Ep. 239: A Handmaid's Country (feat. Cynthia Conti-Cook)

Last week we blinked and opened our eyes to a vision of a different world. A nightmare foretold is to become our future — a U.S. citizen who becomes pregnant can be stripped of their bodily autonomy and forced, by the U.S. government, to give birth. Attempt to abort the fetus, and you can be charged with murder. The idea of that reality is draconian and horrific.

But what most people don’t know is that we are already living in a reality that is much more sinister. Confide in a desperate text to your friend your fears of being pregnant, or simply Google the word “abortion” before having a miscarriage… and you can be charged with murder.

On this episode of Rumble, Michael is joined by Cynthia Conti-Cook, award-winning civil rights attorney and current Technology Fellow on the Ford Foundation’s Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice team. She is an expert on the expanding use of surveillance technologies and talks with Michael on the current and potential use of technology to criminalize people who seek or aid abortions.

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Read Michael’s Substack post “The Forced Birth Ruling”

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Start protecting your digital autonomy today with the following apps recommended by Cynthia Conti-Cook:

Signal — for end-to-end encrypted texting

DuckDuckGo — to search the web without being tracked

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Got questions about your legal rights and self-managed abortion?

Go to IfWhenHow.org or call the Repro Legal Hotline: 844.868.2812

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Learn more about the topics discussed on today’s episode:

Read Cynthia’s report “Surveilling the Digital Abortion Diary” about our digital footprint becoming weaponized in court as evidence of criminal intent.

And check out “Mass Extraction: The Widespread Power of U.S. Law Enforcement to Search Mobile Phones” the UpTurn.org report Cynthia recommended about the depth and breadth of the mobile device forensic tool.

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Check out the Thích Nhất Hạnh books discussed in the episode — Call Me By My True Names, and The Raft Is Not The Shore

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Music in today’s episode:

Offred Explores Her Room — Adam Taylor

Bella Ciao - Luciana Zogbi ft Kenny Holland & Romy Wave

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