As I’ve said before, the most wonderful part of having an award-winning podcast is the incredible guests I’ve had the opportunity to interview and learn from over the years. Although we receive many wonderful interview requests for Sex Is Medicine, it’s not often we get the opportunity to speak to living legends.
Every guest brings new insights and understanding of the vital role that human sexuality plays in an enriching and fulfilling life. But this is the first time I have been blessed with the opportunity to interview two prominent leaders in the social justice movement! When we read who this request was from, our minds were kinda blown…Our cute little sexy podcast was being petitioned to host TWO legends of the social justice movement to talk about their new book.
The book, ABORTION AND REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: An Essential Guide for Resistance, by Marlene Gerber Fried and Loretta J. Ross, is described as “A bold call to action and guide for building an inclusive and intersectional reproductive justice movement.”
It emphasizes that the right to have and raise children is as essential for reproductive choice as the right not to. This critical approach—originating in Black feminism—provides grounding for radical abortion advocacy. Calling on us to join in, the book highlights abortion stories from individuals and organizations who are putting this analysis into action on the front lines, in the United States and beyond. By linking abortion rights to broader social justice initiatives, including Black Lives Matter, immigrant and refugee rights, disability justice, and LGBTQ+ rights, the authors expand the conversation at a critical moment.
In this episode of Sex Is Medicine, we speak with Loretta J Ross and Marlene Gerber Fried about:
– Why “reproductive justice” goes beyond abortion rights to include the right to parent
– How this framework changes the conversation.
– The connections between abortion access and broader social justice movements, including:
– Black Lives Matter
– Immigrant rights
– Disability Justice
– LGBTQ+ rights
– Stories of activists and organizations on the front lines, and what they teach about building an inclusive, intersectional movement for the future.
Overturning Roe unleashed a wave of urgent threats to abortion and bodily autonomy, fueled by overt white supremacy, racial and anti-immigrant hatred, and support for traditional gender roles and sexual identities. But the resistance is fierce, led by a new generation of activists of color dedicated to building an inclusive movement. In ABORTION AND REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: An Essential Guide for Resistance (September 9, 2025; UC Press), widely recognized movement leaders Marlene Gerber Fried and Loretta J. Ross provide a history of abortion politics through a reproductive justice framework that centers those most vulnerable.”
About Our Guests
Marlene Gerber Fried is Professor Emerita of Philosophy at Hampshire College and cofounder of the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Loretta J. Ross is a MacArthur Fellow, Associate Professor of Women and Gender at Smith College, and cofounder of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective. They are coauthors, with Jael Silliman and Elena Gutiérrez, of Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice. Abortion and Reproductive Justice: An Essential Guide for Resistance (University of California Press, 9/9/25). By weaving together personal stories, historical analysis, and movement strategy, they expand the conversation and show how abortion rights are deeply connected to racial, economic, LGBTQ+, and immigrant justice.
