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Protests Heat Up At Abortion Clinic in North Carolina

As some states move to crack down on abortion clinics, protests at some facilities are heating up. In North Carolina scores of activists descend every weekend on A Preferred Women’s Health Center, an abortion clinic in Charlotte. Calla Hales, the director of the clinic, says anti-abortion protestors have become increasingly aggressive, and local police navigate a gray-zone of enforcing city ordinances.

Host Anita Rao speaks with Calla Hales, director of A Preferred Women's Health Center, documentary filmmaker Lindsay Beyerstein about the situation in Charlotte, and Karissa Haugeberg, assistant professor of history at Tulane University, about her new book “Women Against Abortion: Inside the Largest Moral Reform Movement of the Twentieth Century”

A new documentary “Care in Chaos” by Rewire, documents the tensions at the Charlotte clinic as well as at a clinic in Fargo, North Dakota. Host Anita Rao speaks with Hales, and documentary filmmaker Lindsay Beyerstein about the situation in Charlotte, and what needs to be done to ensure protesters, clinic workers and patients stay safe.Hales also describes her fear for her own safety, which is expanded upon in a conversation she had with Cosmopolitan magazine.

Rao also speaks with Karissa Haugeberg, assistant professor of history at Tulane University, about her new book “Women Against Abortion: Inside the Largest Moral Reform Movement of the Twentieth Century” (University of Illinois Press/ 2017) which documents the history of activism on different sides of the abortion debate.

Protesters blocking cars
Marc Faletti / Rewire Media
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Rewire Media
Protesters blocking cars
Marc Faletti / Rewire Media
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Rewire Media

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio

Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.