Jia Tolentino and Stephania Taladrid on the End of Roe v. Wade

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2022

⏱️ 19 minutes

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Summary

The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs case was not a surprise; given the draft opinion that was leaked in May, its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey was nearly a certainty. But the effects of the ruling have been rapid and chaotic. In some states, abortions stopped overnight; in others, there’s profound confusion over what qualifies as a legally acceptable reason for having an abortion. Far from settling the legal issue of abortion—by sending it back to the states—the Dobbs ruling opens an uncharted legal dimension where the health of a pregnant person is being pitted against the life of a fetus, with potentially fatal consequences. “Flat out, women will die in the course of ordinary pregnancy,” Jia Tolentino says, “because of physician fears about anything that might make them liable for felony changes of performing an abortion. It will make pregnancy significantly more dangerous for many, many people.” Tolentino and Stephania Taladrid have both reported extensively on abortion access, and they spoke this week with the New Yorker editor Tyler Foggatt. A longer version of this conversation appears on The New Yorker’s Politics and More podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:09.8	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. The Supreme Court's ruling in the Dobbs case
0:15.4	didn't come as any surprise. In fact, given the draft opinion that was leaked in May,
0:20.4	overturning Roe v. Wade was
0:22.3	nearly a certainty. But the effects have been rapid and chaotic. In some states, abortion
0:28.9	stopped overnight. In others, there's confusion about what kinds of maternal care might now
0:34.7	be potentially criminal. And the response from Democrats in Washington
0:38.9	struck many supporters of abortion rights as painfully inadequate. Giotolentino and Stefania
0:46.0	Teladreid have both reported extensively on the issue. They spoke this week with New Yorker's
0:51.7	senior editor Tyler Foggett on the podcast, Politics and More.
0:56.1	Stephanie had returned from the state of Texas, where she was in an abortion clinic in Houston
1:00.5	exactly when the Dobbs decision was announced.
1:05.1	The decision came shortly after 9 a.m. and several members of the staff were kind of huddled in the front desk area.
1:14.5	And the reactions were dramatic. I mean, people started crying. People were just in complete disbelief
1:21.7	of what was happening. And then at some point, a patient comes up to the clinic director and says, you know, why are you all crying?
1:30.0	And then she kind of had to put herself together and swipe away her tears and go up to the patients who were waiting in the waiting room and say, ladies, the Supreme Court just struck down Roe v.
1:41.9	Wade, meaning that we can no longer operate as an abortion clinic,
1:45.5	and we will not be able to assist you today. And I was struck by a Cuban woman who spoke no
1:51.7	English, and she couldn't really understand what was happening. And at one point, she turned to the
1:55.7	clinic director and says, you know, what did just happen? And then someone explained to her what had happened, and then she just
2:04.1	left. And many of the other patients, the minute that the decision was announced, they just fled
2:09.8	the clinic. Because they were worried about getting in trouble just for being there?
	...

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