2025 brought what feels like several years' worth of experiences: a new federal political administration, drastic worsening of life for families in the U.S. due to Project 2025, and a deepening struggle for reproductive freedom in Ohio and beyond. Kelley Fox and Rev. Terry Williams look back on the year from both community and organizational perspectives, exploring how the seemingly darkest of times can be fruitful ground for growth, strategic development, and expectant preparation. Kelley and Terry highlight the amazing things that happened at Faith Choice Ohio in the past year including launching our on-demand Faith for Repro Training Center, developing 10 new mini-zine offerings, organizing across regions with various clergy & congregations, and much more!

Links to Discussed Content:

• Presidential pardons for anti-abortion criminals - https://apnews.com/article/abortion-trump-executive-order-pardon-817774b21d32a4edf6d39ee43cbc18f4
• Project 2025 targets repro advocates, transgender rights, and more - https://19thnews.org/2025/12/project-2025-heritage-foundation-progress/
• DOGE undermines AIDS prevention and health policy - https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5263506-former-trump-official-doge-cuts-hiv-aids-epidemic/
• FDA approves Mifepristone generic as safe and effective - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/fda-approves-another-generic-abortion-pill-prompting-conservativ...
• Faith for Repro Training Center - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/trainings
• PRIDE 2025 with Faith Choice Ohio - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/pride
• Faith4Repro Store - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/store
• Minister in Residence, Constance M. Dunlap - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/blog/justice-as-an-invitation-to-transformation
• 2025 Intern, Karina Streeter - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/blog/the-power-of-youth-led-organizing
• FREE Mini-Zines for distribution - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/zines
• Get plugged in with Clergy for Choice - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/clergy-for-choice
• Video Library at Faith Choice Ohio - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/videos

Music by Korbin Jones

Ohio enshrined reproductive freedom in the state constitution in 2023, but sneaky attempts to thwart the will of the people are still very much in play. Kelley Fox and Rev. Terry Williams take aim at some sly laws slipped in to the state budget and shoved through the latest legislative session that seek to burden reproductive healthcare providers, stigmatize abortion seekers, and ultimately force a minority religious viewpoint onto the bodies of every Ohioan. Calling out the dishonesty and religious hypocrisy of crafty anti-abortion zealots, Kelley and Terry help listeners gain perspective, centering this episode on the important truth at the core of this struggle — that people who support abortion-positive policies are in the majority in Ohio and beyond.

Links to discussed content:

• Ohio Monthly Abortion Report - https://odh.ohio.gov/explore-data-and-stats/published-reports/data-and-stats-abortion-reports
• What are TRAP laws? - https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/issues/abortion/types-attacks/trap-laws
• Preaching Personhood: The Politics of Ignoring People In the Present - https://faithchoiceohio.podbean.com/e/preaching-personhood-the-politics-of-ignoring-people-in-the-present/
• SMA in Good Faith Training - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/self-managed-abortion-in-good-faith-training
• Abortions are Holy, a new zine by Faith Choice Ohio! - https://www.faithchoiceohio.org/zines/p/abortions-are-holy-mini-zine
• Ohio lawmakers move to restrict mifepristone - https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/18/ohio-gop-lawmakers-move-to-ban-telehealth-mail-order-abortion-pills/
• Student required to view “Live Action” propaganda video in Ohio - https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/19/ohio-house-passes-bill-requiring-public-schools-show-baby-olivia-video-to-students-in-grades-5-12/
• Experts say new anti-abortion laws in Ohio are about misinformation - https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/12/ohio-bill-requiring-legal-statement-prior-to-abortion-treatment-could-sew-mistrust-experts-say/

Music by Korbin Jones

Sharing her experience as a Catholic woman living in southern Ohio, special guest Sister Shannon joins Rev. Terry Williams for a discussion about bodies, belovedness, and boldly claiming a living faith. As a faithful Roman Catholic believer who has experienced dating, single motherhood, and now marriage, Sister Shannon reflects on the meaningfulness of being a pro-choice person of faith who trusts other people to make choices about their own bodies while expecting the same trust from them in return. Lifting up her lifegiving encounters with our partner organization Catholics for Choice, Sister Shannon discusses her journey with finding solidarity and wholeness among the majority of Roman Catholics who support reproductive freedom (no matter what the church's hierarchy has to say!) Links to discussed content:

