_for_publication/committee_docs/cmte_s_health_1/testimony/cmte_s_health_1_2019-02-26-0930_141/sb23ramsey.docx

• Current gerrymandered maps for the Ohio House, Ohio Senate, and Ohio Federal Congressional districts: https://www.ohiosos.gov/elections/ohio-candidates/district-maps/?__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=pmd_mmYXezrgatF56OEqaU2nIDKNyky5B2tnBYjyGWLNXYE-1633703283-0-gqNtZGzNAmWjcnBszQjl
  
  

• Newly proposed gerrymandered maps for the Ohio House and Ohio Senate districts: www.redistricting.ohio.gov/maps
  
  

• Kristina Roegner’s gerrymandered district that helps her advance extremist anti-abortion views: https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10map/SLD_RefMap/upper/st39_oh/sldu39027/DC10SLDU39027_001.pdf
  
  

• Fair maps vote in 2018. The vast majority of Ohioans want fair maps: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/386839-ohio-voters-pass-redistricting-reform-initiative
  
  

• “Slay the Dragon," a film about ending gerrymandering: www.slaythedragonfilm.com/

Music by Korbin Jones

Planning for Post-Roe America: How Marginalized Communities Continue to Lead the Way

Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams cover lots of ground in this episode as they explain why planning for life in the United States without Roe v. Wade's guarantee of abortion access isn’t something new and actually has been anticipated for decades by communities on the margins. From what abortion funds could look like post-Roe to how you can best get involved now to support abortion access in Ohio, Kelley and Terry lay it all out about where we could be headed in a few short months.

Links to discussed content:

• Supreme Court to Hear Arguments on Abortion Rights: www.npr.org/2021/09/20/1038972266/supreme-court-date-roe-wade-dobbs-jackson-womens
• Texas—and Ohio—Doesn't Need A White Savior: www.ohiorcrc.org/blog/texas-and-ohio-doesnt-need-a-white-savior
• TRAINING: Self-Managed Abortion in Good Faith: www.ohiorcrc.org/trainings
• Remember to #MarchAND donate to Women Have Options Ohio: www.womenhaveoptions.org/donate

Music by Korbin Jones

This Mess With Texas: Why Every State Is in the Struggle to Protect Abortion Access

Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams talk Texas — explaining the state's latest abortion ban, exploring the Ohio connections at play, and laying out exactly why reproductive health advocates are disappointed but not surprised at the whole damn debacle. Kelley and Terry discuss abortion ban history, how bans have played out in other nations, and even how we are already prepared with networks of mutual aid that will support & care for patients in Ohio and beyond no matter what the future holds.*

Links to discussed content:

• Texas' Senate Bill 8: www.npr.org/2021/09/01/1033202132/texas-abortion-ban-what-happens-next
• Donate to the Texas Abortion Funds: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/txfunds
• Women Have Options Ohio (WHO/O) Abortion Fund: www.womenhaveoptions.org
• Romania Ceauçescu history: https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/16/what-actually-happens-when-a-country-bans-abortion-romania-alabama/
• Romania orphanages & AIDS history: https://theconversation.com/ceau-escus-orphans-what-a-regressive-abortion-law-does-to-a-country-71949
• Mexico deems abortion bans unconstitutional: www.nytimes.com/2021/09/07/world/americas/mexico-supreme-court-decriminalize-abortion.html
• Just Texas' Freedom Network: https://tfn.org/issue/reproductive-rights/
• New Mexico RCRC: https://nmrcrc.org
• "Texas—and Ohio—Doesn't Need a White Savior": www.ohiorcrc.org/blog/texas-and-ohio-doesnt-need-a-white-savior
• "5 Ways to Faithfully Respond to Abortion Attacks in TX & OH:" www.ohiorcrc.org/blog/5-ways-to-faithfully-respond-to-abortion-attacks-in-tx-and-oh

*We would like to apologize for the ableist phrase used during this podcast. Following the recording of this podcast, we realized how this language is harmful to marginalized folks, and we would like to acknowledge our mistake. Thank you for your patience as we work to be and do better and work to not perpetuate ableism, unintentional or otherwise.

Music by Korbin Jones

The Water We Swim In: Harm Reduction, Abolition, & Reproductive Justice

Special guest Blyth Barnow from Faith in Public Life joins our Faith Organizer Kelley Fox to discuss the oppressive systems that continue to harm those who are simply trying to survive & live their lives. From substance use to abortion access, this episode breaks down the white supremacist logic that insists there is only one path to a good and moral life.

Links to discussed content:

• Faith in Public Life: www.faithinpubliclife.org/
• Beyond Survival: www.akpress.org/beyond-survival.html
• Rat Park: www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/what-does-rat-park-teach-us-about-addiction
• Chasing the Scream: https://chasingthescream.com/
• Guys Are Waffles, Girls Are Spaghetti: https://bookshop.org/books/guys-are-waffles-girls-are-spaghetti/9781400315161
• Faith in Harm Reduction: https://harmreduction.org/our-work/action/faith-in-harm-reduction/
• Join our "Abolition Reads" book club as we discuss We Still Here on August 31st: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUscOyqrTgiGt3BniTieir3bHqMAI9_qg4y

Music by Korbin Jones

Take Your Time Off! — Self-Care & Breaking from Toxic American Work Culture

Faith Organizer Kelley Fox and Executive Director Elaina Ramsey talk about time off, prioritizing mental health, and how operating at your best is the best for one's family, team, community, and self. From Olympic athletes to restaurant servers, everyone should have access to bodily autonomy and the right to freely choose what to do with their time and bodies.

