LABOR + JUSTICE with Sara Joy Byington

“Labor + Justice” is such a tonally wild and imaginative film, we were fascinated to hear a behind-the-scenes conversation about of how it came together. For example, director Sarah Joy Byington researched real-life stories of women charged with crimes after experiencing miscarriages or stillbirths. Their stories inspired her dystopian narrative. On this month’s Periodical Podcast, the director speaks with Asha Dahya about making a shocking-yet-sensitive film. She also shares how motherhood helped shift her own views on abortion and reproductive justice. Ultimately, “Labor + Justice” reflects her own growing understanding of this complex topic, including how it intersects with race, homelessness, and substance abuse. 

Transcript

00:00:05 Asha Dahya
Hello Friends! Welcome to our final episode of the repro film podcast of 2023. I’m your host Asha Dahya, and I want to start off by getting you to close your eyes while I describe a few imaginary scenes. Imagine being at a very late stage in your pregnancy, and something goes wrong and you need to make a difficult decision fast, but you have to get permission from someone else like the head of a church, who knows nothing about your life or pregnancy. Imagine your teen daughter becomes pregnant and you help her procure abortion bills from a different state because they’re banned in your state, then you end up in jail. Imagine you are experiencing a miscarriage in the bathroom, and instead of being surrounded with grief resources and support after the fact, you are met with suspicion and end up facing a jury trial for your pregnancy outcome.
All of these scenarios I just described are real scenarios that have happened quite recently in the United States, and in fact there are many more I could list. The reality is, we no longer need to watch shows like ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ to imagine a version of America where women and pregnant people are being criminalized and controlled for their reproductive decisions and pregnancy outcomes.
This month in the RePRO Periodical, we are featuring a film that reiterates all of this, titled ‘Labor + Justice’. Set in a dystopian United States, pregnant persons are required by law to give birth in front of a panel of judges. Failure to birth a living baby sentences the mother to immediate execution. The everyday, mundane births/deaths have zero effect on the outlandish elitist judges as they devour their lunch and chug beer like animals right before we see the first woman being wheeled into the courtroom, on the cusp of delivering a baby.
The film was written and directed by Sarah Joy Byington, who is co-owner of a production outfit called Better Half Productions with her filmmaker husband. She also comes from a conservative background where she previously considered herself “pro life”, but becoming a mother drastically changed her point of view to where she is today. Sarah is based in Texas, and as a mother of two, the issue of bodily autonomy and making your own decisions about your pregnancy is personal to her.
So naturally I wanted to talk to her about all things reproductive freedom, the 2024 election where abortion is most definitely going to be on the ballot in a number of state ballot measures, and how she channeled her rage from watching the Trump administration decimate reproductive rights and abortion access into a film that, funnily enough, holds a message that is even more relevant in 2023. 
Sigh… Hillary Clinton was right, ya’ll…
 But the good news is that idiotic people in power do not have the last word in the story. There is a groundswell of legislative and political action happening in the wake of Roe v Wade being overturned, expanding on the work so many reproductive justice leaders have been doing for decades. And storytelling and filmmaking has become an integral part of changing the narrative.
This interview was very cathartic to me personally, getting to connect with Sarah about the moments of motherhood that can sometimes make you feel isolated and invisible. Do yourself a favor and watch ‘Labor + Justice’ during December over at reprofilm.org. I hope you enjoy this interview with Sarah Joy Byington as much as I did!

00:03:53 Asha Dahya
Sarah, it's so great to have you here on the repro film podcast. Welcome, welcome. I'm so excited to be chatting with you today.

00:04:00 Sara Joy Byington
Truly, when I say this, the honor is all mine and I'm just so thrilled I can't think of a better platform and it's just so great to be able to talk to you.

00:04:08 Asha Dahya
Well, it definitely feels like a good, very synergistic, very timely. And I'm just so glad that we get to promote your film, Labor + Justice with everything that's going on right now in the United States as we head into another contentious presidential election year, no doubt. So we're featuring Labor + Justice this month. Can you tell me first how the idea came about and what motivated you to make this film?

00:04:32 Sara Joy Byington
So I was a newish mom. I wrote this in the early, early winter January of 2019, actually as an exercise. It was like on this writing website, they give you a prompt and had nothing to do with reproductive etc. It was, but that's just kind of where I went with it because I was mad at Trump at the time. I can't remember why I've lost count.

00:04:55 Asha Dahya
So many things.

