A Sex Educator and Abortion Care Provider on Organizing and Fighting Back
Brad speaks with sex educator Erica Smith about her experiences working in abortion care and what the overturning of Roe looks like on the ground for ordinary Americans. They discuss how and why abortion is healthcare and the health risks involved for pregnant people if abortions are not accessible. They also discuss how the misguided approaches to sex education in this country lead to reductive conversations about pregnancy, abortion, and reproductive rights. They finish by discussing ways to get involved in the fight for reproductive rights at a time when organizing and activism are as important as ever.
National Network of Abortion Funds: https://abortionfunds.org/
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Welcome to Straight White American Jesus.
My name is Brad Onishi, faculty at the University of San Francisco.
Our show is hosted in partnership with the Kapp Center at UCSB.
I have an amazing guest tonight, and that is Erica Smith.
Who has been a sex educator for over two decades and has just an incredible amount of experience and expertise in a variety of settings.
Developed the Purity Culture Dropout course, which is fantastic and I'll hope we can hear about more as we talk tonight.
Has been somebody who's done everything from support transgender youth and their families to working in HIV prevention services, supporting Young women and LGBTQ youth, and has also worked in abortion care.
So we're here tonight to talk about what the post-Roe landscape looks like on the ground for health care providers, for ordinary Americans trying to find care and access.
And so let me just stop and say, Erica, thanks for joining me.
Really happy to be here.
I'm a fan of the podcast, so I was happy to show up tonight.
Thank you.
And friends, we're taping this late, just because I'm working around, you know, baby duty and all kinds of stuff.
So just want to say thank you to Erica for staying up late to record and to get this all figured out.
So first question is this.
How did it feel as somebody who spent so much time in providing care and education, especially in settings where abortion access is paramount?
How did it feel when you learned about the Alito opinion?
I wasn't prepared.
I mean, no one's ever really prepared for that kind of news, but I was extra not prepared because that was the evening of the Met Gala, and I have a best friend who's, like, loves looking at the outfits in the red carpet, and she, like, roped me into it.
So I was spending the evening, like, watching some livestream from Vogue.com and just, like, just, you know, total mindless, like, look at this celebrity dressed in this outfit, and I was, like, I was having a great night.
I was like grilling a steak, smoking a little weed, watching some celebrities, and then I get a text from my cousin's wife, and she's like, oh my god, and she just starts talking about it as if I already know.
And I found that that started happening.
So a lot of people, apparently, when they think of abortion care, they think of me, which is fine.
And I love that.
But it took me a second.
And then so I got on Twitter, which is what I do, and I don't know what's going on.
And that's when I saw the news of the leaked draft.
And every feeling of whimsy and fun I had that night just completely disappeared.
And I felt I mean, I didn't know what to do.
I felt incredibly despondent.
And I was home alone.
My husband had literally just like flown to Europe that morning.
So I didn't even have anyone to like, you know, I was I even texted him.
I was like, you're gonna land in Barcelona and get a text about Roe v. Wade.
Like, I'm so sorry, but I just don't know what else to say right now.
All that to say that I feel like I haven't even fully let in how bad this will be for my own sanity and so that I can keep working and so that I can keep doing what I do.
I really didn't, I think I was living in a world where I didn't think this would truly come to pass.
And I know that that means I had my blinders on a little and that was what was getting me through.
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