SWP Interviews White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

This week on the pod we were so excited to welcome the White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. Secretary Jean-Pierre is the first Black woman in this role and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve as press secretary. She is breaking a lot of glass ceilings! 

Secretary Jean-Pierre shared the work the Biden Administration is doing to protect reproductive healthcare and abortion access for all women in America. Vice President Kamala Harris has been touring the country and keeping the conversation going, to make sure everyone knows the horrible consequences of the abortion bans affecting our communities. Along with the work that Vice President Harris is doing, it’s also important to remember that at the state level a lot of work is being done to protect abortion access. As Secretary Jean-Pierre mentioned, every single time reproductive healthcare is on the ballot, the majority overwhelmingly supports protecting abortion access. 

So let’s look a little deeper at these votes. So far seven states have voted on abortion access, four of them passing a constitutional amendment to enshrine reproductive freedom in their state constitution. Those are Michigan, Ohio, California and Vermont. The other three states of Kansas, Kentucky and Montana rejected attempts to limit abortion access in their states. While some people claim these votes are surprising, suburban women know that 8 in 10 Americans support access to legal abortion in this country. 

In 2024, abortion access will continue to play a major role in the election. This year, as many as ten states will be voting on abortion access including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and South Dakota. And just like in 2022 and 2023, these states are an equal mix of red and blue. That’s because access to reproductive healthcare is a bipartisan issue that affects ALL women. So let’s keep talking about it!

And make sure you check out our full interview with Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre here or wherever you get your podcasts.