Podcast / The Nation Podcast / May 13, 2025

Amy Littlefield on Why We Have to Defend All Abortions

On this episode of The Nation Podcast: Roe v. Wade may have been overturned, but the conservative effort to destroy any and all abortion access in America rages on.

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Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Amy Littlefield on Why We Have to Defend All Abortions | The Nation Podcast
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of The Nation Podcast, abortion access correspondent Amy Littlefield joins D.D. Guttenplan to discuss the reality of later-term abortions—and how, even though Roe v. Wade may have been overturned, the conservative crusade to eliminate abortion access rages on.

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Anti-abortion rights demonstrators march to the Supreme Court for the 52nd annual March For Life in Washington, D.C. on January 24, 2025.

Anti-abortion rights demonstrators march to the Supreme Court for the 52nd annual March For Life in Washington, D.C. on January 24, 2025.

(Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Roe v. Wade may have been overturned by Donald Trump’s Supreme Court, but the conservative effort to destroy any and all abortion access in America rages on. One issue has moved to the center of Republican misinformation efforts: late-term abortions.

At the same time, late-term abortion care has never been more urgent. As state laws tighten access, women seeking safe medical treatment face rising risks across the country. But the right’s campaigning has not only deepened public divides but also sparked tensions within pro-choice groups on the left.

So who’s leading the fight on the ground—and who’s most affected by these political battles?

On this episode of The Nation Podcast, we speak to The Nation’s abortion access correspondent, Amy Littlefield. Amy’s latest story, “Defending All Abortions,” is in the June issue of The Nation.

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The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

The Transformation of the New York Waterfront w/ Karrie Jacobs | The Nation Podcast
byThe Nation Magazine

In its heyday, the Bush Terminal industrial complex spanned several city blocks along Brooklyn’s waterfront and employed more than 35,000 people. Built by Irving Bush in the late nineteenth century, it was an "early intermodal shipping hub." Goods arrived by water and left by rail. Bananas, coffee, and cotton came in through doors on one side of the warehouses and were loaded onto trains on the other.

But after World War II, as trucks replaced rail and shipping patterns changed, the Terminal’s purpose faded and the vast complex slipped into disuse.

Today, Bush Terminal is again at the center of New York’s vision for urban reinvention— and a debate around development, displacement, and the future of work in the city.

Joining us on a deep dive into Bush Terminal is veteran architecture critic and writer Karrie Jacobs. Her essayOn the Waterfront,” appears in our December issue of the Nation.

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Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

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D.D. Guttenplan

D.D. Guttenplan is a special correspondent for The Nation and the former host of The Nation Podcast. He served as editor of the magazine from 2019 to 2025 and, prior to that, as an editor at large and London correspondent. His books include American Radical: The Life and Times of I.F. Stone, The Nation: A Biography, and The Next Republic: The Rise of a New Radical Majority.

Amy Littlefield

Amy Littlefield is The Nation’s abortion access correspondent and a journalist who focuses on reproductive rights, healthcare, and religion. Her latest book is Killers of Roe: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights (Hachette).

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