On the second season of the podcast “Call Her Daddy”, host Alexandra Cooper is beginning to recognize the responsibility she has to take charge of her platform. With most of her audience being female-identifying, she has even more of an obligation to encourage education and awareness. Unlike the show’s content when it ruled Barstool, it exceeds the former surface-level, scripted comedy and is now beginning to examine real-world issues. In the show’s first season, Cooper took to topics such as women’s health, business, burnout, attachment styles and much more with a variety of experts as guests. This season, she is starting off with a bang, especially amidst the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. Although it occurred back in June, the pressure is still on to fight for bodily autonomy. During the upcoming midterm elections, it is urgent people like Cooper do everything they can to raise awareness and to report on what matters.
On Oct. 5, Cooper created a video podcast and took her audience along with her to Charlotte, North Carolina. She spent her Saturday at a Preferred Women’s Health Care Center with the goal of seeing what exactly is taking place when people seek abortions. She met with people on both sides of the issue, pro-choice and pro-life, as well as the women working and volunteering in the clinic.
Upon her arrival, she was immediately approached by a woman with an intense greeting. Instead of a normal hello, the woman asked Cooper if she chose life. She was handed a pamphlet and directed toward a mysterious van. Lining the streets were many people both protesting and defending the right to abortions, which are still legal in North Carolina. Audio sounded of protestors yelling things like, “you won’t find help or joy because none of those things can come from the murder of your child.” The host parked her vehicle and was escorted inside the building to conduct her interviews. She first met with Calla Hales, the Executive Director of the center for the last nine years.
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Hales reported this is the most desperate she has ever seen patients. As the heckling and harassment of protesters can be heard inside the building, she elaborated on the shame patients feel when seeking healthcare at the center. They call it hard and humiliating to be scolded for a medical decision that has nothing to do with the protestors. Some patients ask if they are going to die, as that is what the protestors ensure is imminent. Hales is heartbroken at the fact that these patients still desire the procedure even when they think there is that risk.
The truth is that the protestors outside use blatant lies to cause confusion and attempt to prevent these patients from seeking care. Robin Marty, Director of Operations for West Alabama Women’s Center said that these procedures are actually safer than getting a root canal. She is frustrated at the misinformation and shame the anti-choice group is perpetuating. When the overturn occurred, Marty immediately had to order her staff to stop all operations as Alabama immediately enforced a total abortion ban. Assistants of any further abortions can be criminalized. Her clinic used to provide about half of the state’s abortions, and now only does reproductive healthcare.
According to Marty, reporters in Alabama recently asked representatives if they will ban emergency contraception during the next legislative session. They said they were unsure of how the emergency contraceptives work, but they plan to make them illegal. The anger that is evoked from the behavior of these uninformed men radiates through the screen. It is a clear indication that their motives to protect even an idea of a child are not inspired by human life, but rather by the control of people who can conceive children.
Cooper spoke with Kristy Kelly, a volunteer clinic escort and defender at the center. In her position, she meets patients at their car and escorts them inside to shield them from the harmful rhetoric and to protect their privacy. She is frustrated with the protestors as they push their religious and political agendas in a place that simply has no place for them. She stated that they insist they have plentiful resources for these patients, if only they don’t go through with the procedure. They promise a baby shower to obtain resources for these unborn children for “up to two years.” The only access they are providing are pamphlets with directions to sign up for food stamps. Promises made pale to the reality that these children need and deserve more than that. Most importantly, these women deserve the constitutional right to bodily autonomy and choice. “It’s never about babies, it’s about control,” Kelly said.
Cooper met with Shannon Bauerle, Executive Director of Charlotte for Choice. This is a nonprofit organization that escorts and defends patients seeking this healthcare. She doesn’t use the term pro-life as that would entail ensuring the care of children after they are born, which isn’t something these protesters are doing. Instead, she calls them “antis.” Inside the van seen at the beginning of the video, Bauerle stated that they are allegedly providing ultrasounds to the patients. Reportedly, it often doesn’t get carried out because the patients are told the fetus is either “too big or too small.” This is an obvious fear tactic used in an attempt to change their minds, and also prevent them from being on time for their appointments.
The host took to the outside of the building to showcase the chaos that ensues. People were praying and pushing their religious agendas while others were defending their right to choose. They are heard saying things like “you’re not pro-life, you’re pro-forced birth,” and “women are not your incubators.” Cooper asked an anti if they think mandatory vasectomies for young men should be in place until they are old enough to commit to the rearing of a child. He replied, “are you suggesting that the government institute that as a government program?”
The fact that these people are so close to logic.
By the end of the video, Cooper relayed important information. As of right now, most abortions are banned in at least 13 states. Many of those states are among an abortion desert, meaning people must travel hundreds of miles and spend a lot of money to obtain healthcare. Fortunately, any person in any state can access an abortion pill through aidaccess.org.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” said William Congreve. We are back 50 years since this devastating news, but the fight is not over. Cooper insisted that these monumental decisions start locally. It’s imperative to be informed about candidates to get out there and vote in the midterm election next month. We must continue the fight for those who came before and those who will be after.