00:04:56 Sara Joy Byington
So many things I can't remember, so I was really Just kind of taking that out on I don't know that judicial process as a whole and I never meant to make it. I was really just kind of wrote it as an exercise and then my husband, who's also a filmmaker, we had started talking in 2021 of of shooting something that I had written because I have a few short films in the, you know, on the shelf and you're like, why not that one? It's the concept is simple. It's one location. So we decided to go ahead and go through with that not knowing kind of. The gosh, the disaster that would unfold in 2022.

00:05:37 Asha Dahya
I mean, what it just feels like such a cathartic thing to, you know, talk about the Trump era which I'm bracing myself. Hopefully it doesn't come around again, but just all the things that happened while he was president and it truly was awful. And although your idea came about in 2019, before Roe V Wade was overturned in 2022, as you mentioned, it is important to know that similar to what you allude to in your film, birth and pregnancy outcomes were indeed already being monitored and criminalized, especially among women of color in the US can you talk about some of the research that you did for the film? Were there any stand out news stories or headlines that sparked the idea, perhaps?

00:06:18 Sara Joy Byington
Yeah, absolutely. It's something that I was definitely looking into. It's I didn't stumble upon it when I wrote this, so it was definitely something I researched just two cases, the first case being in 2019, a woman named Chelsea Beck, she was prosecuted and spent 16 months in jail for stillbirth in a California prison because they found methamphetamines in her system. And they charged her with murder of a fetus, although there was no evidence to support that that was the cause of child's death, I will say that at the time she was homeless, the region that she lived in had very limited access to drug rehabilitation and reproductive healthcare and other services, and more recently, in 2020 there is a woman named Kelsey Carpenter. Different state. She's 34. She gave birth to stillborn at her home called 911 and two months later, she was taken into custody and also charged with malice, intent of the murder of a fetus to be transparent, she had two children that were previously taken away because of her substance abuse, and I think that's important to note. That being said, there are identical cases.
Like you said way before this past year, identical cases of women being arrested being charged with malicious murder intent or stillbirth. And I think what's important here is that instead of tackling the issue of homelessness and giving these people resources in areas where substance abuse is high and everywhere, it's almost like they're making up excuses for this. And I think it's always easy to blame the mother. I often think of myself like if I if I made one wrong choice, like if I left my kid in the car when I ran to the grocery store, it doesn't really matter what maybe my intent was. Anything happened. All the blame would fall on me.
It's the support as a whole to women and mothers is so incredibly starved in this country, and even as a mother of two without a large community to help me with and and postpartum care, I even struggle and I think I'm doing an OK job for what it is, but I think all too easily. It's the mother to blame for these instances and I think it's a slippery slope. I mean, you know, with Roe V Wade being overturned and and forcing women who don't have resources and access to healthcare, et cetera, to deny them of that choice is just going to end up in more imprisonments and charges, et cetera.

00:09:02 Asha Dahya
It's terrifying to think that we live in such a punitive society, which was already happening, but now that we're much becoming much more aware of it and it's happening so frequently now, because the bare bones protection over every weight is no longer there. Yeah. Federally, it's yeah, it's really like there's little choices. Like you said, any little misstep could be perceived as something who knows what? And you know you could be criminalized in some way, and it's really, really terrifying. So. And you mentioned before that you grew up in a conservative environment. Would you be comfortable talking about, you know, some of the attitudes you have and your thinking changed after becoming a mother and that process. I'm fascinated by that.

00:09:46 Sara Joy Byington
In 2023, I think a lot of people are hesitant to call themselves Christians because of the wave of MAGA kind of gave Christians a bad name, though I think that group is smaller than you know, what actually exists out there? People who do have good intentions.

00:10:03 Asha Dahya
And they're just a loud voice.

00:10:05 Sara Joy Byington
Yeah. It's always the loudest most obnoxious voice that is heard above everyone else because I think that most of us really just feel hopeless and want the best for people and our intentions are I think people are inherently good. When people go to the polls, you know it's really to make it or choose to be pro-life or or per choice. There really is no in between and you can't like you'll be criticized or ridiculed if you don't have a hard stance. But I do think that the majority of the population is in the gray area of that because we want what's best for the mothers. We want children to be born healthy and safe. We don't want to see when it's hard for people. People who have less resources. We don't want to be exposed to their difficult decisions and can only imagine the weight or don't want to imagine the weight, you know, because God forbid it be us.

00:11:04 Sara Joy Byington
Really, the decision is comes down to the person. That is their choice to make. They will have to live with their choice. It's not an easy one. It's not just like going to the poll and being like, “well, blah blah blah…I'm going to vote this way because this is what is right.”

