Can Two Friends Agree to Disagree on Abortion in Post-Roe America?

It’s an Issue Worth Fighting Over—But Not a Good Litmus Test at the Personal or National Level

We met through a mutual friend who told us both, “You’ll love her. You get angry about all the same things.”

That was almost exactly correct. At the time, Joanne had just started a nonprofit to provide free diapers to families in need. Colleen was a freelance writer who had walked away from a newspaper job to work in a soup kitchen after her editor told her to stop writing so much about poverty.

We found sisterhood raging about injustice over coffee, and devising strategies for change.

Twenty years of collaboration and friendship …

Physician and OB/GYN John McHugh

Let’s Make a Plan!

John McHugh is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist (OB/GYN), physician, and fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Before joining the Zócalo/California Wellness Foundation event, “Can California Lead a New …

L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer

There’s Nothing We Do by Ourselves

Barbara Ferrer serves as the director of Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Before joining the Zócalo/California Wellness Foundation event, “Can California Lead a New Reproductive Rights Movement?”—put on …

Black Women for Wellness’s Janette Robinson-Flint | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Black Women for Wellness’ Janette Robinson-Flint

We Can Create a Meaningful Shift in Reproductive Justice

Janette Robinson-Flint is the executive director of Black Women for Wellness. Before sitting on a panel for the Zócalo/California Wellness Foundation event, “Can California Lead a New Reproductive Rights Movement?”— …

Kindred Space LA’s Allegra Hill

Motherhood Is Such a Vast Experience

Allegra Hill is a licensed midwife and the co-founder and co-owner of Kindred Space LA. She has trained and mentored birth doulas since 2013 and has participated in the training …

Carmel’s Cautionary Tale for Post-Roe America | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

Carmel’s Cautionary Tale for Post-Roe America

Poet Nora May French’s Account of Her 1907 Abortion Is an Infuriating Read—and a Sobering Reminder of What History Omits

I am no longer able to think of Carmel without thinking of abortion and Nora May French.

For this new habit of mind, I blame two things: the U.S. Supreme Court, …