0:04

Welcomes reprots fight back a

0:07

podcast where we explore all things,

0:09

reproductive health, rights, and justice. I'm

0:11

your host, Jenny wetter. And I'll

0:13

be helping you stay informed around issues like

0:16

birth control, abortion, sex,

0:18

education, and LGBTQ

0:20

issues, and much, much more giving

0:23

you the tools you need to take action

0:25

and fight back. Okay. Let's dive in

0:31

and welcome to this week's episode of reprots

0:33

fight back. I'm your host, Jen ,

0:35

Any wetter and my pronouns? Are she

0:37

her? So

0:39

yeah, there has been a lot happening

0:42

right now. Um, first some

0:44

news from population Institute,

0:46

which is who sponsors our podcast

0:49

. We have a new president and CEO

0:51

who started yesterday. So

0:53

I wanted to take an opportunity to give

0:55

a great big warm welcome to Kathleen

0:57

mogul guard . We are so excited

0:59

to have her joining us as president

1:02

and CEO. She was already actually with us

1:04

as a senior fellow, so

1:06

it's exciting to see her step up and

1:08

become the new president and CEO,

1:10

and we are all excited and can't

1:13

wait to see what was going

1:15

to be coming ahead. So

1:17

welcome Kathleen, and just,

1:20

we're really excited to have you with us.

1:22

And then on the less exciting note,

1:25

other things that have been happening is

1:27

that there have been a huge,

1:30

huge surge and attacks

1:32

on abortion rights in the States.

1:35

So oftentimes in the podcast, we focus

1:37

a lot on the global level

1:40

or talking about policy out of Congress.

1:42

We don't always spend a ton of time on

1:44

what's happening in the States. And

1:47

it's really important because so much of

1:49

the attacks on abortion access are happening

1:51

at the state level. So we'll make sure

1:54

to be talking about that more.

1:56

And we'll talk about what has been happening more

1:58

in depth than just this intro, but

2:01

the numbers were really shocking and

2:03

the Guttmacher Institute just released data

2:06

on what has happened so far

2:08

this year. And so if you want more

2:10

information, definitely go to goop marker Institute,

2:13

to see all of the details

2:15

and all of the restrictions that have been

2:18

either introduced or enacted. So

2:20

doing as of April

2:23

29th. So last week States

2:25

in the us have introduced 536

2:28

abortion restrictions this

2:30

year since January 536.

2:34

That is so many y'all like,

2:36

that is wild on

2:39

top of that, just thinking last

2:41

week. So last week, April 26

2:44

through April 29th States

2:46

enacted 28

2:49

abortion restrictions enacted

2:51

28 abortion restrictions. That

2:53

is so wild.

2:57

And since the beginning of the, so since

2:59

January 1st 61

3:02

abortion restrictions have been enacted at

3:04

the state level and alone,

3:07

looking at Arkansas Arkansas

3:09

itself has enacted 20. There

3:12

has been just so much happening

3:15

around abortion access. And,

3:17

you know, I feel like this year there's

3:20

been so much attention, rightfully

3:22

so paid on the

3:24

just onslaught of

3:26

attacks on trans rights at the

3:28

state level. And that

3:31

the abortion restrictions have kind of gotten a little

3:33

under the radar this year, unless there's been something

3:35

new or wild. Um,

3:38

you know, you haven't heard about abortion

3:40

restrictions at the state level in the same way,

3:43

as we've heard about attacks

3:45

on trans rights. And that's not

3:47

to say we shouldn't be paying attention to trans rights

3:49

because we absolutely should like

3:51

the attacks that are happening are not

3:53

slowing down and they need to stop

3:55

it. It's unconscionable.

3:58

Someone who follows abortion rights was

4:00

pretty shocked to see 61 pieces have

4:02

been enacted this year. I mean, 61

4:05

restrictions have been enacted this year. That

4:07

is just kind of mind blowing.