00:11:21 Asha Dahya
Since I'm black and white.

00:11:22 Sara Joy Byington
Yeah, it's, it's your which you know is kind of a theme in the movie.

00:11:27 Asha Dahya
Yeah. Yep. Literally.

00:11:29 Sara Joy Byington
It's been black and white because for multiple reasons, but that being one of them is that it's not such a black and white situation. You know, there are some really cases, but there are these cases of of parents who are trying to have and they're, you know, the nitty gritty of of having to choose between the mother's life or the the, the fetus's life, because it's not a viable pregnancy, a viable pregnancy. What are they going to do in that instance? Often it's the father's choice. Like, obviously, the father would probably choose his partner's life because they're the one who are in it? And that's just one scenario of the complete opposite side of someone. You know, being in poverty and having to make a difficult decision, you know, that often impacts children or family that they already have. I don't think it's a black and white issue, but I think that the government should stay out of that, really.

00:12:28 Asha Dahya
To leave it up to the individual, I mean, there's so many scenarios, there's no way that one law can fully account for every single scenario or person's complex life that you know, it's just it's impossible. There's just, there's just no way. So yeah, I appreciate you sharing how you know your evolution in your thought process and your own lived experiences and seeing that and seeing these news stories as well, that's actually, I think that's such an important part of why, you know, you need to make films like this so that people see and understand, you know, the nuance of the situation. Well, it's clear that we cannot talk about any sort of reproductive justice issue without talking about the intersection of race and racism. How did this play a role in how Labor + Justice was written and what you chose to show on screen because the first woman we see is a black woman who comes into the courtroom, would you call it a courtroom?

00:13:24 Sara Joy Byington
Yes, absolutely, yes, it's the support room, Anessa who opened it on who is an amazing actor who's only been doing this for a couple of years, I might add, but she's just absolutely stunning. And she and I met over social media. We met right before COVID. Our daughters are the same age. They have the same name. And so we really just bonded over that. I didn't even have her audition. She's actually a black and Latina, so there's definitely a lot of layers there as well.
Because I wanted to put emphasis on black women have a higher maternal mortality rate in the United States, the chance is 3 times higher for a woman of color to die from childbirth or for the baby to be born prematurely.
This is according to the CDC, so already it sets the stage for health issues that could fall through their lives. I mean, you know, black American health issues have long been ascribed to genetics or behavior, but really comes down to accessibility. You know, what's accessible to them, again, averting what's really important and making an excuse really, for it's really like racism here on accessibility. It really is, you know, linked to historical lack of access to care.

00:14:50 Asha Dahya
I want to ask as a mother yourself, how did your own experience or emotional connection to the role of mother impact what you wanted to show on screen when you were creating this film.

00:15:03 Sara Joy Byington
I love a good shock factor, but I also wanted to respect the sanctity of the baby and the mother. Originally we had the baby unwrapped, alert, but the baby is stillborn and watching is of itself is difficult enough to watch. I mean, I think being a parent or not and originally it was the plan to have the baby's face shown, but we found that it was more important to have it covered.
Sorry, even I get emotional. You know, we were very intentional with keeping this set very respectful of what was happening, because this is reality for people all over the world. And so to answer your question, my own experiences and putting that into it. I really gave Anessa full rein when it came to her performance and she was spot on. She was spot on, I just there was something about her. I was like, she's going to deliver it. And she has actually delivered a baby in her life, preparing for the role in her acting class. She pretended to be pregnant for a full month. And so by the time we were shooting, she was ready to give birth like she was preparing as if she was 8 months pregnant and she just brought her all. When I say there wasn't a dry eye on set. I mean it was a tough day. We shot all the fun stuff the first day and we did the delivery scene, the second day and you know that was a. That was a tough day. It was very so, very and everyone was so respectful and sensitive to the subject matter.

00:16:35 Asha Dahya
Such a heavily loaded and emotional scene, and you feel that watching it, whether whether you're a parent or not, I mean you see it on her face (the actress’s face) and Anessa, because I mean, clearly she can draw on her experience as a mother, but it was so vivid and going from the outlandish behavior of the judges, you know, drinking beer and and and eating chicken wings to this almost Handmaid's Tale, performance and moment it's so jarring, and it just really brings you back to reality.

