There are many wonderful adoption stories in the world, but almost none of them feature the perspective of the birth mother. In the season finale of CHOICE/LESS, Angelique Saavedra tells her powerful and heart-rending story so that other birth mothers know they don't have to be invisible—their experiences matter.
Dominick Evans is a filmmaker and activist who has a progressive, neuromuscular disability called spinal muscular atrophy. He needs the help of a wheelchair and other people to complete most physical tasks. He's also transgender. These intersecting identities have made it difficult for him to access the most basic and necessary reproductive health care — even in the emergency room.
Dr. Nicola Moore travels across the country to provide abortions at clinics where laws have made it nearly impossible to find providers in those areas. She has faced harassment and intimidation, but anti-choice threats haven't stopped her from helping to make abortion accessible. Listen to her story now on CHOICE/LESS.
Fourteen years ago, Cherisse Scott was a singer finishing a national tour. The career she'd worked so hard for all her life was about to blossom. Then an unplanned pregnancy and a trip to what she thought was an abortion clinic changed all of that. Listen to her story on this episode of CHOICE/LESS.
Tasha Fierce is a feminist writer and student of sociology. She's always been pro-choice, and when she chose to terminate an unwanted pregnancy she says she felt no shame — until she came face-to-face with anti-choice protesters outside the clinic.
The previous two episodes of CHOICE/LESS featured stories of people denied care at Catholic hospitals because the hospitals claimed their treatment would violate the church's ethical and religious directives. When do the church's rights trump the patient's rights? In this episode of CHOICE/LESS, Jessica Mason Pieklo explores the answer that question.
Mindy Swank grew up staunchly "pro-life" in a conservative Baptist family in Illinois. Then at age 24, already a wife and mother, Mindy developed life-threatening complications during a pregnancy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just her church and family that felt she should risk death rather than terminate her pregnancy—the Catholic hospital at which she was being treated seemed to share that same sentiment.
Evan Minton is a transgender man, and the day before his hysterectomy was scheduled, his doctor called him with bad news: the surgery was cancelled. Dignity Health was a Catholic hospital, and claimed that Evan’s hysterectomy would conflict with the church's ethical and religious directives. But Evan chose his name for a reason; one of its meanings is fierce warrior, and he was ready to fight.
Jack RR Evans tells the stories of their abortion and of coming out. Jack is a nonbinary transgender person, and during the pregnancy they experienced gender dysphoria. But it wasn’t until years later that Jack understood why, when they realized they were transgender.
CHOICE/LESS is back, and for the first episode of season 2, host and producer Jenn Stanley speaks to Shout Your Abortion's Amelia Bonow about abortion storytelling and "taking back the moral high ground" from members of the religious right who've laid claim to powerful buzzwords like life, love, and patriotism.