4:09

So, you know, if you want to see what

4:11

those restrictions are and

4:13

what ones have been introduced, Guttmacher

4:16

has a tracker where you can see all

4:18

of those things. If you go to their website, you can

4:21

see what has been enacted

4:23

so far this year. If you want

4:25

to just kind of get an idea of what

4:27

the lay of the land is and how States

4:30

are attacking abortion

4:32

rates and how your state is fairing

4:34

, like how , how is access in your state

4:36

and how does it compare to other States? You

4:38

can actually go to our website.

4:41

So population institute.org/report

4:44

card, and you'll see our 50 state

4:46

report card we do every year. And

4:49

it will, you'll see

4:51

how your state compares to others.

4:53

I'm gonna tell y'all, there's a lot of red F's

4:55

on that report card. When you look at the

4:57

map, it is really striking

4:59

how much red there is and how little

5:02

blue, which is the A's . At

5:04

some point, we'll probably do an episode talking

5:06

about the report card, but y'all

5:08

should go take a look at it and see

5:10

how your state is varying . Um,

5:12

chances are, it's not great. So

5:16

with that, we'll talk about the other

5:18

big milestone that happened last week. I know,

5:20

like I said, there's so many things. So

5:23

last week was also marked the

5:25

first 100 days and of the

5:27

Biden Harris administration. So

5:30

we wanted to take this time this

5:32

week to talk about what have they

5:34

done in the first 100 days for reproductive

5:36

health and rights. So joining

5:38

me today to do that is Christina

5:41

Krasinski at ni Raul.

5:43

And I am so excited to have Christina with us today

5:46

to talk about Biden's first, a hundred

5:48

days in office. So with that, I will take

5:50

you to my interview with Christina. Hi

5:52

Christina. Thank you so much for being here today.

5:55

Thank you for having me. I am

5:57

thrilled

5:58

To be here. It's been a

6:00

long, been a fan, but first time on.

6:05

So before we get started, do you want to take a second

6:07

and introduce yourself and include your pronouns?

6:10

Sure thing. So my name is Christina

6:13

Krasinski. My pronouns are she

6:15

her and I am the counsel

6:18

and senior manager of policy at near

6:20

owl pro-choice America.

6:22

So I'm

6:23

Excited because we're going to talk about mostly

6:25

good things, which I feel like is

6:28

rare, but we're having two good things episodes

6:30

back to back. So that's extra rare,

6:33

but also I can not believe

6:35

we have just finished the first 100

6:38

days of the Biden administration,

6:40

like how So

6:45

fast and so long at the same time,

6:47

like everything right now. So

6:50

what have they done so far? And maybe because

6:53

we're going to cover a big swath

6:55

of things. We'll like break it up

6:57

into buckets. So

6:59

let's start with what have they done on

7:02

the global side. That

7:04

is great. And yes, as you said, as

7:06

of this recording, we are just past the 100

7:09

day Mark and there is really

7:11

no denying that there's a pretty stark

7:13

difference as a result of

7:15

this change in leadership. And while

7:17

we know that the work continues, there actually is a

7:19

lot to celebrate. So on

7:22

the global side, in his

7:24

second week in office, the president

7:26

took some really key executive

7:28

actions, including ending

7:30

the global gag rule. So

7:33

the Trump administration's expanded

7:35

global gag rule was really a hallmark

7:37

of Trump's efforts to undermine

7:39

sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world.

7:42

And we were more than ready

7:44

to see it gone during this administration.

