Lisa Labuz: This week is the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a federal abortion rights last year, and providers and policymakers are navigating this new landscape in reproductive rights. And now Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri has hired a new vice president, Vanessa Wellbery. And Vanessa Wellbery joined WBEZ's Melba Lara to talk about leading policy and advocacy for the group.

Melba Lara: So tell us more about Planned Parenthood and how its navigating this new post-Roe world.

Vanessa Wellbery: I think what is important to say is that this is a new post-Roe world, but Roe was never enough. People have been living in a post-Roe reality for a long time because there has not been meaningful access to care. And so, how we're navigating the new post-Roe world is thinking about what opportunities there are for us to rebuild access in a meaningful way.

Melba Lara: You're working of course, in the St. Louis region and Southwest Missouri. How does your work impact or intersect with Illinois?

Vanessa Wellbery: We actually have healthcare centers in southern Illinois and in the St. Louis region. And so the intersection of care is very real there. We have providers and patients and health care center in both states. And what we've seen since, certainly the Dobbs decision since Roe was overturned, that folks are having to travel across the state lines. There really aren't state silos.

Melba Lara: What's on the top of your agenda in this new job?

Vanessa Wellbery: Well, I think it already was accomplished in some way because as soon as I came on board, Illinois passed a landmark sweeping reproductive freedom bill which has a number of provisions that will expand and protect access to abortions for folks, not just folks in Illinois, but folks that are traveling from Missouri and so many other parts of the country. But we are certainly looking toward, as the Missouri legislative session kicks into gear, um, knowing that in the short term we have a lot of work ahead of us. And so we're thinking really in the long term and how we can reimagine and reframe how our elected officials talk about abortion and um, think about what meaningful access really looks like.

Melba Lara: You know, the fight over access to abortion has gone on for so long and took the new turn with the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court. How do you stay a energized?

Vanessa Wellbery: You know, it's - it can be I think, many people are grappling with, particularly on this anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision... Um, many people are grappling with that as being something to mourn. We certainly feel that. But we also see this as an opportunity to re-envision what meaningful access to care means across the spectrum of reproductive healthcare, including abortion. And so I think looking forward to what we can achieve in the future is what energizes, certainly me, and I think my colleagues and the activists and advocates that we work with.

Melba Lara: I've been speaking with Vanessa Wellbery, the new vice president of policy and advocacy for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri. Vanessa, thanks for talking with us.

Vanessa Wellbery: Thank you so much. It was great to be here.

Melba Lara: This is WBEZ.

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