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What Next: When Planned Parenthood Burns Down

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 February 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With Roe v. Wade on the chopping block, abortion access is under fire in states around the country. At Planned Parenthood’s Knoxville location, the clinic faced that literally when an arson attack burned the building to the ground. How will providers rebuild when the things they stand for are so threatened? Guest: Tory Mills, director of community engagement for Planned Parenthood’s Knoxville Health Center. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I think that the holidays feel like frozen noses. I love walking with the dog for long periods of time.

0:10.0

Hopefully it's snowing and you've got to wrap up warm. So I think a frozen nose is a sweaty armpit

0:15.0

because your wrapped up so warm but then you're climbing hamps and heath and you get to the top

0:20.0

and you're like, and then you can see the breath but then your nose is still freezing to touch.

0:25.0

Join in every sip with red carp now back at Starbucks.

0:30.0

This episode is brought to you by Slack. With Slack you can bring all your people and tools together in one place.

0:37.0

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0:43.0

Plus Slack is full of game changing features like huddles for quick check-ins or Slack Connect

0:49.0

which helps you connect with partners inside and outside of your company.

0:53.0

Slack where the future works. Get started at slack.com slash dhq.

1:07.0

If you worked at the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Knoxville, Tennessee, there are some things you just knew.

1:12.0

First of all, come in the back door. That's where Tory Mills office was.

1:17.0

Tory is the director of community engagement but she was also a bit of the unofficial greeter for the clinic.

1:24.0

She ran the sex ed classes for high schoolers. Generally tried to make the place feel cozier than you might expect.

1:31.0

I remember we had like a kind of a clothesline up on one of the walls where we would hang cards from patients.

1:40.0

Of course they didn't have folks names on them but they would just have like messages of support for staff

1:46.0

or for other patients coming in. At Christmas time, Tory would help decorate the rainbow colored tree with ornaments made out of condoms.

1:54.0

On Mondays she'd get the crock pot out and feed the student group she hosted.

1:59.0

Now like a lot of folks, Tory mostly works from home. She misses the place.

2:05.0

Do you ever go by the clinic now?

2:09.0

I actually didn't go by until a couple of weekends ago. I actually went by on the Roe v. Wade anniversary Saturday, January 22nd, which is also the day that a year ago our front doors were shot out with a shotgun.

2:28.0

Tory went by that day to clean up after a different attack. This one, an arson, the fire happened on New Year's.

...

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