7:47

We'll be even more ready to see it gone forever

7:49

when that day comes. The second thing

7:51

I want to make sure to mention is that the president

7:53

began the process of restoring funding to

7:56

UNF PA, which really plays a critical

7:58

role in access to reproductive

8:01

health services around the world. And

8:03

that funding is really particularly urgent

8:05

to address gaps in access to care that

8:07

have been exposed by the pandemic. So that

8:10

was very exciting. And then another

8:13

thing I want to make sure to highlight was that

8:15

the president with true us support

8:17

for a Trump administration,

8:19

anti-choice anti LGBTQ

8:23

document called the Geneva consensus

8:25

declaration. And that declaration

8:27

was also really an attempt from the Trump

8:29

administration to undermine international

8:32

consensus around sexual and

8:34

reproductive health and rights by

8:36

withdrawing us government support.

8:39

That sends a really important message to all

8:41

of our partners around the world that the United

8:43

States is no longer going to be a barrier

8:45

to progress when it comes to reproductive

8:47

freedom. And then lastly,

8:49

on the global side, I want to make sure to highlight

8:52

that late last month, during the

8:54

release of state departments , 2020

8:56

country reports on human rights practices,

8:59

secretary of state Anthony Blinken also

9:01

announced the United States will be resuming reporting

9:04

on reproductive rights. And that is a

9:06

truly critical step towards fulfilling

9:08

the Biden Paris administration's commitment

9:11

to recognizing that sexual and reproductive

9:13

rights are human rights. So we'll

9:15

stop there for now much more to come.

9:18

Yeah, I think the human rights

9:20

reports one is one of those things

9:23

that may not seem like a big

9:25

deal, but is a really big

9:27

deal because so many countries use the

9:30

us human rights reports , including

9:32

obviously the U S but like that's how

9:35

it's used during people trying to

9:37

seek asylum in the U S and if

9:39

it's not listed that, you know

9:42

, uh , reproductive rights violations exist

9:44

in that country, then judges

9:46

can't use it as a reason for asylum.

9:48

So it really actually makes a huge

9:50

difference for sure. For sure.

9:53

Okay. So that's the global bucket,

9:55

which that's a lot of big things.

9:58

So how about domestic? What have they done

10:00

domestically? Sure. So

10:02

on the domestic side, we also have

10:05

some very exciting news. Most of

10:07

it, pretty recent, in fact, so just

10:09

this month, the food and drug administration

10:12

announced that it will stop enforcing

10:14

a restriction that forced people

10:16

to travel to a hospital or clinic

10:19

or medical office to access

10:21

medication abortion care during the COVID

10:23

pandemic. And what this really means is

10:26

it will hopefully dramatically

10:28

expand access to medication abortion

10:30

care via telehealth, and that's a

10:32

hugely meaningful step towards ensuring

10:35

that pregnant people can access the care they need

10:37

during the pandemic without having

10:40

to expose themselves unnecessarily

10:42

to COVID. So that was really exciting

10:44

news. This month. Also

10:46

this month, the administration took

10:48

the first steps towards restoring the title

10:50

10 program by proposing

10:52

a rule to end the Trump administration's

10:55

domestic gag rule. And we're super

10:57

excited to see the domestic gag rule

11:00

on its way out and really

11:02

restore the title 10 program so that folks

11:04

can access the family planning services

11:07

that they need. And then the

11:09

last piece I want to make sure to mention actually

11:11

impacts both domestic and global

11:13

reproductive freedom. And it's that in

11:15

March the Biden administration officially

11:18

established the white house gender policy council,

11:21

which is a historic council that will

11:23

work to advance gender equity and

11:25

its charge. It includes explicit commitment

11:28

to promoting sexual and reproductive health

11:30

and rights. And I just want to emphasize

11:32

that because continuing to see that explicit

11:35

commitment from the administration is really important,

11:37

not just here in the U S but also around

11:39

the world. Well , and it's also just

11:41

really important because I remember

11:44

how much pushing and shoving

11:46

we had to do to get the

11:48

Obama administration to recognize

11:50

sexual and reproductive health and

11:52

reproductive rights. So

11:55

it's a big change that happened

11:57

right away, which is really nice to see

11:59

that they are really prioritizing

12:02

sexual and reproductive health and rights. I

12:04

agree. It's great to sort of be starting

12:06

off on the right foot here on that

12:08

front, which is very exciting. So

12:11

I think another bucket, like we've all

12:14

been so focused on policy,

12:16

and I think one place that is

12:19

just as important because it can really

12:21

impact policy is appointments

12:24

and who is in office and who

12:26

is in positions to make these things

12:28

happen. What has been going

12:30

on around appointments and the administration.

