Buried History: The Woman Who Created the Home Pregnancy Test (Encore)
This story was originally produced in 2014, and first aired on Making Contact in February 2024. In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to know about and take control of their own lives and bodies. But while the design of...
Buried History: The Woman Who Created the Home Pregnancy Test
This episode was originally published in 2014, and this episode is a republishing of the Feb 28, 2024 Encore, titled “The Feminist Birth of the Home Pregnancy Test.” In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to...
You Can Still Have An Abortion
How does anyone make sense of abortion access these days? We sat down with All Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington, Indiana to talk about what’s changed since Indiana’s full abortion ban went into effect last August. Local abortion funds like All Options do a lot, but they can’t talk to clients about self-managed abortion, even though the World Health Organization says it’s safe and effective. We learn about...
The Feminist Birth of the Home Pregnancy Test
In 1965 Margaret Crane was a young designer creating packaging for a pharmaceutical company. Looking at the rows of pregnancy tests she thought, “Well, women could do that at home!” and so she made it a reality for potentially pregnant people to be able to know about and take control of their own lives and bodies. But while the design of the prototype was simple, Crane faced the issues we continue to fight when it comes to...
Revolutionary Mothering (Encore)
In the mid 1990s, the Reproductive Justice movement was formed by Black and indigenous women as a response to the limitations of the “reproductive rights” movement. Movement leaders argue, “rarely do we find ourselves fighting for just one aspect of reproductive justice such as abortion rights” – SisterSong. Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, scholar and writer, joined us to talk about her book Revolutionary...
Self-Managed Abortion: Medicine of the Future?
Since Roe V. Wade was overturned last summer, it’s harder than ever to access abortion services. But it’s never been easy in the rural midwest and southern states, even when Roe was the law of the land. We sat down with staff at All Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington, Indiana to talk about how they handle an increase in need for funding the rising cost of abortion. They do a lot, but there’s one...
Post-Roe Abortion Access from The Response Part 2
This episode is part two of a series about post Roe abortion access produced by our friends at The Response Podcast. Since the loss of federal protection, access to abortion care has become more difficult, especially in the south, the plains and the Midwest, but the movement for reproductive justice has only strengthened. Today we hear about mutual aid efforts to connect folks to medical abortion and emergency contraception,...
Post-Roe Abortion Access from The Response Part 1
We hear a quick update about how the issue of abortion access has impacted the 2022 midterm elections, followed by the piece Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice in a Post-Roe Landscape, brought to us by The Response podcast. We learn about how abortion funds, mobile clinics and other mutual aid efforts are helping people access this critical healthcare – especially in areas of the American South, where states have enacted some of...
Abortion Beyond Clinics: Call Jane
Abortion Beyond Clinics In this episode, we explore new safe at-home abortion options and the growing movement for “self-managed abortions.” Amidst changes to the Supreme Court of the United States, and after decades of restrictions to abortion access across the country, people continue to find ways to make this vital procedure safer, more affordable, and more accessible. Advances in medicine and discoveries made by women...
Choice, Church and State: Poland, Ireland, the USA : Women Rising 37
Women Rising 37 Abortion and women’s reproductive rights are hot button issues around the world. Women have a long way to go to obtain control over our own bodies, our family planning, our reproductive health. There are influential well-funded efforts to keep that control out of women’s hands. Women Rising Radio visits with two key organizers in Europe whose work is advancing women’s reproductive rights. Marta Lempart, an...
