Bioethics Babe

Did feminism actually leave women more vulnerable in birth? Modern medicine says birth has never been safer. So why are more women walking away feeling traumatized, disempowered, and unheard? After a delivery that almost wasn’t a live birth, Leah Jacobson says the biggest lesson wasn’t about control. It was about surrender. In this episode, we ask a deeper question: Did something break in the system or did something shift in how we understand the female body itself? We explored how modern birth became a managed process, why C-section and induction rates continue to rise, and how a culture built on control may be working against women’s health. Leah, founder of the Guiding Star Project and author of Wholistic Feminism, offers Read More ›

What if we have been getting death wrong? For decades, modern medicine has relied on the concept of brain death, the idea that when the brain irreversibly stops functioning, the person has died. But what if that is not true? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Paul Byrne, neonatologist, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, past president of the Catholic Medical Association, and one of the leading critics of brain death, for a conversation that challenges one of the most fundamental assumptions in modern medicine. Early in his career, Dr. Byrne encountered a patient labeled “consistent with cerebral death.” He continued treatment. That patient went on to live, marry, and have children. Since then, Dr. Byrne has spent over 40 Read More ›

If we’re just matter, why do we matter? Modern bioethics is built on a question most people never stop to ask: What is a human being? Because the answer to that question isn’t abstract, it determines how we treat the most vulnerable people among us. From IVF and embryo selection, to assisted suicide and end-of-life care, to gene editing and transhumanism. We are already making decisions about who counts and who doesn’t. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Ashley Fernandes, a physician, bioethicist, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Associate Director of the Center for Bioethics at the Ohio State University, College of Medicine — to expose the deeper philosophical divide shaping modern medicine: Read More ›

Did birth control give women freedom or did it fundamentally change feminism itself? Before the 1960s sexual revolution, before the Pill became mainstream, Margaret Sanger was already advancing a radical idea: that women could not be free unless their fertility was controlled. She didn’t just promote contraception, she reframed it as essential to freedom, autonomy, and progress. But what if that idea didn’t actually expand freedom…what if it redefined womanhood? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Dr. Angela Franks, theologian, author of Margaret Sanger’s Eugenic Legacy: The Control of Female Fertility, to uncover the deeper story behind the birth control movement. We explore: This isn’t just about history. It’s about the ideas that shaped our culture Read More ›

Do cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is in jeopardy justify abortion? These are the hardest questions in the abortion debate: emotionally charged, deeply tragic, and often used to challenge the pro-life position. But how should we think about these cases from a medical, ethical, and human perspective? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Fr. Tad Pacholczyk, priest, neuroscientist, and Senior Ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, to take on these difficult questions head-on. We explore: If you’ve ever wondered how to think clearly and compassionately about the hardest cases, tune in to this discussion. For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page here. For more information, the latest episodes, and additional Read More ›

In an age of IVF, embryo selection, and a rapidly expanding fertility industry, couples facing infertility are often given a clear message: if you want a child badly enough, technology can make it happen. But what if that’s not the whole story? What if infertility is not just a medical condition to be solved but a profound personal, relational, and even spiritual trial? And what if a life without biological children can still be deeply meaningful and truly fruitful? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Leigh Snead, author of Infertile but Fruitful, fellow with the Catholic Association, and co-host of the nationally syndicated show Conversations with Consequences to explore the deeper questions surrounding infertility in the Read More ›

What is death? It’s the moment a human being ceases to exist. But when is that exactly? We tend to think we know the answer, but what if the question is not that simple, especially when it comes to brain death? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, pediatric neurologist Dr. Christopher DeCock examines one of the most important questions in medicine, law, and bioethics: What if the medical criteria used to declare someone brain dead are not actually proving what we think they are proving? Current brain death determinations are largely based on clinical brain death criteria developed by the American Academy of Neurology, including coma, absence of brainstem reflexes, and apnea testing. But do these tests truly demonstrate the Read More ›

Turnabout is fair play, they say. So on this episode of Humanize, Wesley is the guest, interviewed by the “Bioethics Babe,” the podcast of Center on Human Exceptionalism Fellow Arina Grossu Agnew. Arina and Wesley discuss the nature of transhumanism, its philosophical, moral, and political implications, its role as a substitute for religion, its threat to human equality, and whether Read More ›

IVF was introduced as a way to address infertility, even though it is fraught with ethical problems. But today, it increasingly involves grading embryos, screening genetic traits, and deciding which embryos are chosen. Are we entering an era where reproduction becomes human design? In this episode, Harvard-trained biochemist Tara Sander Lee, Ph.D., explains how modern IVF increasingly involves eugenic practices. We examine: As IVF expands beyond infertility “treatment” and into optimization, urgent questions emerge about human dignity, disability, and the moral limits of reproductive technology. This is a conversation about science, power, and whether medicine is meant to heal people or to redesign them. For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page here. For more information, the latest episodes, and Read More ›

Has modern feminism liberated women or has it quietly turned women against their own motherhood? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Kimberly Cook, author of Motherhood Redeemed: How Radical Feminism Betrayed Maternal Love, to examine one of the most controversial questions of our time: Has feminism betrayed motherhood? Kimberly shares her powerful personal journey from embracing modern feminist ideology to rediscovering the beauty of femininity, fertility, and maternal love through her Christian conversion. Together, we explore: This conversation goes beyond politics. It confronts the deeper spiritual question: What happens when women are taught to see their fertility as a curse rather than a gift? From birth control and abortion to the breakdown of the family and Read More ›