12:34

Sure. So as you said, you know,

12:36

personnel really shapes policy.

12:38

And one of the most exciting

12:40

things that we've seen in the last couple

12:42

of months in the last 100 days is

12:45

that the president has really charted

12:47

a new course for reproductive freedom

12:49

through the cabinet and beyond. So

12:51

this is a historically diverse group

12:54

of leaders. That includes a lot of folks

12:56

that I think we can really count on to

12:58

safeguard and advance reproductive freedom

13:00

at home and abroad. So

13:03

there are just a couple that I'll highlight specifically.

13:05

It probably goes without saying that the secretary

13:08

of health and human services is a truly

13:10

a central role for reproductive freedom. And

13:13

we do have a real champion

13:15

and secretary have your best. Sarah

13:17

, during his time as California attorney

13:20

general, secretary of the Sarah did critical

13:23

work to protect and expand reproductive

13:25

freedom, including abortion access in the

13:27

state of California. And we look

13:29

forward to him continuing that work

13:31

in this administration. And then, you

13:34

know , in addition to secretary Sarah , I want

13:36

to make sure to , uh

13:38

, shine a light on Dr. Rachel

13:40

Levine, who has been confirmed as the assistant

13:42

secretary of health. And

13:44

it's not only critical because of her

13:46

strong support for sexual and reproductive

13:48

health and rights, but also because

13:50

she made history as the first openly

13:53

transgender Senate confirmed federal official,

13:55

which was just great to see. We're

13:58

also thrilled to see folks at the department

14:01

of justice that respect fundamental

14:03

rights, including the right to abortion and

14:05

will work to protect everyone's constitutional

14:07

rights. And those folks include

14:10

Janita group who was recently confirmed

14:12

as associate attorney general and Kristen

14:15

Clark , who has been nominated to be the assistant

14:17

attorney general for civil rights. And

14:19

both of these women are really unwavering

14:21

champions for freedom and for justice.

14:24

So excited to see the work that they will

14:26

do at the department of justice. And

14:29

then we're also really excited

14:31

to see folks installed in critical

14:33

foreign policy positions that will ensure

14:35

advancing sexual and reproductive health rights.

14:38

And justice is a critical component of us

14:40

foreign policy and foreign assistance.

14:42

These folks include secretary of state

14:45

Antony Blinken, who I mentioned earlier, UN

14:47

ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield, and

14:49

USA ID, Samantha

14:51

power, who was just confirmed this week. So

14:54

really excited to see all the work

14:56

that those folks will do. And then finally,

14:59

I would be remiss not

15:01

to mention that vice president Harris

15:03

has made history as the first woman,

15:06

the first black person and the first Indian American

15:08

person elected vice president

15:10

of the United States. And it's pretty clear that

15:12

her leadership is already making a difference

15:15

in centering the experiences of women

15:17

and people of color. For example,

15:19

on April the white house issued its first

15:21

ever proclamation on internal

15:24

health week and vice president Harris

15:26

joined the round table event about

15:28

tackling the black maternal health crisis.

