Pronatalism, Power, and Who Benefits

If you or someone you know needs extra support to survive Trump's economic warfare on the American people, to find help near you, enter your zip code in findhelp.org. 

For decades, Christian nationalists have insisted that controlling women's bodies is a moral crusade. What Irin Carmon shows in her blistering new book, Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America, is that this crusade doesn't just target abortion, it poisons every aspect of pregnancy care in America and forces authoritarianism into our homes and doctor visits. Whether you want to be pregnant or don't, the system is designed to remind you who's in charge: not you.

Carmon, an award-winning journalist and coauthor of Notorious RBG, was eight months pregnant when the Supreme Court, stacked with MAGA Mullahs handpicked by a Christian nationalist movement, tossed aside Roe v. Wade. The ruling didn't just ban abortion in swaths of the country; it unleashed slavery-era lawfare, rampant state censorship, and cruelty even for people desperate to carry pregnancies safely.

Through the harrowing stories of five women across America, Carmon exposes a healthcare system warped by Christian nationalism. In Alabama, women risk their lives because doctors fear prosecution. In supposedly progressive New York, indifference and red tape mean patients still face shocking neglect. It turns out the war on women is not confined to "red states," it's everywhere, and it threatens our very democracy. 

What keeps Unbearable from sinking into despair are the moments of solidarity: the defiant doctors, advocates, and ordinary people resisting the grip of religious extremism. This is not just a book about pregnancy. It's a warning: America has allowed Christian nationalism to turn women's bodies into a battlefield. And until we call it what it is–a war on women–nothing will change. 

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Show Notes:

Unbearable Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America By Irin Carmon https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Unbearable/Irin-Carmon/9781668032602

Opening clip: "AOC: There was a day before his presidency, and there will be a day after — and it belongs to us." https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3m45o2k6uf22o

Lawmakers float a nationwide basic income experiment that would cover the cost of a 2-bedroom apartment https://www.businessinsider.com/federal-monthly-basic-income-program-bill-2025-10

"Democratic socialist candidates are looking to gain ground in various city governments this fall, including Cleveland and Detroit, as well as New York City." https://bsky.app/profile/boltsmag.org/post/3m44llxm3vu2x

Western intelligence agencies eye neo-fascist fight clubs: 'an international white supremacist movement': Security services are monitoring 'active clubs' as they move across borders to spread their extremist ideology https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/19/neo-fascist-fight-active-clubs-white-supremacy?CMP=share_btn_url

Studies indicate that addressing financial insecurity through an Universal Basic Income (UBI) could effectively curb crime rates, potentially reducing costs associated with incarceration and law enforcement https://research.binghamton.edu/ResearchDaysPosters/uploads/5831_Wang_Susanna.pdf

"Lightfoot's recently announced guaranteed basic income program will provide monthly $500 cash transfers to 5,000 of Chicago's most in-need households in a city in which 34 percent of Black residents live below the federal poverty line. Although this is, for now, only a small-scale pilot project, policies like Chicago's have the potential to substantially reduce violent crime." https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/03/how-cash-transfer-programs-prevent-violent-crime.html

Everywhere basic income has been tried, in one map: Which countries have experimented with basic income — and what were the results? https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/2/19/21112570/universal-basic-income-ubi-map

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