The New Yorker Radio Hour - The New Abortion Underground

Episode Date: October 10, 2022

Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the contributor Stephania Taladrid has been following a network of women who are secretly distributing abortion pills across the United States. The network has its roots in Mexico, where some medications used for at-home abortion are  available at a lower cost over the counter. Volunteers—they call themselves “pill fairies”—are sourcing the pills at Mexican pharmacies and bringing them over the border. The work is increasingly perilous: in states like Texas, abetting an abortion is considered a felony, carrying long prison sentences. But, to Taladrid’s sources, it’s imperative. “I mean, there’s nothing else to do, right?” one woman in Texas, who had an abortion using the medication she received from a pill fairy, said. “You can’t just lie down and accept it. You can’t.”  Note: The interview excerpts featured in this story (with the exception of Verónica Cruz) are not the actual voices of Taladrid’s subjects. To protect their anonymity, the excerpts were re-recorded by actors.   Read Stephania Taladrid’s full reporting at newyorker.com. New Yorker Radio Hour listeners, we want to hear from you.  We have a few questions about the show and how you listen to it. The survey takes about twenty minutes, and your feedback will help us make our podcast better.  Take the survey here.

This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. This is The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Since Roe v. Wade fell, a network of activists has been putting medications used for at-home abortions into the hands of women who have lost the constitutional right to reproductive choice. So they actually started calling themselves the pill fairies. And this is a collective of women. who range an age from 30 to 82, and they each have a different role in this network.

Stephanie Ataladreid has been reporting for the New Yorker on abortion since well before the Dobbs decision. Steph, this is now the first time that we're hearing from women who are really doing this, sometimes at great personal risk. Where does it start? Who's coordinating this effort? So the woman coordinating this is Veronica Cruz. She's a legendary activist based in Mexico and she runs an organization called Las Libres,

which means the free ones. She started Las Libres back in the early 2000s when abortion was criminalized in Mexico. It's since been decriminalized. And I've been talking with her about the model that she developed called Accompanyamiento. The idea is one person, the Accompanyante, brings pills along with tips about how to use them

to women in need of abortion. And then, well, nothing, I met with Veronica in Guernia for that we've developed the most solicited are the women that contact and we're I met with Veronica in Guanyahuato

her home state in central Mexico that was in early August and she told me how she first developed this model for women there who were sexual assault survivors the idea was to make abortion not just more accessible for them but less frightening

and now she's extending that model over the border with the help of these pill fairies, this underground network of volunteers. So, Steph, maybe it would be very helpful for you to walk us through how this whole system, this underground, as you describe it, works. Right. So immediately after a row was overturned, a number of American women living in Mexico reached out to Veronica saying, we want to help. And there's a number of ways they can do this. The first step in the supply chain is obviously to get the medications. I talk about a group of ELOCAWRSAGERS, I talk about a group of ELOCAWRSA, saying, we want to help. I talk about a group of ELOVORNICA, saying we want to help. I talk to help. I talk to elderly American women who are doing this. They live in San Miguel de Allende, a town close to where

Veronica lives, and it has a large community of American expats like these women. So when they started working with Veronica, they called dozens of pharmacies around town trying to source the medications, some of which, by the way, are available over-the-counter in Mexico. From there, the next step in the chain is to get the pills over the border. Some volunteers are driving the medications across. Some are packing them into their bags and flying in. to the States. And I'll tell you about one of the women I spoke with, whom I'll call Claire, she's been traveling to San Miguel Allende for decades. And when she heard about Veronica's work, she decided, okay, I'm going to contribute to this cause. In August, when I traveled to San Miguel

to meet with her, she took me to an artisanal market in town. It was early in the morning, we were walking through rows of stand selling all kinds of jewelry, hearts of blown glass, and portable shrines of the Virgin of Guadalupe. And she explained to me how she hides abortion pills using earrings that she buys from these local vendors. So I should explain something at this point before we hear that. You met this woman and recorded your interview, but the voice we're going to hear as another woman

who's dubbed over the tape, an actor. Because these people, the pill fairies, as you call them, don't want their voices used on the radio and certainly in the New Yorker they didn't want their... names used either. That's right. And that is because abortion is effectively banned in 14 states. And so these women risk going to prison, depending on where they're mailing the medications from,