15:30

And then the administration made the

15:33

state of Illinois, the first state to receive

15:35

federal approval, to provide the full

15:37

range of Medicaid benefits for

15:39

12 months postpartum . So really looking

15:41

forward to seeing more of her work in action as

15:43

well. Yeah, and I think also

15:46

along that line and I may be wrong,

15:48

so sorry. Y'all but I think she

15:50

is also the highest level person

15:52

to speak at the commission on

15:54

the status of women and vice president

15:57

Harris gave remarks there. And

15:59

so that was really great to see the high

16:01

level us engagement at the commission

16:03

on the status of women. And I think one other

16:06

piece, and we'll not go into it cause like it's just

16:08

like starting to happen, but is

16:10

also really important for

16:12

all of these things we were talking about is

16:15

one of the things we talked about a lot under

16:17

the Trump administration is the reshaping

16:20

of the federal judiciary and

16:22

Biden has been able to start sending his

16:24

first couple of slates of nominees

16:27

up. It's really great to see

16:29

some nominees who support reproductive rights coming

16:31

up before the Senate agreed.

16:33

And you know, on that front, as you

16:35

said, we're really happy to see such a diverse slate

16:38

of nominees coming out of the white house. And I

16:40

just want to highlight one in particular who

16:42

had hearing this week, judge Kotania

16:44

Brown Jackson, who's been nominated to

16:46

the U S circuit court for the

16:49

us court of appeals for the district of Columbia

16:51

circuit. And judge Jackson has really

16:53

been a champion for reproductive freedom

16:55

throughout her career. So we're excited

16:57

to see her confirmed to the

16:59

DC circuit, which is pretty much the

17:01

second highest court in the land. So just

17:03

very excited to see her there.

17:06

Yeah, I've been really excited

17:08

about just the diversity

17:10

and the range of experience we're seeing

17:13

for all the appointments, not just

17:15

in the judiciary, but just in

17:17

the cabinet too . It's been really such

17:20

a breath of fresh air. Okay.

17:22

So that's the good parts.

17:26

So we have a lot of really big

17:28

asks for the administration, but maybe

17:30

we'll focus first and like things we would have liked

17:32

to have seen in the first 100 days,

17:34

and then we'll get to some of the bigger stuff that

17:37

we still want to see them do. So where

17:39

have they fallen short in the first

17:41

100 days? You

17:44

know, it's a great question. And actually

17:46

I think that comes to mind the

17:48

most is really sort of like a cross

17:50

cutting issue across many of our. And

17:53

it's that, you know, after four years of

17:55

the Trump administration, coupled with

17:58

anti-choice state lawmakers

18:00

moving at like a truly

18:02

breakneck speed to pass as many

18:04

abortion bans and restrictions as they possibly

18:07

can. And that means that, you

18:09

know , while abortion remains legal in all 50

18:11

States, the state of access across

18:13

the country is really incredibly dire.

18:16

So I think one thing that we'd

18:19

hope to have seen in the last 100

18:21

days and hope to see in the future is just

18:23

a little more of a sense of urgency when

18:26

it comes to undoing Trump's

18:28

harmful policies and putting in place

18:30

policies that will protect and

18:32

expand reproductive freedom. So

18:35

I think whether it's expanding access

18:37

to medication abortion, or restoring

18:39

the title 10 program or

18:42

policies that will advance sexual

18:44

and reproductive health and rights and justice

18:46

abroad, we really need the administration

18:48

to take action as swiftly,

18:51

as humanly possible. And I think

18:53

sometimes things have moved a little slower than many folks

18:56

would have liked. And, you know, we know that the American

18:58

people are with us, the vast majority

19:00

of Americans support the legal right to

19:02

abortion and protecting, extend,

19:05

expanding reproductive freedom must

19:07

be a priority for this administration. And

19:09

the speed piece is really key

19:12

in terms of not just undoing the bad,

19:14

but putting in place policies

19:16

that will move us forward. And so I

19:18

think that is sad is really the biggest

19:21

thing that comes to mind that I think the

19:23

administration has fallen a little short on and that

19:25

we'd like to see more of a sense of urgency in

19:27

the next 100 days.