00:17:12 Sara Joy Byington
I created that juxtaposition because I wanted to portray a world I feel like we as a society lives in versus the world that I think government officials live in. It feels almost separate because they can sit up there and choose what we do or don't get to do with our own bodies or what have you. But when it comes down to in the moment, in our actual lives, it almost seems comical or a charade of what the reality versus what we are actually in. So that's kind of where that juxtaposition of this crazy circus, like seeing, you know, just completely outlandish to the sobering reality. If this is what we people are going through every single day.

00:18:00 Asha Dahya
Yeah, it's not true. I remember interviewing just as a side note. Couple years ago, interviewing a woman in Utah, and for most people who are listening, who aren't familiar with Utah, most of the hospital systems there are run and are owned by the Mormon Church, and they're run by the bishops. So this woman had a pregnancy that it was planned. Something went wrong later in the pregnancy, so she had to get an abortion later in the pregnancy, which is hard enough to access as it is, not every state provides access to abortion later and later in the pregnancy, but she was in this crucial stage in her pregnancy. She had to make a decision, but instead of her making the final decision, she had to get permission from the hospital lawyers and then the lawyers had to consult with like the church bishops on whether she could have this life saving procedure and I can't remember what happened in the end, but I think that's not the point. The point is that she had to ask someone else's permission. Who are these people who have no idea who she is? And that's kind of what we see in Labor + Justice, you see, you know, this outlet. It opens with this outlandish almost comedic scene of these judges acting so vile, laughing, joking, cursing, chugging beer and, you know, eating chicken wings like they're watching Sunday afternoon football. But honestly, if you watch almost any video of predominantly white Republican men talk about abortion in congressional hearings while they're not chugging, they're eating chicken wings. The things that they say are very similar and also judges, which obviously we don't see videos of as much because it's a court case. But so many actual judges in real life have zero idea of how reproductive systems work, as evidenced by the outlandish things they say in these transcripts of the Supreme Court cases. And it's some mind boggling. So how are you in a position of power making these crucial decisions about what every birth giving person in this country can do and you don't even know how a uterus works. I mean, they start. It's absurd. I mean, there's that misinformation, anti choice, talking point. And completely dismissed the lived experience of the person you know in front of them, talking about their experience. And I'm assuming I'm right in that you wanted your audiences to feel this like that. Like you mentioned the juxtaposition and how absurd it is that these people sitting in this high bench making decisions about these women's experiences. Is that correct?

00:20:36 Sara Joy Byington
Absolutely, which is why we shot mostly below the audiences up to them to make them feel. Whereas on the doctor we shot a little down on him to emphasize that effect of different realities, because to them, you know, they go into their sessions, they make decisions every day. For them, it's just another day on the job that it's evicting lives everywhere. It was intentional to have all of the judges white because just to emphasize that point of racism and just male whiteness, but also I do have a female judge on there too, because there are plenty of women too who are as, if not, sometimes worse on the issue because you're like, why you're a woman, you should get it. You know what I mean? Like, you should have sympathy, whereas she's in my films, she's probably one of the least sympathetic ones. Just like, you know, the law like this is this is it. This is your fault.

00:21:31 Asha Dahya
No empathy.

00:21:32 Sara Joy Byington
Again, placing all the blame on the person who's just lost their child. As if it's not enough to suffer the own grief and pain like you're saying, the hospitals in Utah being owned and then the Mormon Church and having to go through all these channels, you know, to get permission. As to stress alone.

00:21:52 Asha Dahya
The trauma of it.

00:21:54 Sara Joy Byington
Yes, the grief like all of those things just I can only imagine just having to sit there. Wait On and just the helplessness that you feel. I mean, I can't say that my most recent childbirth and my youngest was like a walk through the park. It definitely wasn't what I wanted. I had a female doctor, but at the last minute it was switched to a Male doctor and I didn't like that. It wasn't really my choice and I didn't really have a say and I can't tell you how help this I felt. And that's like a best case scenario, right? So I can only imagine what a worst case scenario without women sitting in Utah waiting on people to make a decision on her life. I think as mothers, we can feel that our identity and value is lost once we have children. I'm certainly speaking from experience here. I know I can't speak for everyone.

00:22:45 Asha Dahya
I feel like I'm still going through that. So you're preaching to the choir.

00:22:50 Sara Joy Byington
It feels like we're suddenly less than and let me clarify by saying there's not anything I wouldn't do to put my life down for my children or my husband. I love them to death, but that being said, there is a little lesser value that I feel And expectancy that I feel as a mother, again without the resources Where we're just expected to do it on our own and give everything we have. I mean inherently, I think that's just part of being a mom, but If we know that it is part of being a mom, then shouldn't there be more resources to help us out?

