Skip to content
The Abortion Underground episode artwork

May 4, 2022 33 min

The Abortion Underground

from On the Media Hosted by WNYC Studios

This week, OTM presents a story from our colleagues at The Experiment. There’s a common story about abortion in this country, that people have only two options to intentionally end a pregnancy: the clinic or the coat hanger. They can choose the safe route that’s protected by Roe v. Wade—a doctor in a legal clinic—or, if Roe is overturned, endure a dangerous back-alley abortion, symbolized by the coat hanger. But a close look at the history of abortion in this country shows that there’s much more to this story. As a draft of the majority opinion overruling Roe v. Wade was leaked to the media this week, activists are once again preparing to take abortion into their own hands. Reporter Jessica Bruder explores the abortion underground to learn about the movement’s origins, and reveals how activists today are mobilizing around effective and medically safe abortion methods that can be done at home. A transcript of this episode is available. Further reading: “A Covert Network of Activists Is Preparing for the End of Roe” On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected].

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The Abortion Underground

0:00 33:23

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of On the Media?

This episode is 33 minutes long.

When was this On the Media episode published?

This episode was published on May 4, 2022.

Can I download this On the Media episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.