Meet Dr. Willie Parker
Dr. Willie Parker considers being a traveling abortion provider in the Deep South his life’s work and true calling.
But you would never have guessed that if you’d known him growing up as a kid in a Black, Protestant community in Alabama. Nobody even said the word “abortion.” And young Willie was so passionate about his faith he even converted to a more fundamentalist Christianity, which he details in his memoir and philosophical book, Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice.
When he became an OB/GYN, he managed to mostly avoid the issue of abortion. Sometimes that was made simpler by the simple fact of not being allowed to offer the service, as when he worked in a clinic serving many undocumented farm workers. (Thanks to the 1976 federal Hyde amendment and California’s Prop 187.)
When he started working in Hawaii, he could excuse himself with his lack of training in abortion care and refer his patients to other providers. But when that hospital eliminated abortion care entirely, citing Bush administration rules, the resistance and activism of a group of residents under his supervision forced a period of soul-searching and moral reckoning.
(An incredible example of change coming from the bottom of the hierarchical order!)
Now Dr. Parker is firm and vocal in his conviction that, in fact, his faith that compels him to provide abortion care.
And provide it he did, across multiple states in the Midwest and Deep South, traveling to clinics that didn’t have any or enough doctors to meet their community’s needs …
Until one of those clinics, the Jackson Women’s Health Center, was shut down by the Supreme Court.
You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart!
Show Notes
Highlights
00:54 Early Career
07:36 The Turning Point: Embracing Abortion Care
14:34 A New Mission in the Deep South
20:30 Dobbs v. Jackson
22:14 Moral and Ethical Reflections
28:45 Continuing the Fight
Links & extras for this episode:
Learn About the Hyde amendment (mentioned around 9:03), which since 1976 has succeeded in its mission to “deprive poor and minority women of the constitutional right to choose abortion,” according to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Read Dr. Chavi Eve Karkowsky’s Slate article about how Dr. Parker’s “moral language” was “revelatory” for her practice
Here’s a longer YouTube video of MLK’s “Good Samaritan” story, excerpted from his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech
Oscar Peterson’s lovely music
Dr. Parker has given several sermons and talks that are worth listening to:
What’s a “nibling”?
Read Dr. Parker’s memoir & moral argument, Life’s Work, or any of the other titles on Extra+Ordinaray’s Bookshop Bookshelf!
Guest
Dr. Willie J. Parker is an OB/GYN specializing in abortions and a reproductive justice advocate and is the former Medical Director of Planned Parenthood Metropolitan Washington, DC.
His book, Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice, was published in 2017.
Find Extra+Ordinary: The Fight for Reproductive Justice Online
- Website: https://shows.acast.com/extraordinary-the-fight-for-reproductive-justice
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Credits
- Host & Producer: Carolyn Silveira. Website: www.carolynsilveira.com, Instagram: @cmoneycmonster Substack: https://rhymeschemes.substack.com
- Producer: Jennifer Bassett, Big Din Productions Website: www.bigdinproductions.com
- Editor: Carolyn Silveira & Jennifer Bassett
- Mixing: Max Liebman - Theme music: Katrina Zemrak
- Cover art: Mauricio Diaz
About Us
Extra+Ordinary is a despair-free podcast about abortion & reproductive justice that looks to the past – to fuel our fight for the future.
Join host Carolyn Silveira, a writer and social justice advocate, for inspiring stories of the people and moments that changed history, giving women (and all people) more control over our bodies and lives. From an evangelical doctor who became an abortion provider to “nice housewives” who risked jail time to help other women, we’ll learn how ordinary people can do extraordinary things.
The doctor preaching the gospel of abortion