19:29

Yeah, I think that's true. Cause right now it does really

19:31

feel like we're just fixing

19:34

the things that the Trump administration

19:37

did, but like we

19:39

need to move past that and

19:41

be taking proactive action to

19:44

improve access. I think, you

19:46

know , um, one of the things I will

19:48

talk about in the intro to this episode is

19:51

the Guttmacher data that came out last

19:53

week when this comes out, talking

19:56

about just the breakneck

19:58

pace that States are passing

20:00

abortion restrictions like 68

20:03

new restrictions since January

20:05

is just absolutely unbelievable.

20:08

And it kind of was just quiet,

20:10

right? Like I, I knew there

20:12

were restrictions happening, but to see there were

20:14

68 really took me aback

20:16

. Like I , I must have clearly missed

20:19

some .

20:19

I agree. And I think we

20:21

can't really uncouple that

20:24

from the breakneck pace of

20:26

both anti voting rights laws. We're

20:28

seeing at the state level and

20:30

anti-trans laws are seeing at the state

20:32

level and like those three

20:34

trends coupled together have

20:37

really created a crisis for

20:40

people's rights and just ability to

20:43

live their lives. And I would

20:45

like to see some really Swift and

20:48

a commitment from the administration.

20:51

Um , but that's not something that the federal government

20:53

will stand for under president Biden.

20:55

Absolutely. Okay. So that's

20:58

things we would have liked to have seen in the first 100

21:00

days and actually one more thing that I think we would

21:02

absolutely be very remiss to not talk

21:04

about is the lack

21:07

of even just referencing abortion.

21:10

You know, I think that's right. I think

21:13

it's , uh , you know, it's the 21st

21:15

century, it's about time that

21:17

our federal officials are comfortable

21:19

just saying the word abortion. Um,

21:22

because it's , you know, we know where the crisis

21:24

is and the crisis is with abortion access

21:26

and it's helpful to be explicit

21:28

about that. So I agree. Okay.

21:32

So looking past the first 100 days,

21:34

what are some of the big asks that are still

21:36

left for the reproach community? Like we said,

21:38

it's clearly a crisis. And so there are a lot

21:40

of things that we still need done.

21:43

So what are some of the big ones? Sure.

21:46

So, you know, the list is

21:48

long and the work continues less.

21:50

People be afraid that there's

21:53

nothing to be done, but the work continues

21:55

and I'm hopeful that we will make progress. So just

21:57

a couple of things to highlight. I

21:59

think on a lot of our minds right now is the president's

22:01

budget. No , over the course

22:03

of his many years in public life,

22:06

we have heard Joe Biden say

22:08

time. And again, that your budget

22:10

reflects your values. And

22:12

the budget is really a key statement of

22:14

the administration's priorities as

22:16

well as a document for providing

22:19

guidance to Congress during the appropriations

22:21

process. So we are

22:23

hoping to see a president's budget

22:26

that robustly funds , reproductive

22:28

freedom programs, and

22:30

very importantly, excludes abortion

22:33

coverage fans like the Hyde amendment, as

22:35

well as denial of care policies,

22:37

like the Weldon amendment and

22:40

policies that undermine abortion access

22:42

around the world, like reiterations

22:44

of the Helms amendment, as well as any

22:46

other attacks on reproductive freedom.

22:49

You know, the list

22:51

can be long of all of these,

22:53

what we call a riders on government

22:56

funding that restrict reproductive

22:58

freedom at home and around the world. And we're

23:01

really hoping to see it

23:03

change at the federal level when it comes

23:05

to the president's budget. So we're hoping

23:08

to see that sometime this spring stay

23:10

tuned and I can talk a little later

23:13

about sort of what folks can do to

23:16

make their voices heard to the white house

23:18

to emphasize how important

23:20

it is that the president's budget does

23:23

not include any attacks on reproductive

23:25

health, rights and justice. Now

23:27

, the second thing I want to highlight

23:29

is that, you

23:31

know, building on this important first

23:33

step of making medication abortion,

23:36

more accessible during the pandemic, we

23:38

are urging the FDA to initiate

23:41

a comprehensive review of all

23:43

of its restrictions on medication abortion,

23:46

so that people's access to care, reflect

23:48

science and not these politically

23:50

motivated restrictions that have been in place

23:52

for far too long. So hopefully

23:55

we will see that process underway soon. And

23:59

then I also want to make sure, you know, as

24:01

we have talked about, there

24:03

are a lot of bad Trump regulations

24:05

and policies that limit access

24:07

to care that are still in place. Some

24:10

of them are blocked by court order, but they

24:12

are still on the books as federal regulations.

