Bioethics Babe

Arina Grossu Agnew

On the Bioethics Babe podcast we examine the tough questions and human flourishing in light of science, faith, and culture. Each week we will do a deep-dive into a bioethical issue with a top medical, academic, or policy expert. www.bioethicsbabe.com

  1. “Are Some ‘Brain Dead’ Patients Actually Alive? A Neurologist Examines Brain Death Criteria” with Dr. Christopher DeCock | Ep. 22

    4 DAYS AGO

    “Are Some ‘Brain Dead’ Patients Actually Alive? A Neurologist Examines Brain Death Criteria” with Dr. Christopher DeCock | Ep. 22

    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 cessation of all brain function, as the law requires? Dr. DeCock explains the philosophical and biological meaning of death, the difference between organs and organisms, and why the distinction between irreversible and permanent cessation matters. We also explore controversial cases, the debate over hypothalamic function, the dead donor rule, and what is at stake if the criteria used to determine brain death are incomplete. We discuss: • What death actually is (philosophically and biologically) • Brain death vs. coma vs persistent vegetative state • The difference between organs and organisms • Do brain death tests measure the entire brain? • The debate over hypothalamic function in brain death • Irreversible vs. permanent cessation explained • The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) • Brain death and organ donation ethics • The dead donor rule • Why accurate death determination matters If death marks the boundary between treating a patient and procuring organs for transplantation, the standards used to determine death must be clear, rigorous, and trustworthy. This conversation explores whether modern medicine has truly answered the question: When is a human being truly dead?

    1h 32m
  2. “Is Transhumanism the New Eugenics? The War on Human Equality" with Wesley J. Smith | Ep. 21

    3 MAR

    “Is Transhumanism the New Eugenics? The War on Human Equality" with Wesley J. Smith | Ep. 21

    Is transhumanism the next frontier of progress or a revival of eugenics in a biotech age? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with attorney, award-winning author, and Humanize podcast host Wesley J. Smith to unpack the growing transhumanist movement, the push to engineer a “post-human” future through AI, gene editing, cognitive enhancement, designer babies, and radical life extension. From CRISPR gene editing and Neuralink to the “Singularity” and digital immortality, transhumanism promises to eliminate suffering, enhance intelligence, and even defeat death itself. But at what cost? We explore: Does transhumanism undermine human equality?Are we dividing society into the “enhanced” and the “natural”?Is the pursuit of immortality driven by fear of death?When does enhancement become eugenics?Can AI and biotechnology coexist with human dignity?Is the desire to eliminate suffering leading us toward eliminating the sufferer?As history has shown, whenever human worth is tied to capacity such as intelligence, strength, and productivity, equality collapses. If some humans are “upgradeable,” are others expendable? This conversation dives deep into the philosophical, moral, and political implications of transhumanism and asks whether we are quietly waging a war on human equality in the name of progress. 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: https://bioethicsbabe.com/is-transhumanism-the-new-eugenics-the-war-on-human-equality-with-wesley-j-smith-ep-21/ For more information, the latest episodes, and additional resources, visit www.bioethicsbabe.com. Follow BB on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576554667052 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bioethicsbabe X: https://x.com/bioethicsbabe

    1h 41m
  3. "Designer Babies: When IVF Becomes Human Design" with Dr. Tara Sander Lee | Ep. 20

    25 FEB

    "Designer Babies: When IVF Becomes Human Design" with Dr. Tara Sander Lee | Ep. 20

    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: • When human life begins from a scientific standpoint • How embryo grading determines which embryos are transferred, frozen, or discarded • The difference between single-gene disorder screening and polygenic risk scores • Whether “designer babies” are already a reality • The ethical risks of genetic trait selection • What the Tiffany Score & Steven Mills IVF embryo mix-up revealed about industrialized reproduction • Whether gene editing and CRISPR can ever be ethical 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: https://bioethicsbabe.com/designer-babies-when-ivf-becomes-human-design-with-dr-tara-sander-lee-ep-20/ For more information, the latest episodes, and additional resources, visit www.bioethicsbabe.com. Follow BB on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576554667052 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bioethicsbabe X: https://x.com/bioethicsbabe