Links to discussed content:

• Naomi Osaka: https://time.com/6077128/naomi-osaka-essay-tokyo-olympics/
• Simone Biles: www.cnbc.com/2021/07/27/simone-biles-focusing-on-mental-health-how-to-tell-if-you-need-a-break.html 
• Allyson Felix: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/opinion/allyson-felix-pregnancy-nike.html
• Our last episode on Women Have Options-Ohio and the importance of having access to abortion: https://ohiorcrc.podbean.com/e/fund-abortions-not-cops-the-fight-for-abolition-and-greater-abortion-access/ 
• What is Agency and Why is it Important? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5002400/

Music by Korbin Jones

Fund Abortions Not Cops: The Fight for Abolition & Greater Abortion Access

Special guest Stephanie Craddock Sherwood from Women Have Options - Ohio (our statewide abortion fund!) joins our Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams to explore the intersection of abolition and abortion access. From abortion restrictions to the systemic injustice of mass incarceration, this episode digs down to the roots that connect abolition work with faithful advocacy for reproductive health, rights, and justice.

Links to discussed content: 

• Women Have Options - Ohio: www.womenhaveoptions.org/
• Central Ohio Freedom Fund: www.centralohiofreedomfund.org/
• Our "Abolition Reads" Book Club: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUscOyqrTgiGt3BniTieir3bHqMAI9_qg4y
• First book club livestream discussion: https://fb.watch/72CtGTMYw-/
• Buy the books for the book club: www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/301-abolitionist-starter-kit

Music by Korbin Jones

System Upgrade Required: Why Abolition Is a Reproductive Justice Issue

Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams go in-depth on abolition, exploring why minor adjustments to a system not built for justice will never be enough. Listen in for a full rundown of how abortion and abolition intersect, including a discussion about practical ways we can start creating the justice-focused future of our dreams even as we speak.

Links to discussed content: 

• "Abolition Reads:" Our New Book Club for People Seeking Freedom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUscOyqrTgiGt3BniTieir3bHqMAI9_qg4y
• A Recap of Our Restorative & Transformative Justice Book Club: www.ohiorcrc.org/blog/building-safe-and-sustainable-communities-one-book-and-practice-at-a-time 
• Why Abolition is the Next Step in Embodying Restorative & Transformative Justice: www.ohiorcrc.org/blog/abolition-reads-a-book-study-on-how-to-create-the-world-we-deserve
• What is Abolition?: https://aas.princeton.edu/news/what-abolition-and-why-do-we-need-it 
• Sister Song's Definition of Reproductive Justice: www.sistersong.net/reproductive-justice

Music by Korbin Jones

Interdependence Day: Why You Can’t Get to the Promised Land Alone

Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams talk Juneteenth, the Fourth of July, and why holidays that come without real social change are anything but holy. Kelley and Terry explore the roots of interdependence, touching on Critical Race Theory, performative gestures that come in place of liberation, and what true freedom looks like in a nation still longing for full reproductive health, rights, and justice.

Links to discussed content:

• "How the World Works," by Bo Burnham: https://youtu.be/KiiebNenB0k
• Killing the Black Body, by Dorothy E. Roberts: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/155575/killing-the-black-body-by-dorothy-roberts/ 
• Juneteenth as a Federal Holiday: www.npr.org/2021/06/18/1008095439/juneteenth-is-a-federal-holiday-now-but-what-that-means-for-workers-varies-widel 
• Critical Race Theory: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2021/06/16/what-critical-race-theory-and-why-do-ohio-republicans-want-ban-it/7541417002/

Music by Korbin Jones

Pro-Choice PRIDE: Why Reproductive Freedom and LGBTQ+ Liberation Always Stick Together

Faith Organizers Kelley Fox and Terry Williams keep the rainbows flowing for PRIDE Month by talking about reproductive freedom, Queer liberation, and what faith has to do with building a movement that leaves no one behind. Exploring how opponents to LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights often use the same oppressive tactics, Kelley and Terry describe what a transformed social contract could look like when everyone is valued and able to live freely.

Links to discussed content:

• Sister Song's Definition of Reproductive Justice: www.sistersong.net/reproductive-justice
• Anti-Abortion Laws Are Anti-LGBTQ Laws: https://www.horizonsfoundation.org/anti-abortion-laws-are-anti-lgbtq-laws-we-need-to-fight-back/
• Our other PRIDE Month podcast episode: https://ohiorcrc.podbean.com/e/wwmpjd-what-would-marsha-p-johnson-do/
• Building Safe & Sustainable Communities One Book (and Practice) At a Time: www.ohiorcrc.org/blog/building-safe-and-sustainable-communities-one-book-and-practice-at-a-time

Music by Korbin Jones