Medina v. Planned Parenthood Is a Direct Attack to Reproductive Justice

T/W: Mention of sexual assault at 20:29

Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic was a Supreme Court case this term that specifically targeted efforts to kick Planned Parenthood and other reproductive healthcare providers out of Medicaid. In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court sided against access to care. Dr. Regina Davis Moss, President and CEO of In Our Own Voice, National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda, sits down to talk with us about Medina v. Planned Parenthood and how this case is a direct assault on hard-fought reproductive justice progress.

Reproductive justice is rooted in human rights and is about the ability to exercise economic, social, and political power to make decisions about one’s body, family, community, and other life aspects in a safe and sustainable environment. But Medina, which successfully displaced Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care providers from Medicaid, threatens 200 Planned Parenthood health centers and 1.1 million patients who depend on Planned Parenthood for a spectrum of care. This extreme barrier will prevent people, families, and communities from accessing reliable health care and ultimately realizing reproductive justice.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:03

Welcome to Repros Fight Back, a podcast on all things related to sexual and reproductive health rights and justice. Hi Repros, how's everybody doing? I'm your host, Jenny Wetter, and my pronouns are she, her. Well, before we get to the bad and terrible, let's start off with some happiness again. Last week, I talked to you about my excitement about Wisconsin State Supreme Court striking down a 176-year-old abortion ban, which was amazing news out of Wisconsin. This week, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court was back upholding a ban on conversion therapy So it is so wonderful to see them standing up for our rights, to block an abortion ban, to ensure that the ban on conversion therapy stays in place. I am just so excited for my friends and family who are still in Wisconsin who no longer have to fear these restrictions that were in place or worry about conversion therapy. So feeling like a very proud Wisconsinite, happy Badger today. So I wanted to share that piece of good news since there is a lot of of other just not great news, right? Since we last talked, the terrible, big, beautiful bill, I feel stupider every time I say it, y'all. Hopefully we don't have to talk about it much anymore, but there's so much terrible in it, was passed and signed into law. So, so, so many terrible things in it. A huge, massive increase of funding for ICE, which is not good. Massive cuts to Medicaid. ban on funding for Planned Parenthood, massive tax cuts for the wealthy, cuts to food stamps. Y'all, just so much terrible in one terrible, terrible bill. So many people are going to be hurt by all of these provisions. And I'm sure we'll talk about the fallout from it for so much more. But just, yeah, not good, y'all. Really worried about that massive funding increase for ICE. Really worried about the defunding of Planned Parenthood and what that's going to do for access to care. Really worried about the huge cuts in SNAP benefits and the loss of Medicaid and what that's going to mean for people on Medicaid, but also for people who aren't on Medicaid but are going to be impacted by rural hospitals being forced to close. The hospital I grew up going to is considered a rural hospital, so it could be impacted. There is so much that I am more about all of the people who are going to be harmed because of these terrible decisions that were made to support this bill. Yeah. So again, just let's go back to the happiness of thinking about Wisconsin State Supreme Court doing the right things and that being really wonderful. And I'm going to choose to focus on that part. But yeah, just feeling really heavy this week with... knowing that this bill was signed into law and what it is going to mean for people's lives around the country. And most of it is not good. Yeah, I'm trying to think if there's anything else exciting. I've been back to baking a little bit, which was exciting. I think I told you all before last week, I made really yummy flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, which were really good. This weekend, I made oat muffins with little jammy bits in them, which were very good. I had those for breakfast all week. I'm going to try and make something again this weekend. Like I said, I've really fallen off the baking train, and so I am... Trying to get back on it. It does bring me joy. I know that people love seeing what I post when I share what I've made, so I want to get back to it. So I think that's where I'm at right now. I think that's probably enough chit chat. I'm sure you want to hear what we're going to talk about this week because it is a really important conversation. I am talking to Dr. Regina Davis Moss within our own voice, National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda, to talk about the Medina decision Hi, Jenny. So glad to be here. Dr. Regina Davis-Moss

SPEAKER_00: 4:47

President and CEO of In Our Own Voice, National Black Women's Reproductive Justice Agenda. And my pronouns are she, her, hers.

SPEAKER_01: 4:56

Thank you. Like I said, I'm really excited to talk to you about this decision because it is going to have some really wide ranging impacts. But before we can talk about the impacts, maybe we should talk about the case. And it's Medina versus Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic. What was this case about?