24:15

So these include attempts

24:17

to expand already harmful

24:20

denial of care laws, as well

24:22

as attacks on contraception coverage

24:25

requirements that make abortion coverage

24:27

more burdensome and the affordable care

24:29

act marketplaces . And those are just three

24:32

examples, but we're really hoping to

24:34

see the regulatory process

24:37

begin in earnest when it comes to undoing

24:39

these harmful Trump policies. You

24:42

know , and lastly, I think we

24:44

really hope that the president will continue

24:47

to nominate and appoint judges

24:49

and executive branch officials that have

24:51

positive records on reproductive

24:54

freedom, health rights, and justice. I

24:56

mean, with respect to judges, as we've talked

24:58

about a little bit in light of

25:00

what Donald Trump did to the courts, you know,

25:02

nominating over 220

25:04

judges in a single term, including

25:07

three Supreme court justices, as

25:09

well as, you know , the role that the courts play

25:11

in holding the line against this onslaught

25:14

of state attacks on abortion access.

25:16

It is absolutely critical that

25:19

the president nominate judges that have

25:21

a positive record on reproductive freedom

25:23

and that will protect our fundamental

25:25

rights in the courts. And

25:28

then on the executive branch side, you

25:30

know , there's still a number of important

25:32

positions that remain to be filled. The

25:35

FDA commissioner for example, has

25:37

yet to be named and filling

25:39

that position with a principal bleeder

25:41

who will respect scientific integrity

25:44

and evidence-based medicine. And

25:46

that will resist and speak out against,

25:48

you know, political intimidation and interference

25:51

at the FDA is really essential for

25:53

advancing reproductive freedom for people around

25:55

the country. We'd also hope to see

25:57

a nominee for the ambassador at

25:59

large, for global women's issues that understands

26:02

that sexual and reproductive health

26:04

and rights really play a critical

26:06

role in advancing gender equity around

26:08

the world. And so we'd love to see

26:10

someone that has that understanding

26:13

because it's something that has been at times

26:15

lacking in that space. And

26:18

then finally, there's also, you know, a number

26:20

of positions that do not require Senate

26:22

confirmation that are still critical

26:24

to our work. And so we look forward

26:26

to seeing qualified appointees being

26:29

selected for those positions. And I want to

26:31

, you know , specifically name the director

26:33

of the HHS office for civil rights

26:36

plays a critical role in making

26:38

sure people can access healthcare free

26:40

from discrimination. And then

26:42

also the deputy assistant secretary

26:45

for population affairs at HHS

26:47

oversees the title 10 program and will

26:49

play a really important role in restoring

26:51

the program . So I think those are the

26:53

positions to highlight. It's not

26:55

an exhaustive list, but there's

27:00

so much, and at times it feels

27:03

overwhelming. And like you add , even with your

27:05

shortlist , I was like, Oh, I forgot about that.

27:09

Oh yeah, there was that policy

27:11

to make it harder for abortion

27:14

insurance . I totally forgot about that one. Like

27:16

there was just, the attacks were

27:18

never ending under the Trump administration

27:21

that it's hard

27:23

to think back to all the things that are going

27:25

to need to be fixed and

27:27

like that doesn't even encounter moving forward.

27:30

It's just like things that have to be fixed.