    1h 53m
  4. “Has Feminism Betrayed Motherhood?” with Kimberly Cook | Ep. 19

    17 FEB

    “Has Feminism Betrayed Motherhood?” with Kimberly Cook | Ep. 19

    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: How contraception reshaped women’s identity and not just behaviorWhy early women’s rights activism differed from 20th-century feminismMargaret Sanger, Simone de Beauvoir, and the shift toward “biological slavery” languageThe connection between contraception, abortion, no-fault divorce, and today’s gender confusionWhat St. John Paul II meant by the “feminine genius”Why motherhood is not a limitation but a spiritual powerThis 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 declining birth rates, we unpack how ideas shape culture and why redeeming motherhood may be essential to restoring human dignity. 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: https://bioethicsbabe.com/has-feminism-betrayed-motherhood-with-kimberly-cook-feminism-series-part-2-ep-19/ This is the second episode in the Feminism Series. Check out the first episode in the series here: “The Lie of Modern Feminism: What Early Feminists Really Believed” with Erika Bachiochi, Feminism Series Part 1 | Ep. 10 https://bioethicsbabe.com/the-lie-of-modern-feminism-what-early-feminists-really-believed-with-erika-bachiochi-feminism-series-part-1-ep-10/ For more information, the latest episodes, and additional resources, visit www.bioethicsbabe.com. Follow BB on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576554667052 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bioethicsbabe X: https://x.com/bioethicsbabe

    2h 22m
  5. “Is Love All You Need? Truth, Intention, and Moral Action” with Fr. James Brent, OP | Ep. 18

    10 FEB

    “Is Love All You Need? Truth, Intention, and Moral Action” with Fr. James Brent, OP | Ep. 18

    Is love really all you need to make something ethical? In a culture that treats good intentions as the highest moral standard, this episode asks a harder and more important question: Can love be ethical without truth? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I’m joined by Fr. James Dominic Brent, OP, a Dominican priest and philosopher in the Thomistic tradition, to examine why sincerity alone isn’t enough in moral decision-making, especially in medicine, relationships, and family life. Drawing on Catholic moral theology and the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Brent explains: Why good intentions are necessary but never sufficient for moral actionHow love is properly understood as willing the true good of the otherWhy actions shape not only outcomes, but who we become as personsThe moral difference between relieving suffering and eliminating the suffererHow separating love from truth puts the most vulnerable people — children, the sick, the elderly—at greatest riskFrom IVF and euthanasia to sexual ethics, consent, and modern ideas of affirmation, this conversation challenges the assumption that “if it’s done out of love, it can’t be wrong.” Especially fitting around Valentine’s Day, this episode offers a deeper vision of love, one rooted not in emotion or convenience, but in truth, sacrifice, and human dignity. 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: https://bioethicsbabe.com/is-love-all-you-need-truth-intention-and-moral-action-with-fr-james-brent-op-ep-18/ For more information, the latest episodes, and additional resources, visit www.bioethicsbabe.com. Follow BB on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576554667052 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bioethicsbabe X: https://x.com/bioethicsbabe

    1h 32m
  6. “What Happens After Killing Is Legalized: Inside Canada’s Euthanasia Experiment and Beyond” with Alex Schadenberg | Ep. 17

    3 FEB

    “What Happens After Killing Is Legalized: Inside Canada’s Euthanasia Experiment and Beyond” with Alex Schadenberg | Ep. 17

    What happens after killing is legalized? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, to examine what Canada’s euthanasia regime reveals about medicine, consent, and human dignity. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are often framed as compassion about choice, autonomy, and relief from suffering. But as Canada’s MAiD system shows, once killing becomes legal, safeguards collapse, definitions expand, and the most vulnerable people are placed at risk. In this conversation, we discuss: The moral difference between euthanasia, assisted suicide, and end-of-life careWhy killing is always wrong and why every human life has inherent valueHow “quality of life” arguments become tools for discriminationDisturbing Canadian cases involving euthanasia without true consentWhy disability, mental illness, poverty, and isolation increasingly intersect with euthanasiaHow safeguards are used to pass laws then are quietly dismantledWhat the United States can learn from Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and AustraliaWhy the “slippery slope” is no longer theoretical, but measurableThis is a difficult conversation, but a necessary one. If we redefine care as killing, what happens to medicine, trust, and our responsibility to protect one another? 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: For more information, the latest episodes, and additional resources, visit www.bioethicsbabe.com. Follow BB on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576554667052 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bioethicsbabe X: https://x.com/bioethicsbabe