and facing a very, very steep fine. So this is Claire walking in the market. When my parents brought me down here in 1971 for the summer, it felt like that was the most exciting thing that could have happened. It felt like all my childhood memories. were in black and white except for the summer we spent in San Miguel de Allende, which was techno color. So when I came back years later, I was reluctant to come back because I'd heard that, you know, so many Texans and gringoes had ruined the place, but when I came back, I felt like

it was still really magical. And so now I go back and forth to the states and kind of makes me a perfect person to work with Las L'Libres because I have, you know, global. entry and I figured I might as well use my privilege and sneak into the country with some abortion pills. She stopped at a booth where a young man was selling flower-shaped earrings. Each piece was made of colorful glass beads and she bought 20 of them. They looked like sunflowers, camellias, and roses. So I buy these little earrings here from these guys. First of all, I love their work. The earrings are beautiful and they're kind of a sweet gift to give to somebody who is going through a hard time. You know, I want to be discreet about sending pills. And so,

you know, I want to make it look like a little present or something like that. And so I was thinking, so I bought a bunch of jewelry boxes, you know, the kinds that are stuffed with cotton. And I thought between the layers of cotton is like a perfect place to put the pills with a little sheet of instructions. And then I put the earrings on top of that. And so, you know, it just, it looks like you received a pair of earrings. And I think it's really important to be discreet because you don't know what a woman's situation is. Like maybe she's living alone. Maybe she's living with, you know, a violent boyfriend or husband who would be really angry to

know that she was getting pills. You know, I could just imagine someone opening it and saying, what is this? And throwing it out and having a fit and beating somebody up, you know. So I just wanted to make it as discreet as possible. But then also, I just kind of like the idea that, you know, it's just so stressful to be pregnant when you don't want to be. It's like you have all these hormones going and, you know, like the way your body feels, you just want it to be over. And so I thought, you know, it'd be nice to get a pair of earrings when you're in that kind of mood. Steph, this is someone you spoke with in a market in Mexico.

And her role in this is to bring the pills used for abortions, from Mexico to California. Then she does what? So once she gets home, Belonica Cruz, who is the activist that we've been talking about, censor the addresses of women in need of the medication. And she talked about the fact that when she started doing this, she was quite curious.

And she started looking up the addresses online. And she found trailer homes and run-down apartments, and she kept thinking about the women who lived in those houses. But these are women who make their needs known for abortion pills? Yes.

So they reach her to Veronica. They contact her via WhatsApp or signal, or they can also call as Libres. And sometimes they'll just say hello, and Veronica will know what they're looking for, and then they'll give her their address, and the pills are free, so that's pretty much it.

I have to say, Steph, as I listen to you, describe this operation, we've gone from legalized abortion where there are all kinds of problems, of course, but there were systems in place, there were clinics, there were doctors, and now we were reduced to activists finding ways to put pills in boxes with earrings and hope for the best. It is extraordinary the efforts they're going to, but it's devastating to listen to what these people are reduced to doing, to get what they need. Right. And I think that one could argue that what we have in the country now are just different

standards of care, right? Because, remember, there are states in the country where abortion is still legal. And so the women who have that means to travel to those states will be able to do that. and they'll be able to see a doctor, they'll be able to go to a clinic and receive the care that they need. The poor get poorer. Exactly. Exactly. I'm talking with Stefania Taladreid. In a moment, we'll meet one of the volunteers who delivers pills in person at great legal risk.

This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. Stephanie Teledreid has just published an ambitious piece of reporting in the New Yorker. It's about an underground network that delivers medications used in at-home abortions. Fourteen states have effectively banned abortion in this country, and the people who are part of this underground network are understandably cautious about speaking on the record. In our segment today, the women's recorded interviews with Stephania were overdubbed in order to protect their anonymity. These women refer to themselves as pill fairies. Before the break, we heard from one of the women who carries the pills over the board.

