PS: If Roe goes away, what do we do?
CR: What would happen, and has already happened, is that women will lose access to abortion. I think we're going to actually have to go back to square one and fight it out state-by-state, and I think women are prepared to do that. But, unfortunately, as you know, what will happen is women with low incomes, women who live in the Southern United States, women who have all kinds of other barriers to healthcare —those are the women who are going to get hit the hardest. If Roe goes away, rich women will still be able to get an abortion. They always have and always will.
Abortion existed before Roe, it was just unsafe and women died. And that is what I believe will happen again. I think sometimes about, "What was my biggest worry of Planned Parenthood in those 12 years?" And it was that women were going to have to start dying again for people to ever pay attention. But I'm encouraged, actually, just seeing the polling on Kavanaugh. [He's] so unpopular, so unpopular among women. I think folks are recognising that this is not a theoretical conversation about Roe. It's real.
PS: Do you think that the tide's turning as far as how serious people take midterms in 2018?
CR: That's what I think we're all eager to see. I've been waiting for this day since the day after the last election. And I think a lot of women in this country have been. But we also know the number one reason people don't vote is no one asks them to. People ask me, "What can I do?" Talk to the people you know, talk to your friends, talk to your girlfriends about why this election matters. You can make a huge difference. And we already have seen that with women [running for office.] When I go around the country, women are very aware that other women are doing things that are extraordinary.
PS: I know everybody always asks you about running for office. But have you figured out a specific role that you want to take on when it comes to the year 2018 or 2020?
CR: [In] 2018, I'm completely focussed on getting more women to vote. Millions of women who vote in presidential years do not vote in the off year for a whole host of reasons, and we don't make it easy for women to vote. But I've been in 12 states talking to women . . . and I think there is a profound interest in and focus on the elections. Women can completely make the difference in November 2018. And then, of course, they can in November 2020, as well.