Trey Kay, Matthew Hancock, Maria Young Published

Us & Them: They’ve Been Here Before

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With the start of 2025, legislators in some states are determined to pass even tighter abortion restrictions. 

In the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, more than 40 states have passed abortion bans — some with very limited exceptions. Abortion rights advocates are equally determined to expand access to reproductive care, and many are revisiting lessons from half a century ago, before legal abortion was guaranteed.

On the next episode of Us & Them, host Trey Kay hears from retired Episcopal priest Jim Lewis, who decades ago joined a network of “Religious Left” clergy to help women navigate pre-Roe barriers. Kay also speaks with Margaret Chapman-Pomponio, executive director of West Virginia FREE, about how supporters of reproductive rights are preparing for a new era of advocacy, even as anti-abortion advocates urge a Republican majority in Congress to tighten medication regulations and enact a federal abortion ban.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.

An elderly man holds hands with a woman with brown hair. Behind them is a sign that reads, "Rebooting the CCS." The woman is also holding a travel mug that says, "FREE" on it.
The Rev. Jim Lewis, left, and Margaret Chapman-Pomponio, right, at a convention in New Orleans, La., for the Spiritual Alliance of Churches for Reproductive Dignity. Lewis is a retired Episcopal priest who has championed social justice issues for more than a half-century. Before the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, he was part of the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion — a coalition that referred women from states where abortion was illegal to providers in New York, where the procedure was legal. Chapman-Pomponio is the executive director of West Virginia Free, an abortion rights and reproductive health advocacy nonprofit.

Photo Credit: Margaret Chapman-Pomponio

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