In this interview, Marlene Gerber Fried, Brown University class of 1972, discusses teaching and reproductive justice activism during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Fried begins by remembering when she first learned about COVID-19. She recalls concerns around travel in early March 2020 as she flew home from visiting her grandchildren, but not being overly concerned. She describes returning to teach “From Choice to Justice: The Politics of the Abortion Debate” to students from Hampshire College, University of Massachusetts, and Mount Holyoke, and notes that each school was sending out different guidance related to the virus and spring break. She talks about her fears of transitioning to online learning and figuring out the new technology. However, she adds that it was not difficult to slightly change the course readings in order to connect it to reproductive rights issues during the pandemic.

Fried goes on to more specifically discuss the quick work of anti-abortion activists who restricted access to abortions claiming it was not an essential service and therefore should not be offered during the pandemic. She explains the necessity of reproductive healthcare as well as emerging Massachusetts legislation that would protect those rights if Roe v. Wade was overturned. Fried adds that the National Network of Abortion Funds continues to work during this time to raise money for individuals who are in need of abortions. She affirms that she continues this activism because “reproductive health, rights, and justice is not really just my individual situation, but it’s about whole communities and whose reproduction is supported and valued in a society.”