Blue States Rush to Lock In Abortion After Dobbs | Guest: Clare Ath

September 11, 2026

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Episode Summary

Welcome to the Napa Legal Podcast, where we discussreligious liberty from the perspective of faith-based nonprofits.

 

 

In this guest episode, Napa Legal's Senior Counsel FrankDeVito is joined by Clare Anne Ath, co-founder and president of Vita et Terra,a Catholic apostolate launched this year to advocate for care for creation.Join them for a discussion of three recent developments in state abortion law.Together they examine what these laws mean for parental consent, for sidewalkcounselors and pro-life advocates, and for the free speech and free exerciseprotections that faith-based organizations depend on.

 

 

In this episode, we discuss:

 

 

0:00 Introduction

 

0:45 Clare's background and the launch of Vita et Terra

 

2:12 Why care for creation has been ceded to the politicalleft

 

3:03 People as stewards, not problems

 

4:26 Building Catholic formation materials on creation care

 

5:09 Turning to the life issue

 

6:14 Massachusetts signs abortion without limits into law

 

6:33 "An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care"and the language of abortion policy

 

7:29 What third-trimester abortion actually involves

 

8:32 Why blue states are pushing further after Dobbs

 

9:45 Ten states and Washington, DC with no restrictions atall

 

10:31 Abortion pills in the mail and the Comstock Act

 

12:29 A Catholic governor and the question of scandal

 

13:03 Abolitionist and incrementalist approaches to endingabortion

 

16:17 Why the United States has no reliable abortionreporting data

 

17:58 Virginia's ballot amendment this November

 

18:34 How "every individual" would erase parentalconsent

 

20:18 A 17-year-old, a bus to New Jersey, and a call to hermother

 

22:41 Chemical abortion risks and what parents are not told

 

24:55 Abortion inside the Church

 

25:50 New Jersey criminalizes "interference" withabortion

 

26:36 The FACE Act and the prosecution of sidewalkcounselors

 

29:28 Buffer zones, the First Amendment, and the comparisonto the UK

 

33:29 Defunding Planned Parenthood

 

35:10 Conclusion

 

 

Learn more about Clare's work athttps://www.vitaetterra.org/ and follow her on X at @clareanneath

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