SPEAKER_00: 5:17

Yeah, I mean, what the case was about was, for me, what it boiled down to was really everything that we have been trying to talk about with regard to reproductive justice. That where you live, you know, your geography and... your ability to pay and your income is really now going to be how you access care. When we think about reproductive justice, this is what the 12 founding mothers were trying to uplift that, you know, we live in a system in the United States where there's the two-tiered healthcare system, where there's two types of healthcare. And if you can pay for better health care, then you get that. If not, then you have to rely on our public health care system. And so what that case was just saying is that if you are on Medicaid, there is a provision in there that says you should have the right to choose your provider. And that case said that people didn't have that right, or at least they didn't have the right to sue. But that's really, in my mind, a sort of you know, formality in terms of where we're ultimately going to end up, which is that, you know, this is just the beginning of a pattern, a growing pattern that we have seen in terms of restricting access. You know, now we're talking about just reproductive health care. You know, this is what I want people to really understand is that that case was not about abortion. That was just about care. Right. But it's just, you know, it's the beginning, only the beginning of of what we're going to see. We're going to get into contraception, screening, prenatal care, even the abortion drug. This is really, it was a sad day for me. And just in terms of, it was struck right at the heart of everything we fight for in terms of reproductive justice. We are saying that we need to center access. We need to center autonomy And we need to center equity and that all of those are impacted when we look at things like race, class, gender, and obviously where we live. In this case, it was South Carolina. And those intersect, those systems intersect as well as exacerbate, you know, issues that get into the in the way of people being able to self-determine their reproductive lives.

SPEAKER_01: 7:47

I really liked how you framed that. It is such this bigger question and it is often getting lost in the discussion because Planned Parenthood brought the case. And yes, it's about Planned Parenthood in some ways, but it was bigger than that, right? It wasn't just about your ability to access care at Planned Parenthood because that's just the start.

SPEAKER_00: 8:11

Yeah, it's just really, it's about, it's restricting the autonomy based on where somebody lives and the type of insurance they have. And, you know, it goes to what we have always said is that you can't, rights need to be focused in real world access, not just laws. We have to make sure that people understand that any time we put up any sort of barrier, then it's going to delay care. It is going to increase access. you know, maternal mortality, infant mortality. You know, we talked about this. It wasn't just about abortion. This was about reproductive and preventive services. And so now those things hinge on the laws of your state. They're not just your constitutional right anymore. And this is not, it's devastating and it is not going to stop. It is a growing pattern and it just really, again, illustrates how where you live in this country, what is supposed to be the land of the free, how your access to care is going to really depend on where you live.

SPEAKER_01: 9:19

I feel like this has just become more and more true over the years. And as somebody who grew up in a rural area, and now I would say like a purplish state, I grew up in Wisconsin, like, I really feel that. And I think about that in terms of access to Medicaid or even thinking through the reconciliation bill that is happening that could really gut Medicaid, it is going to impact those who have the most need of access to that healthcare. And I think it's important that people understand that it is going to impact everybody as well. So if your local hospital is not able to get Medicaid reimbursements, your local rural hospital may not be able to stay open. And so this is going to impact everybody.

SPEAKER_00: 10:07

That's right. I mean, we're already in situations where people are already having to drive an hour. because they don't have full for delivery or whatever type of services sometimes they're not the specialized services aren't available in their local in health care whether that be a provider or urgent care center or a community health center and so they will particularly in rural areas they're already having to drive uh so imagine if this bill goes forward you know we know that's like a trillion dollars you know in cuts And it is absolutely going to have an impact on the availability of care. It is already projected that 17 million people will lose their health coverage. So that's health coverage. But then we have to talk about, the healthcare facilities aren't there. I have long said that we have been talking about these issues. We've been trying to raise the alarm bell on them. I mean, if you think about You know, when you're driving in a car and the warning light comes on, you know, you can keep driving. But if you ignore it, sooner or later, that engine is going to give out on you. And that's what we're seeing with our health care system. It was already very, very continuous on shaky ground. And now we have been saying for years, you know, that the warning light is on. And now this is we're going to be in significant trouble. It's going to break down.

