Across the country, reproductive freedom is popular – 63 percent of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. So why don’t our laws reflect the will of the people? As the Executive Director of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity (URGE), Kimberly Inez McGuire breaks down how opponents of abortion access have targeted voting rights and democracy to advance their agenda – and how we can all fight back at the polls and beyond.

Learn more about the work happening at URGE to protect democracy by visiting urge.org.

This series is supported by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Levi Strauss Foundation.

Follow The Defenders wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Membership.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

State Supreme Courts are crucial to abortion rights, yet most people have no idea what these courts do. Or that in many states we actually vote for these judges. Thirty-three states will have supreme court seats on the ballot this November. Alicia Bannon of State Court Report tells us why these courts matter to abortion rights and how to be better informed going to the ballot box. We’ll also zoom in on Texas, where the Find Out PAC is trying to unseat three Republican justices on the Texas Supreme Court.

Read coverage on State Supreme Courts at statecourtreport.org and learn more about the 2024 Election at statecourtreport.org/election-2024. Another great resource is Bolts’ Guide to the 2024 Supreme Court Elections. Learn more about the Find Out PAC at findoutpac.com.

This series is supported by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Levi Strauss Foundation.

Follow The Defenders wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Membership.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since the Dobbs decision, activists, organizers, and leaders are turning to state legislatures to protect and expand reproductive rights. This November, 44 states will hold legislative elections, and these races are often won or lost by tiny margins. Two champions of state power, Gaby Goldstein from Sister District and Jennifer Driver from the State Innovation Exchange, share what’s in store for state races across the country this November, and which ones we need to keep an eye on when it comes to our reproductive freedom.

Find out who your state legislators are at stateinnovation.org.

To take action with Sister District, go to sisterdistrict.com.

Visit vote411.org to find out more about the candidates and choices that will be on your ballot.

This series is supported by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Levi Strauss Foundation.

Follow The Defenders wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Membership.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 2024, a six-week abortion ban went into effect in Florida, dramatically limiting access for women across the South. While Floridians are living with this new reality, they’re also gearing up to change it. Gloria talks with Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for Floridians Protecting Freedom / Yes on 4, who is fighting for the November ballot measure that would protect abortion access in the state constitution and reverse the 6-week ban.

Learn more about Florida’s Amendment 4 ballot initiative at floridiansprotectingfreedom.com.

This series is supported by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Levi Strauss Foundation.

Follow The Defenders wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Membership.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We start Season 2 of The Defenders in Arizona, where abortion rights have been in turmoil since the overturn of Roe. Now, a citizen-led effort is trying to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution through a ballot measure. November’s election may not only change the fate of abortion in this crucial swing state; it could also flip the state legislature and impact control of the U.S. Senate and the fate of the White House.

Learn more about Arizona’s abortion ballot measure at arizonaforabortionaccess.org, and Reproductive Freedom For All’s work in Arizona at reproductivefreedomforall.org/state/arizona.

This series is supported by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Levi Strauss Foundation.

Follow The Defenders wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Membership.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Defenders is back. This season, all roads lead to Nov. 5, because abortion is on the ballot this Election Day and the stakes are higher than ever. Host Gloria Riviera interviews organizers, activists, and experts from Arizona to Florida to Texas – the people on the front lines of this fight. From building state power to voting for judges, we’ll arm you with everything you need to know to stand up for reproductive freedom this election. Coming September 12.

This series is supported by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Levi Strauss Foundation.

Follow The Defenders wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Membership.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to abortion, finding answers in a world of misinformation and changing laws can be hard. Especially when the places to turn to for care are diminishing. On this bonus episode, Gloria talks to Ariella Messing, the founder of the Online Abortion Resource Squad, or OARS. They moderate the r/abortion subreddit, a group on Reddit that is dedicated to answering questions about abortion. Not only are they helping people find care – they are ensuring that every question is answered with the truth.

Check out OARS at abortionsquad.org. You can find the abortion subreddit at reddit.com/r/abortion.

To learn more about all the organizations featured in The Defenders, visit: https://lemonadamedia.com/the-defenders-resource-page/

This series is supported by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Levi Strauss Foundation.

Follow The Defenders wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Membership.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the final episode of our series, we’re hitting the streets of Manhattan to join up with Nix Rao, a young activist dedicated to expanding reproductive health access in New York. Fueled by their motto, “legality does not equal access,” we’ll follow Nix as they lead the charge to bring abortion pills to college campuses.

To learn more about all the organizations featured in The Defenders, visit: https://lemonadamedia.com/the-defenders-resource-page/

Share your thoughts on The Defenders! To help us keep creating great content, please take our short listener survey at bit.ly/thedefenderssurvey

Gloria Riviera and Samantha Bee are our hosts. Muna Danish is our supervising producer. Hannah Boomershine and Lisa Phu are our producers. Isaura Aceves and Tony Williams are our associate producers. Ivan Kuraev and Natasha Jacobs are our audio engineers. Music by Hannis Brown with additional music by Natasha Jacobs.Story editing by Jackie Danziger, our VP of Narrative Content. Fact-checking by Naomi Barr. Executive producers are Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs

This series is supported by Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Levi Strauss Foundation.

Follow The Defenders wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Membership.

You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.

Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.

Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.

Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.

To follow along with a transcript, go to lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.