border from Mexico, where some of the medications are available over the counter. Now, remind us of what these pills are. What are the medications and how do they do their work? So we're talking about two sets of pills, myphipristone, which blocks progesterone and myisoprostal, which causes uterine contractions. These pills are not available over the counter in the States, right? In order to get them, you need to go to either an abortion clinic where a doctor will charge you upwards of $500 for the pills, and then you'll take them at home, or you can get them mail to your house. This is obviously in states where the procedure is still legal, again, for hundreds of dollars. Well, I have to ask you, is it safe to use these pills, and are they successful without the supervision

of a doctor? Very much so. I mean, the World Health Organization has explicitly stated that medication abortions don't need to be administered by a physician. The risk of running into complications is actually really, really low. Studies show that in less than 1% of the cases women develop an infection or hemorrhage. So, Steph, are these medications all being distributed by male from out of state? That's how these women are limiting their legal risk, right? So not everyone males a medication. You also have pill fairies who decide to meet the women in person and hand the medication. directly to them. And I actually met a woman in Texas who has been doing this for several months now. She told me about her determination, her conviction really, to make sure that women were not alone

in this process, that she could accompany them. And I think it's important to point out, David, that most of the cases that this woman described were straightforward interactions. A majority of people picked up the medication and told her, thank you for the pills. I'll let you know if anything goes wrong, and then she never heard from them again. Yeah, so many people. I guess like little vignettes is the easiest way to talk about it, because they really are all so different. But in some cases, some of the women were in situations that, to me, highlighted the need for

abortion care, reproductive care, to be accessible and delivered by professionals. One woman was in a super violent marriage, already has three children with this person, and has been looking for a way out. And when she realized she was pregnant, it felt like a death sentence to her. So I met her at a park. She was like shaking. She was really nervous. She didn't have a lot of time because her husband always knows where she is. Yeah, it was awful.

terrible. Yeah. How was that interaction with her? I think it left me feeling like a little bit like hopeless, or like both hopeful and hopeless somehow. It's like I felt good that like at the very least this one thing she would have control over and she'd be able to stop herself from like she'd have one less thing to worry about when she's trying to leave this person. So it just felt like one thing would go right. But I felt hopeless because that's not how she saw it. Yeah. When you think about the people that you've helped, is there another case that stands up? Yeah, the teenager stands out to me a lot. Why is that?

Well, just that she was so innocent and, like, unaware, like, so in shock. Like, basically she was very, very young. Like, I think in eighth grade, and her grandmother came, and I think her aunt, there were two women with her. Like, the grandma was doing her best to be, like, kind, but was also just like, you. you know, they were a little harsh on her. Like, I think they were, like, pissed that she got pregnant. So I was, like, trying to, I kept trying to talk to her directly. And, like, she was just clearly so in shock.

Like, she wasn't absorbing the information. So I was just like, okay, let me talk to these other two people so that they know what's going on. But, like, that really made me, I just felt really out of my depth. Like, I felt really unprepared. to counsel them in a meaningful way, and they clearly needed it. Like, whoever the younger woman was, was like, you know, like she was speaking in Spanish, like Spanish and English. But I can, so I don't know exactly what she was saying, but I could like basically tell

she was like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, you are a child. How did we get here? That's one that sticks with me because it just feels like in other states or under a better law system. She could have, her grandmother could have taken her to a sexual reproductive health clinic where they could have had a conversation with her, taught her about condoms, given her resources, given her a phone number to call, given her birth control and sent her home feeling empowered with more information. And instead, she had to go to some random person she's

never met's house. I'm sure, I'm sure they did not feel safe or comfortable here. I just felt like I was able to meet one very specific need, but like I feel like they had a lot of needs that like me alone has, you know, no reference points or like qualifications or expertise to, like, support. Steph, you interviewed this woman in Texas. In your story, you call her Anna. She's distributing abortion medication illegally. And the penalties for that are very high.

They can be. How concerned was she about? about taking this risk? She was very concerned, but at the same time, she took as many precautions as she could. She rarely meets women at home. She almost always tells them to meet her at a public park or at a coffee place. And when she meets people at a park, she wears a mask, large sunglasses and a sunhead, to, you know, really mask her identity.

I want to find out how to convey to my neighbors that this is available and I'm scared to. I think in general I'm a trusting person, but when it's such a severe penalty, I just would want to be really careful. Why did they want to talk with you then, Steph? I think it's an act of resistance. And the way many of them have put it to me is, they want other women to know in places where abortion has been banned, that they can still exercise that right, and that if they need an abortion, they don't need to go through a back-alley procedure. They can reach out to someone who has the tools to get one, who is well-informed about how to do so,

and who will not put their health at risk in any way. Were you able to talk with anyone who actually received pills in this system? I actually did. This, a woman named Sarah, who was already a mother and for financial reasons could not have a second child. And she learned of her pregnancy, and she, in a panic, started reaching out to some of her friends who she knew would be able to help her.