• Sister Shannon on Instagram: instagram.com/sister.shannon
• Catholics for Choice: catholicsforchoice.org
• Roman Catholic Women Priests: https://romancatholicwomenpriests.org/
• Background information about the Womenpriests Movement: https://progressive.org/latest/the-movement-to-excommunicate-misogyny-from-the-catholic-church-20250709/
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/106490/the-autobiography-of-malcolm-x-by-malcolm-x-as-told-to-alex-haley/
• About Father Richard Rohr: https://cac.org/about/cac-faculty/cac-founder-richard-rohr/
• Catholics for Choice resource "The Advocate's Bible": catholicsforchoice.org/advocatesbible

Music by Korbin Jones

Kelley Fox and Rev. Terry Williams tear into federal government shutdown specifics about how slashing SNAP — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — is a direct assault on reproductive health, rights, and justice. Detailing the connection between food security and reproductive justice, Kelley and Rev. Terry name the shameful irony of the anti-abortion movement aligning with interests that simultaneously seek to stop feeding children & that see ending hunger as a personal problem rather than a societal responsibility.

Listen in to hear how you can join Faith Choice Ohio and our friends at Motherful to support single moms in Ohio throughout this government shutdown and beyond, including a matching donation opportunity that can double your financial gift to Motherful and do twice as much good!

Links to discussed content:

• SNAP to be funded at 50% and delayed: www.npr.org/2025/11/03/nx-s1-5596121/snap-food-benefits-trump-government-shutdown
• USDA hides contingency plan for funding SNAP: www.notus.org/trump-white-house/usda-contingency-plan-snap-nutrition-funding-document-website
• Why the shutdown has put food stamps at risk: www.cnn.com/2025/10/28/politics/snap-benefits-food-stamps-explainer
• Food Insecurity among the Overall Population in Ohio: https://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2023/overall/ohio
• (Episode 128) Preaching Personhood: The Politics of Ignoring People in the Present: https://faithchoiceohio.podbean.com/e/preaching-personhood-the-politics-of-ignoring-people-in-the-present/
• Fundraiser for Motherful: www.faithchoiceohio.org/blog/provide-food-aid-to-single-mothers

Music by Korbin Jones

• Ohio Lawmakers reintroduce Fetal Personal Bill: https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/10/08/ohio-republican-lawmakers-look-to-regulate-abortion-push-against-constitutional-amendment/
• Ohio GOP anti-abortion politics resurface at Statehouse after a few years in retreat: https://signalohio.org/ohio-gop-anti-abortion-politics-resurface-at-statehouse/
• House Bill 370: www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/136/hb370/documents
• HB 370 Text: https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/api/v2/general_assembly_136/legislation/hb370/00_IN/pdf/
• When Fetuses Gain Personhood: Understanding the Impact on IVF, Contraception, Medical Treatment, Criminal Law, Child Support, and Beyond: www.pregnancyjusticeus.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/fetal-personhood-with-appendix-UPDATED-1.pdf
• Ohio's Largest Bribery Scheme: www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/22/ohio-house-speaker-arrested-republican/
• How 'fetal personhood' in Alabama's IVF ruling evolved from fringe to mainstream: www.npr.org/2024/03/14/1238102768/fetal-personhood-alabama-ivf
• Killing the Black Body, by Dorothy Roberts: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/155575/killing-the-black-body-by-dorothy-roberts/
• Personhood Measures Issue Brief: www.acog.org/advocacy/abortion-is-essential/trending-issues/issue-brief-personhood-measures
• Kipling, the 'White Man's Burden,' and U.S. Imperialism: https://monthlyreview.org/articles/kipling-the-white-mans-burden-and-u-s-imperialism/

Music by Korbin Jones

In this episode, Kelley Fox and Rev. Terry Williams talk about Mifepristone, Tylenol, the politicization of healthcare, and how you can get reliable information direct from providers who are most familiar with the care they provide. Addressing Christian anti-intellectualism and the continued love affair between the anti-abortion lobby and misinformation, Kelley and Rev. Terry help listeners understand the importance of accessing reliable health information in order to exercise full reproductive freedom. (BOTTOM LINE: Abortion medications like Mifepristone are safe and effective; no matter what the government has to say!)

