Crossing the Line: How PMC Documented the Fight for Reproductive Freedom

In the summer of 2022, as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nearly 50 years of constitutional abortion protections, PMC launched Crossing the Line — a 10-episode immersive audio documentary that followed individuals seeking abortions across state lines and the providers, volunteers, and advocates who helped them get there.

The series had been in production for months before the Dobbs decision landed. PMC’s field producers were in clinics, abortion funds, and support networks in Texas, Michigan, and other states, documenting what was already a fractured landscape of access. When Roe fell, the podcast became an early long-form documentary project to capture the immediate human impact.

What the series documented

Each episode placed the listener inside a first-person journey. In the opening episode, an 18-year-old Latina mother traveled from Texas to New Mexico with 19 other abortion seekers — an eight-hour trip each way to access a single pill. Other episodes followed providers navigating the legal confusion of trigger bans, activists building underground networks of care, and women whose wanted pregnancies became medical emergencies in states where the definition of “life-threatening” was suddenly a matter of legal interpretation.

The series also examined the broader systemic picture: the expansion of abortion deserts, the role of medication abortion as an alternative pathway, the targeting of reproductive health providers, and the disproportionate impact on women of color, low-income communities, LGBTQ individuals, and young people.

Crossing The Line Podcast Trailer

The impact campaign

Crossing the Line was built as a storytelling-to-action pipeline. The podcast website, CTLpod.com, connected listeners directly to Abortion Finder (the most comprehensive nationwide database of providers), Plan C Pills (medication abortion access), and the National Network for Abortion Access. Each episode linked to state-specific take-action guides and resources. PMC also developed a Listening and Take Action Party toolkit to help communities organize around the series.

Recognition

The series was nominated for a Webby Award in the Public Service & Activism category and won four Platinum MarCom Awards for Podcast, Podcast Episode, Podcast Series, and Social Ad Campaign. Apple Podcasts featured it in their “New & Noteworthy” section, and Amazon Podcasts awarded it a promotional spot. Forbes covered the launch with a feature exploring the real-world stories behind the series. Multiple episodes ranked in the top 10 percent of podcasts downloaded in their first seven days.

What crossing the line demonstrated

Crossing the Line showed that PMC could apply its core competency — evidence-informed, narrative-driven storytelling that connects audiences to real resources — to a new format and a new moment. The podcast addressed abortion access not through advocacy messaging but through immersive, first-person documentary storytelling that let listeners experience for themselves. It connected those listeners to concrete action. And it earned recognition from the digital media industry for the quality of its craft.

For PMC, Crossing the Line was a response to the escalating attacks on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The series remains available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and all major podcast platforms.