My friend asked me, are you looking for, you know, like a clinical solution? Because at that time, that was still a possibility. Clinical pills, managing it yourself, or going to a doctor or whatever. And I was like self-managed because I don't, well, the laws are about to change. And I can't risk having that on the books. And so she said, okay, she said, here's some websites that you can get information from and order from. And here's, she was like, I might have a local contact to just give me a few minutes. And I was like, okay.

And so I went through two processes. I went through one of the websites. That's where you like fill out a form. that's a teledoc appointment, and then they send it to a pharmacy in India, and then they mail-order it, which did cost money. So I did that process, but then my friend texted me back and put me in touch with Anna. That's the pill fairy in Texas that we heard from earlier. And Anna said, can I help you or whatever?

And I said, well, I'm hoping that I can find something local. And she said, well, I'm here until 1230. And so she explained the program to me, that they're essentially smuggling pills to Texan women. And so she gave me instructions, if this, this, this, you need to go to the hospital. And I was like, great. I had a positive test at 9.30 in the morning. And I was pills in my purse driving home by 11. in the morning.

Wow, that's incredible. Did the other pills ever arrive? They did. I think about two weeks later, so it was still really early. And I just have them on hand so that I can be a pill fairy to someone in need if necessary. I have referred, I think, to other people to Anna, but if she were not able to help or if somebody didn't want to go to someone else, I would do the same thing. The way she explained this to me, she was actually tugging the pills in her dress or drawer

when she realized that nothing but her fear stood in the way of her doing what Anna had thought for her. And so she picked up her phone, texted Anna and said, Hey, how do I start doing what you do? I mean, there's nothing else to do, right? Like you can't just lie down and accept it. you can't, right? Steph, this really raises an essential question, and that's where all this is going.

Do you see these kinds of networks growing, or will they get cracked down upon by the states that are so aggressively against abortion? Or are these networks going to shrivel as we get increasingly harsher punishments in some areas? I think if you were to ask Beronika, she would tell you that the bigger the movement becomes, the harder it'll be to crack down on, right?

It's a decentralized system. It's not as easy as turning to an abortion provider, an abortion clinic, and saying, you know, that's it. I take away your license. You cannot operate in the state anymore. It's women taking matters into their own hands in a safe manner, right? But they're taking matters into their own hands at a moment when the surveillance state has extraordinary technology.

to figure out digital footprints, to figure out your Google search data, all that can be accessed for possible prosecution. Is it really possible for networks like this to keep on working successfully? I think it is. Most of the women I talk to are communicating through Signal, which is an encrypted app, and they're very conscious of digital surveillance. But there's also the question of how far prosecutors will actually go to prosecute these women. Many of these laws restricting abortions are so new, we really haven't seen them play out. And you know, the politics of enforcing these penalties is complex. If we look at Texas, for instance, there was a survey that came out last month that found that 60% of voters actually favored abortion being available

in all or most cases. Only 10% supported banning abortions completely. So in this context, as one lawyer put it to me, it seems conservative lawmakers would benefit just as much from pretending that no abortions are happening as they would from prosecuting them. Steph, you're reporting here is extraordinary,

and it goes to the heart of the results of a Supreme Court decision, and I thank you for bringing you. bringing it to us. Thank you, David. You can read the Post Row Abortion Underground by Stefania Taladreid

at New Yorker.com. The interviews with volunteers we heard were overdubbed to protect the identity of our sources. That's the New Yorker Radio Hour for today. Thanks so much. See you next time. The New Yorker Radio Hour

is a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Our theme music was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of Tune Arts. This episode was produced by Emily Boutin, Breda Green, Calilea, David Krasnow, Louis Mitchell, and Gophane and Putabwelle. Along with Jeffrey Masters, Will Coley, Jenny Lawton, and Michael May. And we had assistance from Joe Ploord, Harrison Keithline, and James Napoli. And special thanks to Cat Campion, Maureen, Maureen Russell, and Danny St. Germain.

The New Yorker Radio Hour is supported in part by the Trurina Endowment Fund.