Links to discussed content:

• “Self-Managed Abortion in Good Faith” Training: www.faithchoiceohio.org/self-managed-abortion-in-good-faith-training
• Tylenol is safe to use during pregnancy: www.acog.org/news/news-releases/2025/09/acog-affirms-safety-benefits-acetaminophen-pregnancy
• FDA Approves New Generic Version of the Abortion Pill Mifepristone: www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/fda-approves-new-generic-version-of-abortion-pill/ar-AA1NLaaJ?ocid=BingNewsVerp
• Mifiprex (the brand name for Mifepristone): www.earlyoptionpill.com
• ICE raids on local communities tracked: www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/raids
• Current litigation surrounding anti-LGBTQ policies of the federal government: www.lgbtqbar.org/programs/trump-executive-order-tracker
• Christian anti-intellectualism and its connection to conspiracy thinking: www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-wasting-of-the-evangelical-mind
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: www.acog.org

Music by Korbin Jones

In this two-part episode, Kelley Fox interviews Erin Duffy-Burke & Kathleen Joan, co-creators of the Resurrecting the Goddess Summit ahead of their 3rd annual online gathering. Listen in as they discuss the complexity of faith, finding the Divine Feminine in our present moment, and the importance of making space for expansive conversation and communities of growth. The 2025 Resurrecting the Goddess Summit is absolutely FREE and will be live on September 29th to October 3rd, featuring Kelley Fox in an online session!

Links to discussed content:

• [Episode 135] Resurrecting the Goddess: Liberating Christianity with the Divine Feminine (PART 1): https://faithchoiceohio.podbean.com/e/resurrecting-the-goddess-liberating-christianity-with-the-divine-feminine-part-1/
• Resurrecting the Goddess Summit (Live Sept 29th - October 3rd): www.resurrectingthegoddess.com/?ref=56130-Faith-Choice-Ohio&track_al=KS1bd4uoZp6bxfuUA73Kn8av
• Brigid’s Flame: www.brigidsflame.org
• Interweave Ministries: www.interweaveministries.com
• Sophia as Wisdom in Christianity: https://braidedway.org/rediscovering-sophia-the-goddess-in-christianity/
• Emergent Strategy: https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/emergent-strategy/
• Running the Numbers: How Much Does an Abortion Really Cost? https://faithchoiceohio.podbean.com/e/running-the-numbers-how-much-does-an-abortion-really-cost/
• The Second Vatican Council: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_20140610_sensus-fidei_en.html

Music by Korbin Jones

In this two-part episode, Kelley Fox interviews Erin Duffy-Burke & Kathleen Joan, co-creators of the Resurrecting the Goddess Summit ahead of their 3rd annual online gathering. Listen in as they discuss the complexity of faith, finding the Divine Feminine in our present moment, and the importance of making space for expansive conversation and communities of growth. The 2025 Resurrecting the Goddess Summit is absolutely FREE and will be live on September 29th to October 3rd, featuring Kelley Fox in an online session!

Links to discussed content:

• Resurrecting the Goddess Summit (Live Sept 29th - October 3rd): www.resurrectingthegoddess.com/?ref=56130-Faith-Choice-Ohio&track_al=KS1bd4uoZp6bxfuUA73Kn8av
• Brigid’s Flame: www.brigidsflame.org
• Interweave Ministries: www.interweaveministries.com
• Sophia as Wisdom in Christianity: www.braidedway.org/rediscovering-sophia-the-goddess-in-christianity/

Music by Korbin Jones