Amy: Welcome to Breaking Down Patriarchy! I’m Amy McPhie Allebest. Today we will be talking about the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe vs. Wade. This is such a complicated and delicate topic, and there is so much to discuss, we decided to break up the conversation into two parts. So today will be Part 1 and next time we will resume with Part 2.  In preparation, my reading partner read a bit about the case, and then we read the actual case, which we found online on Google Scholar. Neither of us had ever read the original text before, and we both found it to be so much more readable and accessible than we expected - we felt like we could feel the judges wrestling with every angle of the issue, taking it very seriously and so wanting to do the right thing. It was really worth reading, and I’m very excited to discuss it. But before we dig into this essential text and talk about its implications for women, I’d like to introduce my reading partner, Lindsay McPhie Hickok. Hi, Lindsay! Lindsay: Hi, Amy! Amy:   Lindsay is my sister, actually the third sister to be a guest on the podcast, so I feel like I should introduce the McPhies! There are five kids in our family - I’m the oldest, then Lindsay, who is here today, then comes our only brother, Scott, and his wife Rachel whom we consider to be a sister too, then comes Courtney, who did the episodes on the Seneca Falls Convention speeches and Margaret Sanger’s “The Morality of Birth Control,” and then Whitney is the youngest, and Whitney did the episode right before this one, on Title IX. We are all extremely close and the best of friends, and I adore and admire them all for different reasons. Scott frequently makes me laugh so hard that I cry, Rachel seems to have all the craziest things happen to her and she is the absolute best storyteller, also often making us laugh so hard we cry, Courtney is a trailblazer in our family by being the first of the siblings to get a master’s degree, and I admire Whitney for her incredible resilience. And Lindsay, one thing I love about you is the passion with which you care for women and babies in your job as a labor and delivery nurse. I wish every laboring woman had a coach and defender and nurturer as fiercely loving and empowering as you are. 

So Linz, could you tell us about who you are, where you're from, and what kinds of life experiences and points of view you bring to today’s conversation?

Lindsay: Sure! As Amy said, I am the second child in our family. We grew up in Colorado, and I live in Utah now, with my husband and three children. I like to hike and bike and garden and basically do anything outdoors.  I graduated from BYU with a nursing degree, and besides a short stint in same day surgery, I have spent my whole career in labor and delivery. Many of my most intense life experiences come from either the delivery room, or from my faith.  I was raised in a very devout Christian home. My parents raised me in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that faith has played a huge part in who I am and in how I view the world.  I was taught from the time I was born that God cared about the choices that I made, and that all life was sacred and beautiful. Not only was I raised to believe that life was holy, but I get to see the magic of life every time I go to work. I am a labor and delivery nurse, and for thirteen years I have walked with women as they have labored and birthed their little babies. I love seeing the strength of women. I have seen incredible heroines in the delivery room, and it takes my breath away every single time. In addition to my Mormon roots, I also have Scottish roots and that feels very much a part of who I am. One of my core values is freedom of choice - think William Wallace yelling “freedom!” or, if that is too distant a past, imagine Mormon pioneers walking barefoot across icy plains, suffering sickness and grief, all to have a place where they could worship God...