SPEAKER_01: 11:40

So I think it's also really important to talk about who is going to be the most impacted. Do you want to talk a little bit about who is going to feel the impacts the most from the Supreme Court decision?

SPEAKER_00: 11:51

Yeah, I mean, in terms of, you know, I, at In Our Own Voice, we champion the human and civil rights for Black women, girls, and gender expansive people every day because we think it's important for people to understand just how devastating the any sort of sustained and ongoing attack on our human and civil rights are. This is just one example with the Supreme Court ruling. It is just absolutely a direct attack for a number of reasons, right? It's because Black women, two-thirds of births by Black birthing people are covered by Medicaid. Over half of Black girls under 17 are on Medicaid. One in four Black women rely on Medicaid. So it is very critical for healthcare services. And, you know, again, we're not just talking about abortion. We are talking about, you know, these lifesaving services like STI testing, breast cancer screening, birth control, so much more. And so, you know, when we talk about the impact, it is not an understatement to say that this will be devastating, that this will head us off at the knees. You know, this is a lifeline program for so many Black women, girls, and gender expansive people.

SPEAKER_01: 13:13

Yeah, it's the ability to take control and plan your life.

SPEAKER_00: 13:17

That's exactly what it is. I mean, we are, you know, we are, this is what, it is so frustrating sometimes to keep having to ring this bell alarm bell to say like, this is what, why we have been fighting for reproductive justice, because it is about access to comprehensive, affordable healthcare, including all the things that I just talked about, but, you know, maternal care, and that's a core tenant of reproductive justice. And so when we, when we do that, then we'd be, we're able to exercise that right to have children, to not have children, to parent those children in safe and sustainable environments. And by cutting access to Medicaid, both through the Supreme Court decision, but also based on what is happening with this current bill that is moving through Congress and the direct cuts to that, it is a direct threat on reproductive justice because it denies millions of people the resources they need to make informed decisions. supported decisions in accessible ways in their communities and so that they can, you know, I

SPEAKER_01: 14:35

think it's so easy to talk about all of these things in a vacuum, right? Like we'll talk about the cuts on Medicaid here. We'll talk about abortion bans here. We'll talk about black maternal mortality here. But this is all the same story, right? It is so important that they are talked about together and how they are exacerbating issues. And well, I guess not each other because like Black maternal mortality is being exacerbated by these other two things that are making an already terrible crisis so much worse.

SPEAKER_00: 15:08

Yeah, I mean, the thing is, I don't think people should be looking at them as separate because they're, in my opinion, by design occurring in parallel tracks. Because that is what we, that is the goal to completely destabilize our healthcare system. You know, we, need to make sure that people really understand what is at stake here. If you look at Project 2025, it is already there. We already knew. We had a very good sense of what the dangers were going to be. They told us exactly what they were going to do. And we're watching this play out in real time. We are under threat like never before. We should not be looking at this as if oh, well, this is just coincidental here. They are taking very bold, calculated steps, and we need to respond in kind with bold, urgent action that is really going to confront the various attacks that are happening across all of these different places. There's attacks on gender identity. There's attacks on care. There's attacks on you know, snap benefits. Like we're going to be hungry, dead and unable to survive.

SPEAKER_01: 16:31

Yeah, I feel like that just needed a second to like sink in for everybody of like how dire the situation is at the moment. I really love that you talked about we need a bold plan of action. Can you talk a little bit about the plan that y'all have worked on for the RJ agenda?

SPEAKER_00: 16:48

Yeah, I am so glad you asked that. You know, we on Thursday, the same day as we heard about the Medina versus Planned Parenthood case, we were already on the hill and we were launching our campaign. 2025 black reproductive justice policy agenda. This is something that we release every two years and ahead of the new Congress. And it's more than just a policy document. It is really literally a guidebook, the playbook. It is a call to action for lawmakers on how to do this work. It is over 125 policy recommendations put forth by over 50 organizations, policy experts, activists, and it is there to protect and uplift Black women, girls, and gender expansive people. But in our perspective, just as when the 12 Black women created the reproductive justice movement, you know, when Black women, because we are some of the most marginalized, dismissed, forgotten about people in the United States, when we do better, we all do better. And so just as those 12 Black women gave this incredible gift of the reproductive justice framework to the United States, which is now a global movement at this point, this is what this policy agenda is. It is grounded in science. It is based in what we know that's been heavily researched to work. Everything from doulas and midwifery, comprehensive sex ed, environmental and economic justice. What are the policies that we know work that are going to help advance this work so that ultimately, for us, we are fighting for people to have their reproductive lives affirmed, however that is. And that can be either to want to have a child, to not have a child, or to just be able to live out loud in terms of your sexuality, your gender identity, or whoever you love.