00:23:30 Asha Dahya
Yeah, it's like that expectation that we have to live up to and just completely empty ourselves of our autonomy and our thoughts and dreams and hopes. And, you know, I think so many more mothers are speaking up about that, which is great. You know, that gives me hope that we're able to have these platforms to talk about it and stand up for our rights and push for change because that's whether it's maternal mortality or postpartum support or you know, grief support after a stillbirth. I mean, all these things are interconnected into reproductive freedom and justice. And so I'm really so thankful that you, you know, talk about this in your motherhood experience as well as what you show in Labor + Justice.

00:24:12 Sara Joy Byington
And I can't help but feel guilty by even saying that just now to you.

00:24:16 Asha Dahya
I know the fact that you have to have a disclaimer like oh, I just a disclaimer. Of course I love my kids. Like I see that on everyone's Instagram posts and interviews. It's like we shouldn't have to say that because the, the, the baseline expectation is that you sacrifice yourself, you do everything for your kids first you put yourself..
That's like, that's the baseline of where we all are. And the minute you deviate, it's like, ohh, she's a she's not a good mother and it's like Come on. We gotta progress past that. So I think these conversations are what's needed to challenge our Own thinking and Societies as well, so I appreciate just just from a personal point of having this conversation with you.
Well, in the post Roe v Dobbs, I guess reality that we're living in now, there is an increase in people looking for, you know, legal advice and resources and hoping not to become the late. Just horrific, sensational headlines about abortion, pregnancy outcomes or any reproductive issue in your research. As you were making the film and writing. And you know, thinking about this issue, can you share any organizations that were helpful to you or that you felt that you wanted to amplify as well in the promotion of this film?

00:25:28 Sara Joy Byington
So there's an organization called Plan C which I think is becoming more and more well known and it's abortion access and resources nationwide and there's actually a documentary that was made about this organization then also for people who are local to Austin. There's Jane's Due Process. Where again, if you need healthcare resources, abortion access, they're very good organization. And then if you're just interested in supporting pregnant Texans, then there is the Lilith fund.
As hopeless as I can feel, there's definitely resources organizations that we can pour into if it doesn't affect us directly or if it does, then we can, you know, do it both ways. If they're just good to know of these organizations anyways, even if you aren't in a position because these are scary times, you know what this dystopian world that Labor + Justice is in suddenly doesn't seem so far fetched. The government doesn't crumble overnight, little pieces that are chipped away over time. I know that every generation says that it has had the worst government but I can't see it. I don't know if things are not looking up especially with an election on the horizon that nobody wants literally. Can we just have a break?

00:26:47 Asha Dahya
Well said that nobody wants. Can we? Did we just recover from the last two elections?

00:26:53 Sara Joy Byington
Like I can't even process that four years has happened or nearly happened, and the United States needs a break. Like we just need a break. Like we overdid it in 2020.

00:27:02 Asha Dahya
Just to kind of course correct and take some time to meditate and just do some self-care before we get into that process.

00:27:08 Sara Joy Byington
Again yes, because I think the person that we really need is probably like 10 years younger than anyone who's running at Least maybe 50 Person that we need are still in the works, and they're still, you know, so we need to, we need to, we need time for that candidate.

00:27:23 Asha Dahya
I mean the impact, like you said, people talk about Ohh everyone thinks I have a bad government, but the impact of one terrible, idiotic President nominating 3 Supreme Court justices cannot be understated enough like it's general. It's like this is a lifetime, at least our lifetime. It's pretty huge. So well, Speaking of which, as we head into 2024, which is going to be another contentious presidential election year, we've seen seven or eight states since Dobbs vote overwhelmingly to enshrine Abortion rights into their constitution, which is very exciting. Most recently, Ohio, which was a huge shock to everyone and also a great surprise.

00:28:08 Sara Joy Byington
They really are the swing state, aren't they?

00:28:10 Asha Dahya
They really are. And that whole issue is not done. I mean the anti toys are trying to fight that ballot measure. So it's important to be aware of like this isn't the end, you know the rights don't end with just a ballot measure vote. But it's clear that abortion is most definitely on the ballot next year. There's said to be possibly a dozen states that are going to have ballot measures with abortion on the ballot next year. What kind of message in in your and in thinking of all of this, what message or motivation do you hope Labor + Justice will carry with audiences as we promote it this month as other people watch it as you're doing your festival run and and you know, as people receive it, what do you hope people will think about?

