Friend,
Episode 142 of Refuse Fascism uploaded January 22: Coco Das reads the statement from Rise Up for Abortion Rights on the 50th anniversary of Roe. Sam Goldman interviews Julie F. Kay, human rights lawyer for gender
equality & religious freedom and architect of the Irish abortion
lawsuit ABC v. Ireland, co-author with Kathryn Kolbert of Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom.
>> Listen
>> Listen on Youtube
Julie F. Kay:
This isn't about some great philosophical question of when life begins. This is about control. We tend to have this view of American exceptionalism, that we have such a great democracy and so much liberty and freedom that we don't need human rights. We need to really de-stigmatize the conversation around abortion and recognize it as a human right. When you get people pouring into the streets, it's energizing, it's uplifting, it reminds me that we're there in community, that there are other people. I think it brings people together in a way that nothing else does. In any good protest, there's always sort of an edge to it that it could demand more than the establishment want. More people believe more strongly than we think and then we know and that's part of creating the change we need.
Sam Goldman:
The eagerness to turn people's eyes away from the atrocity that’s only getting started cannot be allowed. It does nobody any favors on an individual level, certainly not those who are suffering the most, and on a societal level serve only to domesticate dissent and foster complacency. The advocates of this are the same folks that kept you off the streets when there was a rolling coup and when it was crystal clear that Roe was on the chopping block. I don’t discount the potential, in fact I do have great hope but whether we can wrench anything positive out of this post-Roe horror show is deeply connected to whether people are willing to confront the reality we face and it’s fascist trajectory, ,whether we as a people examine how we got here and express a willingness to take a clear eyed look at what’s perpetuating this. Such confrontation, such interrogation and struggle doesn’t need to be paralyzing, in fact it can be uplifting.
💚 Connect with Rise Up for Abortion Rights on all platforms at riseup4abortionrights.org.
if you appreciate the show, help us reach more people who want to refuse fascism!
✔️Write a review and drop five stars wherever you listen to your pods.
Here's one review we received earlier this month from 120983446, who gave it five stars and titled the review "excellent show with equally excellent guests." They wrote: "If accurate, in-depth examinations of current political events with a strong mix of historical perspective is your bailiwick, then Refuse Fascism will not disappoint. Always on target and no mincing of words in informing us all about the many aspects of the far right. Be they fascists, ultra-nationalists, sociopaths or outright criminals? Here Be Dragons slayed."
✔️ Subscribe/follow so you never miss an episode, and, of course, continue all that sharing and commenting on social media.
✔️ Send your comments to [email protected] or @SamBGoldman.
Refuse Fascism national team
917 407 1286
Facebook ● 
Twitter ● 
Instagram ● 
YouTube ● 
Podcast
Make a donation online
Make a tax-deductible donation online | Donate via PayPal
Send checks or money orders, payable to "Refuse Fascism"
To make a tax-deductible donation of $100 or more in support of Refuse Fascism's educational activities, please make checks out to "Alliance for Global Justice," a 501(3)(c) organization, note: Refuse Fascism
Refuse Fascism | (917) 407-1286 | 2 East 28th Street #321, New York NY 10016-7402
