On Second Thought For Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Finding a doctor can be especially difficult in many Georgia counties. For LGBTQ patients, it can be even worse. A first of its kind clinic in Savannah is working to ease that difficulty. As a part of LGBTQ Pride Month, On Second Thought checked in with the Starland Family Practice, a routine family medical office with a focus on LGBTQ patients, celebrating its one-year anniversary.

Brandon Earehart is the clinic’s owner and physician assistant and Dr. Raymond Martins, the clinic's physician, joined us from our studio in Savannah to talk about the unique medical issues facing the LGBTQ community and how clinics work with insurance companies to get patients the medicines they need.

On Second Thought For Wednesday, June 5, 2019

When Jared Yates Sexton's grandma researched their family tree, she discovered a long line of "scofflaws, debtors, drunkards and out-and-out criminals." The working class men he grew up with in Linton, Indiana, could never quite get ahead, especially as industrial jobs dried up. But at home, their power was absolute. Often maintained by violence, intimidation and a rigid masculinity that was toxic to their families, communities and selves.   

Sexton, Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Georgia Southern University, joined us to talk about these men and what inspired him to write The Man They Wanted Me to Be, his memoir of struggling to fit that tradition version of maleness - as well as an examination of research on how those traits measurably harm the mental and emotional health of those men and the public.     

Some A-list Hollywood production companies are threatening to pull out of Georgia if the LIFE Act comes into effect in January. Opponents of abortion rights hope the law will be a test case that makes it to the U.S Supreme Court and overturns Roe v. Wade. At the same time the court ruled on Roe v. Wade, it also ruled on a companion case from Georgia called Doe v. Bolton. This case was another challenge to states' abortion restrictions. Those restrictions in Georgia included only allowing abortions in cases of rape, likely physical or mental defects of the fetus, or if a mother’s life was in danger. Another part of the challenge focused on who could approve an abortion. Atlanta-based Senior Judge Dorothy Beasley represented the state. We asked her for a look back on the case.

In the era of "fake news" and "alternative facts," the focus on language in politics is high. What a bill is or campaign is called can be just as important as the actual contents. With the recent string of "heartbeat" and related bills in several states, we took a look at the role language plays into how we debate issues in public. Dr Fern Johnson, professor emerita in English at Clark University, joined us to talk about the power of connotation and the tools legislators use to shape a the discourse on an issue.