SPEAKER_01: 19:02

I love a bold plan of action. I am always a fan of seeing what all we need to do because there are so many areas that are so interrelated, but yet people don't often connect all of the dots that need to be connected. So I'm always a big fan of having policy agendas that try to do that.

SPEAKER_00: 19:23

Yeah, you know, it's so, it just warmed my heart to Number one, all of the responses that we received when we released it, but just to get calls from people and say, oh, my God, there's everything in here. There's something for my work. You know, whether you are working in breast care, whether you are working with incarcerated individuals, it really does. range in terms of how we need to address this issue because we've always known that it's you know you this is not siloed work you know you are not going to be able to advance reproductive justice by only looking at it in terms of whether or not you have the right to have an abortion honestly you are getting it wrong if that is where you think the conversation should end and start you know we need to talk about things like can people stay in school can people keep their job can people who already have a pre-existing health condition safely carry a pregnancy do they have access to you know health care so that they can get in early to have prenatal care or to have screening are they struggling with you know fertility issues you know how do we make sure black women and gender expansive people are able to access care because By the way, the research shows that we tend to get into care later and then our success rates tend to not be as high. So it's really important that we are calling attention to the unique health outcomes and experiences of Black women, girls, and gender expansive people so that we can make sure that people are not just creating a one size fits all policy, but one that is really going to directly address the unique needs and the lived experiences

SPEAKER_01: 21:19

that is such an important point like i you so often hear people focusing on like if we could just do this one thing or or this one policy will make everything so much better but it's so much more nuanced and complicated than that you need to be able to address so many different aspects of people's lives and addressing them as a whole person it's so great to hear that that is how your agenda is approaching Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 21:46

I mean, can I tell you a story about what that shows? One of them, they were sexually assaulted. So that speaks to safe and sustainable communities, right? Then they're walking into their school where they have to walk through a metal detector. So then there's a narrative that we are continuing to impose about certain communities and the need to be over-surveilled and over-policed. But we need to think about the kid who's coming to school who's hungry, right? So they're coming to school maybe because that's the only meal they're going to get that day, breakfast and lunch. So what are some things that we can do? We have policies that say, because our policies are both big P and little p, like big policy and little policy. So maybe it's something as simple as having a fresh fruit or a protein bar or a granola bar right there at the metal detectors so that Any student who's walking by that can grab that. And then the issues around hunger and poverty are destigmatized, right? Some kids are not going to school because they're being teased because maybe they don't have running water, right? And so they don't have the opportunity to, you know, wash their clothes. But by doing things like placing security guards by the showers, so people can shower or even bringing in laundry facilities and so students can come and wash their clothes. You are creating opportunity for people to stay in school and to be not shamed and not have to be subjected to stigma, but most important to be able to learn so that they can go on to be productive and citizens that contribute to the society, right? At the end of the day, what we have to be very clear on is that the face of the nation is changing, right? Right now we know that every child born, half of them, you know, 50%, or one in two children that are born is a person of color, right? So it is really on us to make sure that everybody is healthy, that everyone can produce, right? You know, we're always concerned about how we are going to be competitive with these other nations and, you know, how do we stay on top? Well, we stay on top by making sure that we're taking care of our own, that we are providing the resources and the opportunities to be able to do so, to be able to, we want our kids to be able to focus when they're in class. And so, you know, that's just one example of the various ways that that one of the tenets in terms of the right to raise your child in a safe and sustainable environment can be so far-reaching, and it just can't simply be about healthcare.

SPEAKER_01: 25:08

I think that's one of the things that makes reproductive justice so... simple in so many ways but also so expansive because it is like all of the things right it is everything you need to live in a safe and healthy environment to make the decisions to have kids to not have kids it's so many things but it has like that simple basic tenant behind it even if enacting it involves this huge array of policies to ensure that you can get to this basic core tenet of safe, healthy lives and making basic decisions about whether to have kids or not.