27:34

It's, you know, it's one step

27:36

at a time is I think how it's helpful to think

27:38

about this because it can be a little overwhelming

27:40

to think of everything that needs to be done

27:42

in its entirety, but we are

27:44

making progress and we will, we

27:46

will continue to make progress. So I'm hopeful.

27:50

Yes. I , I am

27:52

excited for what we can accomplish.

27:55

And I think, you know, the

27:57

right people are getting put in place to

27:59

make these things happen. And some of those things

28:01

can't happen until the people

28:04

were put in place. So if

28:06

they're not happening, hadn't happened with

28:08

this speed we wanted for the first 100

28:11

days now that the people are there, I'm

28:13

hoping things can speed up, hopefully.

28:19

Okay. So we always like to end

28:21

with what actions can our audience

28:24

take. So what can the audience

28:26

do right now to make sure that we get

28:28

these things happening? Sure.

28:32

So there are several things.

28:34

The first is, you know, make your

28:36

voice heard to the white house and telling

28:39

the white house that the president's budget needs

28:41

to be free of any attacks

28:43

on reproductive freedom, including

28:46

the Hyde amendment and the Weldon amendment amendment,

28:49

which I talked about earlier,

28:51

we actually are hosting a

28:53

series of events about the

28:55

president's budget. And if you go to

28:58

[inaudible] website , you can go

29:00

to our events page and we will

29:02

send you lots of resources about how to

29:04

engage in advocacy around

29:07

the president's budget and ensuring

29:09

that the budget is free from attacks

29:11

on reproductive freedom. So that is

29:13

one piece. The second piece I want

29:16

to highlight is, you know, as things

29:18

are moving in the regulatory

29:20

space there, we'll see a lot of

29:22

opportunities for the public to submit

29:24

comments as the president begins

29:27

to roll back regulations. So

29:29

that is happening right now with the title

29:31

10 rule, but we will continue

29:33

to see that moving forward as the

29:36

administration repeals other regulations and

29:38

policies. And then finally, you know,

29:40

Congress is not without a role

29:42

Here, particularly on the personnel. So

29:45

it's really important for people to call

29:47

their senators and urge them to confirm

29:49

pro reproductive freedom, executive

29:52

branch, nominees, and judges. I

29:54

will stick to those three things for now. We

29:58

would be very appreciative of all

30:00

of the energy that folks could put into

30:02

those actions. Yes,

30:04

it's really important

30:06

that they are hearing from us

30:08

because everyone knows

30:11

that the other side is very loud. So

30:13

we need to make sure that

30:16

people are hearing our support and our thanks

30:18

when they do get things to seed

30:21

. Well, Christina,

30:23

thank you so much for being here today.

30:25

It was fun talking to you about

30:27

Biden's first 100 days. Thank

30:33

you for having me and you know , here's

30:35

the next 100 days and hopefully

30:38

more to come. Okay. Everybody.

30:40

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Christina.

30:43

It was great talking about the

30:45

great things that have been done,

30:47

but we still have a ways to go. Y'all like, I

30:49

cannot believe we're a hundred days in

30:52

a hundred and then some , and they still

30:54

have not said the word abortion.

30:57

I mean, how do you put out a row

30:59

declaration on the commemorating, the anniversary

31:02

of Roe V. Wade and not say the word abortion.

31:04

That is a wild y'all . And

31:07

so we are over a hundred days in and

31:09

they still haven't even said it, you know?

31:11

So it's great. The things they have done, there's

31:13

still so much that needs to happen.

31:15

And one of those things has to

31:18

like , say the word abortion. It's

31:21

it's just a word it's healthcare. You can talk

31:23

about it. It's okay. Okay.

31:26

With that, I will

31:28

see all in two weeks, if

31:30

you have any questions for us or topics

31:32

you'd like us to cover as always

31:34

feel free to email [email protected]

31:39

or you can reach out to us

31:41

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31:43

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31:45

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31:48

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31:51

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31:53

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31:55

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