In this episode of My Body. My Pod., Mini Timmaraju sits down with Skye Perryman—President and CEO of Democracy Forward and one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025—to discuss the legal fights shaping reproductive freedom, voting rights, and democracy itself.

From defending access to mifepristone against legally baseless fringe theories peddled by anti-abortion extremists, to challenging attacks on voting rights and government accountability, Skye has become one of the leading voices pushing back against efforts to roll back fundamental freedoms.

Mini and Skye discuss:

• Why mifepristone remains under attack—and what the latest court battles could mean for abortion access
• How anti-abortion extremists are attempting to revive a 150-year-old law as a pathway to a national abortion ban
• Why court reform is essential for protecting reproductive freedom and democracy
• How attacks on voting rights, reproductive rights, and declining trust in democratic institutions are all deeply connected
• What history teaches us about social change—and why people, not institutions alone, drive progress
• Why organizing, storytelling, and civic engagement remain some of our most powerful tools

Skye reminds us: lasting change has always come from people demanding it.

“No institution ever handed down a decision that protected our rights. People pushed those institutions, and the people are responsible for those wins. And we're going to have to find that again and win again.”

Episode recorded on May 18, 2026.

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In collaboration with Abortion in America, our latest episode of My Body. My Pod. with Mini Timmaraju features Avery Davis Bell, a Georgia mother and genetics researcher who was forced to wait for emergency abortion care until complications were life-threatening.

Avery was 18 weeks pregnant when her water broke—a medical emergency that made her pregnancy nonviable and placed her at risk for severe blood loss and sepsis. Even though her doctors knew she needed a D&E (Dilation and Evacuation) procedure, Georgia’s abortion ban created delays while providers determined whether her condition was “serious enough” to legally qualify her for care.

Avery had every advantage: early prenatal care, expert medical knowledge, access to a major hospital system, and a strong support network.

Her story raises an urgent question: if someone with those resources struggle to receive timely emergency care, what happens to patients facing greater barriers to access?

“It’s like insult to injury in the worst possible way,” Avery says.

Mini and Avery discuss:

• How abortion bans interfere with emergency pregnancy care
• Why abortion ban “exceptions” are designed to fail in real-world medical emergencies
• What it means when doctors are forced to wait until patients become “sick enough” to receive treatment
• How Georgia’s maternal health crisis is worsening under abortion bans
• Why storytelling, organizing, and state elections matter in the fight for reproductive freedom

Episode recorded on March 8, 2026

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Abortion clinics have long been targets of coordinated blockades, harassment, and violence.

This reality has never stopped Rene Chelian, an abortion provider and advocate who has spent decades caring for patients and fighting for access. In this episode of My Body. My Pod., Mini Timmaraju sits down with Renee, Founder and CEO of Northland Family Planning Centers, to talk about what it takes to deliver care, protect patients and staff, and defend abortion access in the face of escalating threats.

With nearly 50 years on the front lines, Renee has lived through the full scope of anti-abortion extremism and helped advocate for the federal protections of patients seeking abortion care—the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.

This episode is about resilience and the ongoing fight to protect abortion rights for everybody. Renee continues that work through Reclaim, an initiative focused on restoring dignity, confidence, and public support for abortion and reproductive rights through advocacy and education.

Protecting abortion access requires all of us—providers, advocates, and communities—willing to stay in the fight.

Episode recorded on April 8, 2026.

Explore more episode resources: reproforall.org/podEP17

Sign up to get involved with Reproductive Freedom for All at reproforall.org/podlistener/ or Text POD to 59791.

*By providing your phone number, you are consenting to receive mobile alerts from Reproductive Freedom for All at 59791 and other phone numbers. Message and data rates apply. Frequency varies. Text STOP to end. Text HELP for help.

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