IN JUNE, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that upheld abortion as a constitutional right. This reversal has already affected Georgians, with how the state’s “heartbeat bill” recently banned abortions at the first sign of cardiac activity within an embryo, before many pregnancies can be be detected. But it also stands to have enormous consequences, and not just on those who can get pregnant. Roe v. Wade—Not Just a Women’s Issue is a frank discussion on how the right to an abortion touches on health care access and bodily autonomy. Led by Nzingha Hall, abortion doula and Canopy Atlanta West End fellow.
The Highlights
“When I think about the realities and all the things I want to accomplish, that means that my reproductive future is in my hands. I can make the decisions on behalf of myself, and I can create the families that I do wanna create or do not wanna create. That’s important, that I make the decision and define that for myself, and that is not in the hands of the state. I think it’s very dangerous when our destinies are in the state.”
– Nzingha Hall, Canopy Atlanta West End Fellow and abortion doula
“I identify as heterosexual and may be traditional, but I don’t move with the sense of judgment because I just think it’s too much. I think, to each his own. But as it relates to that young [Ohio] girl who is pregnant, I really felt a sense of conflict as it relates to this judgment and its impact on her life … where she was clearly taken advantage and sexually assaulted. These are the stories and the aspects that we all have to really take into consideration, when we think about these rulings.”
– Osei Kweku, on-air talent and program director at V-103
“If it was really about saving lives and protecting children, why didn’t we have anything in place to make this happen? It was just like, alright, abortions are banned. But then ectopic pregnancies, or women who [might] miscarrriage, if the baby is a stillborn …Georgia literally has nothing on the books right now. It was baffling in a way I was surprised by, for the state leadership having nothing at this point of time.”
– King Williams, journalist and host of The Neighborhood Watch podcast
“I think that some people are more concerned with making a political statement than clearly doing things that are in the best interest of the people.”
– Osei Kweku, on-air talent and program director at V-103
“At this point it’s just like, who can go viral? Who can be on the local news? Who can get on Fox News for the 15-second soundbite? It’s less about policy, and more just about popularity. I think that that’s just a game we can’t afford to trade. We’re trying to get brownie points from our political factions, because that’s what we want to have right now. It’s just like, what are we doing here?”
– King Williams, journalist and host of The Neighborhood Watch podcast
“When you gotta get a vasectomy, you gotta have your partner with you. They gotta sign off. They gotta sit through the training with you. We had our three-month-old kid sitting in the doctor’s office with four other couples, trying to figure this out. And I was like, oh—every man in this room doesn’t have the autonomy to say, ‘I don’t want to have more kids.’ I’m an anti-capitalist, and we live in a society that looks as us as money-making property. It’s hard for me to imagine that these abortion bans, this controlling of people’s bodies, is not due to the fact that people want a workforce for their company in the next 10 years.”
– Paul Glaze, strategic communications manager of New Georgia Project
Atlantans explain why they protested the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade reversal
Canopy Atlanta speaks with protesters who fear what’s next for Georgia.
Behind the Video
Guests:
Paul Glaze, strategic communications manager of New Georgia Project
Osei Kweku, on-air talent and program director at V-103
King Williams, journalist and host of The Neighborhood Watch podcast
Credits:
Hosted by Nzingha Hall
Created and produced by Ann Hill-Bond
Guest produced by MaLika Hakeem and Genia Billingsley
Filmed and edited by The Plug ATL
About:
Courageous Conversations with Canopy Atlanta is a new hour-long conversation series where we encourage individuals to express their views openly and truthfully, to help us deepen our understanding of our communities and the issues that affect us.