    2h 39m
  7. “Vaccines, Trust, and Informed Consent After COVID” with Dr. Jay Richards | Ep. 16

    28 JAN

    “Vaccines, Trust, and Informed Consent After COVID” with Dr. Jay Richards | Ep. 16

    In a post-COVID world, families are asking harder questions about vaccines and those questions deserve serious, ethical answers. In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I’m joined by Dr. Jay Richards, Vice President of Social and Domestic Policy and the William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow in American Principles and Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation, where he also chairs the Restoring American Wellness initiative. He is also a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute. We explore how families can think clearly and ethically about vaccines after COVID. This conversation covers informed consent, risk-benefit analysis, parental responsibility, the updated CDC childhood immunization schedule, and the growing crisis of trust in public health institutions. This episode is for parents, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and anyone trying to navigate vaccine decisions with both reason and conscience. In this episode, we cover: Vaccines and informed consentRisk, benefit, and proportionality in medicineParental responsibility and human dignityTrust in public health after COVIDThe updated CDC childhood immunization scheduleEthics, religious liberty, and vaccine mandatesShared clinical decision-making vs. one-size-fits-all policy📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: https://bioethicsbabe.com/vaccines-trust-and-informed-consent-after-covid-with-jay-richards-ep-16/. For more information, the latest episodes, and additional resources, visit www.bioethicsbabe.com. Follow BB on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576554667052 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bioethicsbabe X: https://x.com/bioethicsbabe

    1h 47m
  8. “The Human Cost: Abortion Regret and Redemption After My Chemical Abortion” with Toni McFadden | Ep. 15

    20 JAN

    “The Human Cost: Abortion Regret and Redemption After My Chemical Abortion” with Toni McFadden | Ep. 15

    What is the real human cost of abortion—especially chemical abortion? In this powerful and deeply personal conversation, Toni McFadden shares her abortion story with unflinching honesty. As a teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy, Toni had a chemical abortion believing it was the only way out. What followed wasn’t relief—but years of silence, trauma, emotional grief, and spiritual brokenness. Toni recounts what the abortion pill experience was really like, the isolation she felt, the long road of unhealed pain, and how abortion affected not only her—but also the child’s father, her future marriage, and her family. She also shares how a slow, unexpected encounter with faith led to real post-abortion healing, forgiveness, and redemption. This episode confronts the human cost of abortion—beyond slogans and politics—and explores what healing actually looks like after abortion regret. Toni’s story is one of truth, accountability, grace, and the kind of redemption that doesn’t erase the wound, but redeems it. This conversation covers: Chemical abortion and its physical and emotional aftermathAbortion regret and post-abortion traumaThe hidden impact of abortion on women and menWhy abortion doesn’t end the crisis—but often begins a longer oneFaith, forgiveness, and post-abortion healingMarriage, motherhood, and redemption after abortionWhy telling the truth is essential for healingIf you or someone you love has been affected by abortion, this episode offers compassion, honesty, and hope—without minimizing the loss. 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: https://bioethicsbabe.com/human-cost-abortion-regret-and-redemption-after-my-chemical-abortion-with-toni-mcfadden-ep-15/ For more information, the latest episodes, and additional resources, visit www.bioethicsbabe.com. Follow BB on social media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BioethicsBabe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576554667052 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bioethicsbabe X: https://x.com/bioethicsbabe

    1h 38m
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About

On the Bioethics Babe podcast we examine the tough questions and human flourishing in light of science, faith, and culture. Each week we will do a deep-dive into a bioethical issue with a top medical, academic, or policy expert. www.bioethicsbabe.com

Information

  • Creator
    Arina Grossu Agnew
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Arina Grossu Agnew
  • Show Website
    Bioethics Babe

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