Republican officials are trying to enforce their abortion bans across state lines. Democratic governors and attorneys general are using shield laws to fight back, and protect providers and their patients. This is why the governors and attorneys general we elect matter more than ever.

Here’s how a shield law looks in practice.

In December 2024, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued a New York provider for prescribing telemedicine abortion care to a patient in Texas. After a Texas court ordered the provider to pay more than $113,000, Paxton tried to get New York to enforce the judgment.

New York refused. An Ulster County clerk blocked the filing under the state's shield law, and Attorney General Letitia James stepped in to defend the law and the provider.

Then, Louisiana officials indicted the same doctor and sought to have her extradited. Again, New York refused. This time, New York Governor Kathy Hochul stepped in and refused to turn over the provider.

In this episode of My Body. My Pod, human rights lawyer and Reproductive Futures founder and CEO Julie F. Kay joins Mini Timmaraju to discuss the shield laws at the center of this fight, the growing attacks on telemedicine abortion, and the importance of the midterm elections.

Mini and Julie Dig into:

• How telemedicine shield laws protect providers caring for patients “regardless of patient location”
• How abusive ex-partners and anti-abortion lawyers are weaponizing bounty hunter laws to intimidate and exert control over pregnant people
• Why anti-abortion forces are targeting mifepristone and telemedicine abortion
• How Democratic governors and attorneys general are blocking attempts to export abortion bans
• Why elections and court reform are critical to protecting and expanding abortion access

Explore more episode resources: reproforall.org/podEP24

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

By providing your phone number, you are consenting to receive automated text messages from Reproductive Freedom for All at 59791 and other phone numbers. Donations will be solicited over texts. Message and data rates apply. Frequency varies. Text STOP to end. Text HELP for help. Visit https://reproductivefreedomforall.org/privacy-policy/ for more information.

Dig the new show? Help us spread the word! Like and subscribe to My Body. My Pod. on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

When Ashley and Marcus Brandt learned they were expecting twins, they imagined their family finally feeling complete. Just weeks later, everything changed.

During a routine ultrasound, one of the twins was diagnosed with a fatal condition. Because of Texas' abortion ban, their doctors couldn't provide the medical care they needed. The family traveled to Colorado for a procedure that protected Ashley from life-threatening complications and saved their surviving twin.

In this special collaboration with Abortion in America, Mini Timmaraju sits down with Ashley and Marcus to hear their story. Together, they discuss how abortion bans delay critical medical care, and undermine the ability of patients and doctors to make the best decisions together.

“I felt like a reproductive refugee,” says Ashley. “My daughter has less rights now than her grandmother did. It’s unacceptable."

They discuss:

• What happened after a routine ultrasound revealed a fatal fetal condition
• How Texas' abortion ban forced Ashley and Marcus to leave the state for life-saving care
• How abortion bans interfere with pregnancy care and force families into impossible situations
• The emotional toll of navigating pregnancy under abortion restrictions
• Why sharing stories like these is essential to protecting reproductive freedom

This episode is a powerful reminder that abortion is health care—and that politicians should never stand between families and the medical care they need.

Episode recorded on March 8, 2026

Thanks for listening! Make sure you hit the subscribe button to get notified when new episodes drop, and share this episode with a friend.

Explore more episode resources at reproforall.org/podEP23

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.

Dig the new show? Help us spread the word! Like and subscribe to My Body. My Pod. on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

"If you want to get something done in Congress, people say you go to Diana DeGette."

In this episode of My Body. My Pod., Mini Timmaraju sits down with Rep. Diana DeGette, co-chair of the Congressional Reproductive Freedom Caucus and one of the most effective reproductive freedom champions in Congress, to discuss the plan to restore abortion rights nationwide.

From passing Colorado's landmark clinic protection law as a young state legislator to helping secure House passage of the Women's Health Protection Act after Dobbs, DeGette has spent decades building the relationships, experience, and political power needed to move legislation forward.

Now, she's looking ahead.

DeGette shares what Democrats hope to accomplish when they regain control of Congress, including restoring abortion rights nationwide, repealing Hyde restrictions, protecting access to reproductive health care, and pushing back against attacks on birth control and bodily autonomy.

Along the way, she reflects on the evolution of the Democratic Party on abortion rights, why reproductive freedom is inseparable from economic security, and what gives her hope in this moment.

Their conversation focuses on a central truth: progress depends not just on ideas, but on the ability to turn them into law. As DeGette puts it: "If you don't have the votes, you don't pass the bill."

In this episode:

• The plan to restore abortion rights nationwide
• Why repealing the Hyde Amendment remains a top priority
• How Colorado became a model for reproductive freedom policy
• The behind-the-scenes effort to pass the Women's Health Protection Act
• Why reproductive freedom is also an affordability issue
• Court reform, Supreme Court ethics, and protecting fundamental rights
• Why Congress, the courts, and the citizens all have a role to play

Despite the onslaught of attacks on our fundamental freedoms, DeGette remains optimistic, pointing to the power of people already taking action—protesting, voting, and holding elected officials accountable: "Abortion is our health care right. We will get to where we need to be."

Episode recorded on June 10, 2026.

Explore more episode resources: reproforall.org/podEP22

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

By providing your phone number, you are consenting to receive automated text messages from Reproductive Freedom for All at 59791 and other phone numbers. Donations will be solicited over texts. Message and data rates apply. Frequency varies. Text STOP to end. Text HELP for help. Visit https://reproductivefreedomforall.org/privacy-policy/ for more information.

Dig the new show? Help us spread the word! Like and subscribe to My Body. My Pod. on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.