Hear Me Out: Childbirth Should Be Free

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Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2023

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On today’s episode of Hear Me Out… the right to life and socialized healthcare walk into a delivery room. Writer and journalist Liz Bruenig joins Celeste to discuss her vision for a United States where childbirth costs nothing. In a nation with skyrocketing healthcare costs, attacks on reproductive rights, and potential rollbacks on preventive care, we tell birthing people that not only do they have to give birth — they have to court financial ruin in order to do it. Liz says it doesn’t have to be this way… and yes, we can pay for it. Moreover, it might be the rare issue where both sides of the aisle can find some common ground. Podcast production by Maura Currie You can skip all the ads in Hear Me Out by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/hearmeoutplus for just $15 a month for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Hear Me Out.
0:03.0	I'm your host Celeste Henley.
0:05.4	There are only so many ways a pregnancy can end.
0:08.4	Right now across the United States, the right to abort a pregnancy is being undermined in
0:12.6	some areas and fiercely protected in others.
0:16.2	Many worry that people who suffer a miscarriage might get caught in a crossfire.
0:20.4	But for those who, under whatever circumstances, carry a pregnancy to turn, there's yet another
0:25.4	problem.
0:26.4	It's really, really expensive to give birth in this country.
0:30.1	Our guest today thinks it should actually cost nothing.
0:33.4	It certainly should not be the case that only rich people can afford to have kids.
0:37.1	That seems very wrong to me.
0:38.6	Liz Brunig joins us on Hear Me Out in just a moment.
0:41.6	Stay with us.
0:43.0	We're back on Hear Me Out.
0:47.7	I'm Celeste Henley.
0:49.1	Just a heads up, this episode contains some explicit language.
0:53.9	For babies born, the job is done.
0:57.2	Back in your room, you begin to realize how much you are going to enjoy your baby.
1:02.2	It is the beginning of a new era.
1:04.2	Have you chosen the name for him?
1:05.6	Don't forget to tell a phone the relatives.
	...

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