This episode was originally published in February 2019. On June 24, 2024, ⁠Roe v. Wade was overturned⁠. A few related links have been updated.

Erika and Garin were 30 weeks into a complicated pregnancy when they learned that their pregnancy was not viable. Erika was denied an abortion due to New York’s 24 week cut-off so the couple travelled to Colorado to terminate her pregnancy. Their experience with New York’s abortion law, and the realization about how others were affected by it, led them to share their story publicly and advocate for reform.

They founded the RHAvote campaign, the grassroots home for the Reproductive Health Act (RHA), a bill that decriminalized abortion in New York and brought the state’s regulation of abortion in line with Roe vs Wade. They worked alongside a statewide coalition, and in January 2019, New York finally passed the RHA after being stalled for almost a decade.

After seeing the power of patient narratives first hand, they began organizing later abortion patients across the country ⁠⁠(PatientForward.org⁠⁠). They are also parents to a 2½-year-old-daughter, Pepper.

Have thoughts or a related story you’d like to share? ⁠⁠Leave us a short voice message here!⁠⁠ We may use your message on a future show.

Related Links and Resources

⁠⁠PatientForward⁠⁠

⁠⁠RHAvote.com⁠⁠

⁠⁠Erika & Garin on Twitter: @RHAVote⁠⁠

Tolentino, Jia. “⁠⁠How Abortion Law in New York Will Change, and How It Won’t.⁠⁠” The New Yorker. January 19, 2019.

⁠⁠The New York Times Editorial Board: A Woman’s Right (Series). ⁠⁠The New York Times. December 28, 2018.

Additional links for 2024

Tolentino, Jia. “⁠⁠⁠We're Not Going Back to the Time Before Roe. We're Going Somewhere Worse⁠.⁠⁠” The New Yorker. June 24, 2022.

Hercher, Laura. "⁠Genetic Counselors Scramble Post-Roe to Provide Routine Pregnancy Services without Being Accused of a Crime⁠." Scientific American. August 23, 2022.

Do you have a story to share related to abortion and genetics? Send. an email to ⁠podcast@greygenetics.com⁠

⁠Check out other Patient Stories podcast episodes.⁠

Read other Patient Stories on the⁠ Grey Genetics Patient Stories Page⁠.

Interested in digging deeper into the professional issues raised in the podcast? Consider joining ⁠the Patient Stories Club⁠!

Do you want to support Patient Stories? You can ⁠make a donation online!⁠

Are you looking for genetic counseling? Patient Stories is sponsored by Grey Genetics, an independent telehealth genetic counseling and consulting company. ⁠Book an appointment⁠ with a genetic counselor specialized in your area of concern. All genetic counseling appointments take place over secure, HIPAA-compliant video-conferencing or by phone.

Looking for a place to collect your family history and share with relatives? Check out ⁠the FamGenix app⁠.

Grey Genetics is no longer active on social media. To receive occasional email updates, ⁠sign up for our mailing list⁠.

Epidermolysis Bullosa: Great Pain and Gigantic Love

Patient Stories with Grey GeneticsBy Grey GeneticsFeb 02, 2021