SPEAKER_00: 25:51

Yeah, I think if you just, you know, again, don't center this only about abortion, right? Like at its core, it's about having control over our body, our life, our future, our families, and however you show up in that. You know, that includes our sexuality, that includes our reproduction, but it's about the bodily autonomy and having the human right for that to be affirmed.

SPEAKER_01: 26:18

Okay. So I always like to wrap up the episodes, not just talking about what is happening and what people need to be worried about, what is coming down the pike with policies, but how can they get involved? So if the audience wants to get involved in fighting for these issues, what can they do?

SPEAKER_00: 26:34

Oh, I mean, you, number one, Make sure that you are following in our own voice. www.blackrj.org is our website. Black Women's RJ are our socials. You can follow us across all of our social media. We are always trying to work very hard to make sure that we are breaking down the day-to-day policy news in a way that you can understand and how it is relevant to you. And then when you get that information and you take it Take it back to your community. Take it back to your tribe. Take it back to your friends and family. Because honestly, you are listeners. You are actually the best advocates, right? I mean, think about when a friend or a loved one or someone that you care about and you trust tells you something and educates you on something you don't know. You act upon it and you also share it. And so that's what we want to do is to make sure that people are getting the information so that they are empowered. So yes, we would say, we like to tell people, start with your kitchen table. So those are the people that are close to you. But also, I mean, in a time right now where we are every day seeing policies that are threatening our health and well-being crop up, contact your elected official. Let them know that you are not happy with this policy is going to do it and tell them how it's going to impact you directly. I mean, we have to remember that they work for us. You know, there is somehow some sort of something happens where we don't. Believe that we can hold them accountable and that, you know, I want people to know that just as easy as it was to vote them in, it's easy to vote them out. So don't, you know, adopt the thinking that it's hopeless and nothing's going to change and there's nothing we can do. There's absolutely something we can do. You know, that is how we have seen historically things happen. You know, at some point, the people speak up. They say they've had enough. They begin to apply the pressure. We see change. And so that's absolutely something we should do. And then we don't need to wait. We don't have to wait for an election year to do that. We can do that at all levels. You can do that with your school board. You can do that with your library board. You can do that with any area that I talked about where you find that is personally relevant to you. Find out who are the leaders, who are the decision makers. become educated on the types of things they are trying to enact. And if you agree, absolutely, we should be supportive. We want to make sure we're normalizing good policy right now, especially when we're seeing a lot of things that are being, that are very harmful. So let them, you know, We want to make sure that the policymakers that are doing a good job know that we like what they're doing and give them the pat on the back. But the ones that aren't, we want to make sure that they hear us loud and clear and that they can't ignore us. We will not be silenced. And then, you know, these are more than ever. Members of Congress will tell you that it's tough right now. And so they really do. rely on grassroots organizations to be able to do some of the work that they can't. So it's important to keep supporting those organizations that are doing great things in your community. They're the ones that are going to continue to be the sound the alarm on the things that are most important. And, you know, there's so many things. I just would want people to know that, you know, you don't have to be a activists, someone that's been working in these movement for decades, all you need to do is if a cause is important to you, if an issue is important to you, figure out how you can help. Maybe that is just answering a phone, but any little act can make a difference.

SPEAKER_01: 30:52

Regina, thank you so much for being here. It was so fun to talk to you today about the Supreme Court decision, but also to talk about your policy agenda. It was great to hear about it.

SPEAKER_00: 31:01

Thanks so much. It's always great talking to you, Jenny.

SPEAKER_01: 31:05

Okay, y'all. I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Dr. Davis Moss. I had a wonderful time talking to her and hearing about what the implications were going to be from this Medina decision. There's, again, just so much heavy happening. But I'm very excited for next week's episode because we're going to get part two of the Title X providers talking about the implications of the Trump administration freezing their funding. So I'm very excited to share their stories with you. And so we will have three more providers sharing their story next week. So I will see y'all then. If you have any questions, comments or topics you would like us to cover, always feel free to shoot me an email. You can reach me at Jenny, J-E-N-N-I-E at reprosfightback.com or you can find us on social media. We're at Repros Fight Back on Facebook and Twitter or Repros FB on Instagram. If you love our podcast and want to make sure more people find it, take the time to rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Or if you want to make sure to support the podcast, you can also donate on our website at reprosfightback.com. Thanks all.