00:28:50 Sara Joy Byington
I hope that the biggest take away is that it's not a black and white issue and that emphasis and focus should really be put on the individual.
I'm hopeful, dare I say, that I'm hopeful for this next election because of the new generation is old enough to vote, and I think people are seeing more and more of the corruption. They want to take action and understand that it really does come down to personal choice. You know my body, my choice. It's going to sound cliche. Anyone who says out loud, but I think that more and more people are understanding that and see that especially just because we went through that whole, you know, the vaccination thing and people like, oh. Opting that statement. Maybe, just hopefully, maybe that opens their eyes a little bit to like, OK, maybe I should have, like, autonomy over my own body. So like I said, dare I say I'm hopeful that more people will show up with consideration and a little bit more informed vote.
I think that for so long it was just go to the polls and vote like your parents did or vote Republican or Democrat. Why not? But I think that not even just for our generation, but the generation. Younger than us I think they're pretty good about becoming informed. They're pretty smart. And so I have lots of hope for us showing up to the polls.
Concerning Labor + Justice, I do hope that people will watch it. I think that it's a different take on the issue and I'm not going to say fun because it's not fun, it's upsetting. Really. It's an upsetting ride. It's not a fun ride. It's an upsetting ride. I think it carries weight and will be remembered by a viewer.

00:30:45 Asha Dahya
Definitely. You've done such a brilliant job of bringing such a juxtaposition of the outlandish and the very sobering reality and opening with that scene on the judges and the music and the vibe. All of that, I think is so wonderful. Also, I'm really thankful to what you created and and just going on your point about, you know, like everyone wants autonomy. All these states like Ohio and especially some of the red states that have voted for abortion, those, those votes, those ballot measures wouldn't have passed if Republican women, conservative women were also not voting, so it's like this is something that every it people are now starting to see that this is something that everybody wants to have, whether it's vaccines, whether it's pregnancy outcomes, whether it's how to raise your child? This is, this is what autonomy is, and so that, yeah, to grieve the point. I think I do have a glimmer of hope that there could be some good on the horizon. So keeping my fingers keeping everything crossed toes eyelashes. Everything. Everything. Well, what's next for you, Sarah? Where? Where can we follow your work? What have you got coming up? What's in the pipeline for you? And where can we follow along?

00:32:02 Sara Joy Byington
Me and my husband's production company and I call that loosely because we just really do it when we can. It's called better half pictures. So we came up with that title together because we really consider each other like our better half. I'm just so lucky to have him. And so we are at betterhalfpictures.com and we are @betterhalfpictures on Instagram. And if you want to follow me, I am @SaraJoyByington on Instagram, but we just shot a little short film, a little comedy about sexual innuendo, which is fun like different. But just something to, you know, just finish do before the year ends. So we'll be posting about that on Instagram. And I have so many screenplays in the works. I'm convinced that I would love just to make or sell that, you know, just waiting for the right time. But mostly the money.

00:33:01 Asha Dahya
Always comes down to money as a filmmaker, right? Well, I'm so excited to see more of your work and to see the impact Labor + Justice has on our audiences here at repro film. And I'm just so thankful to have this conversation with you and and you know to be sharing the experiences that that you've shared today, so Sara Joy Byington, thank you so much. And everyone go watch Labor + Justice while it's on rePROFilm and we'll be sharing all of the resources that Sarah mentioned, as well as some others. So thank you so much Sara.

00:33:32 Sara Joy Byington
Thank you so much, Asha. I appreciate it.

00:33:36 Asha Dahya
Make sure you head to reprofilm.org  during December to watch ‘Labor + Justice’ and use this film as a talking point or resource as the issue of abortion and other reproductive topics come up in conversation with friends, family and your network, as we head into the 2024 election season. You can also see more organizations to support, alongside the handful that Sarah mentioned - PlanCpills.org who share information about how to access abortion pills by mail, the Lilith Fund and other Texas-based as well as national abortion funds that you can donate to. 
Be sure to share this podcast episode with a friend and help us spread the repro film message and mission by subscribing to our Periodical at rePROFilm.org.
The Repro Film podcast is executive produced by mama.film
Hosted and produced by me, Asha Dahya, 
Edited by Kylie Brown, 
With original music by ParisJane and Marrice Anthony.
The periodical is programmed by Neha Aziz and written by Emily Christensen 
Alex Sgambati is our Social Media Manager
You can find us on social media @reprofilm on Instagram, watch our additional video content on our Youtube channel @reprofilmorg where you can catch the replay of all our recent IG lives with Alex, as well as filmmaker screenings and panel discussions with yours truly!  Bye for now!