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. “‘There’s No Hope,’ Doctors Said: One Family’s Decision After a Trisomy 18 Diagnosis” with Sen. Rick Santorum | Ep. 31

    3H AGO

    “‘There’s No Hope,’ Doctors Said: One Family’s Decision After a Trisomy 18 Diagnosis” with Sen. Rick Santorum | Ep. 31

    What do you do when doctors tell you there’s “no hope”? When former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Rick Santorum and his wife Karen received a Trisomy 18 diagnosis for their daughter Bella, they were told she had a condition “incompatible with life.” They were encouraged to prepare for her death. But Bella lived. Now she’s turning 18 years old, something many doctors never expected she would see. In this deeply personal episode of Bioethics Babe, Sen. Rick Santorum shares the emotional and spiritual journey of raising Bella, the medical and cultural pressures families often face after a prenatal diagnosis, and how one little girl transformed their marriage, family, and understanding of human dignity. This conversation explores not only Trisomy 18, but the deeper questions underneath modern medicine: What makes a life valuable? How should we think about suffering and disability? And what happens when a diagnosis becomes a judgment about whether a life is worth living? We discuss: • Receiving a devastating Trisomy 18 diagnosis • The meaning behind the phrase “incompatible with life” • Losing their son Gabriel before Bella’s birth • How doctors and the medical system responded to Bella’s condition • Hospice pressure and assumptions about “quality of life” • How Bella transformed the Santorum family • Raising a child with profound disabilities • Marriage, suffering, and navigating disagreement as parents • Bella turning 18 with Trisomy 18 • Why Bella became the emotional center of their family • Multi-generational family life and caregiving • The cultural tendency to value productivity over personhood • What families facing a prenatal diagnosis need to hear Bella cannot walk or speak. Yet her life is a profound witness to love, family, and the inherent dignity of every human person. This is a conversation about suffering, hope, disability, family, faith, and what it truly means to be human. Subscribe for more conversations Bioethics Babe is a podcast exploring the toughest questions about human dignity, suffering, and the human person in light of science, faith, and culture. 📚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

    1h 43m
  2. “How Do You Survive Grief After Suicide Loss? A Father’s Story” with Dr. Brick Lantz | Ep. 30

    6D AGO

    “How Do You Survive Grief After Suicide Loss? A Father’s Story” with Dr. Brick Lantz | Ep. 30

    What do you do when the questions never go away? Suicide doesn’t just leave grief in its wake. It leaves silence, confusion, and questions that don’t have clear answers. Could I have done something? Did I miss something? Where was God? In this deeply personal conversation, Dr. Brick Lantz, orthopedic surgeon, bioethicist, and author of Raw Musings: Journaling Following My Son’s Suicide, shares what it was like to lose his son, and what it means to keep living after the unthinkable. This is not a conversation with easy answers. It’s a conversation about grief that doesn’t resolve neatly, faith that wrestles, and the slow, difficult path forward. We discuss: What grief after suicide loss actually feels like in the first days and weeksThe “why” and “what if” questions that never fully go awayWhy suicide loss feels different from other kinds of griefGuilt, second-guessing, and how to process themJournaling, counseling, and the role of community in healingWhere God is in the midst of suffering and silenceWhat to say, and what not to say, to someone grieving suicide lossHow the Church and healthcare can better support those who are sufferingThe difference between physical, relational, and spiritual painWhy you don’t need all the answers to keep living and loving About Dr. Brick Lantz Dr. Brick Lantz is an orthopedic surgeon and bioethicist who serves as Vice President of Advocacy and Bioethics at the Christian Medical and Dental Associations. After more than 30 years in clinical practice, he now works at the intersection of medicine, faith, and ethics. He is the author of Raw Musings: Journaling Following My Son’s Suicide, a deeply personal journal written in the aftermath of losing his son to suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling You don’t have to go through this alone. In the U.S., you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Support is available 24/7. Subscribe for more conversations Bioethics Babe is a podcast exploring the toughest questions about human dignity, suffering, and the human person in light of science, faith, and culture. 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: https://bioethicsbabe.com/how-do-you-survive-grief-after-suicide-loss-a-fathers-story-with-dr-brick-lantz-ep-30/. 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 21m
  3. “Marked Before Birth: The Hidden Pressure After a Prenatal Diagnosis” with Neonatologist Dr. Robin Pierucci | Ep. 29

    APR 28

    “Marked Before Birth: The Hidden Pressure After a Prenatal Diagnosis” with Neonatologist Dr. Robin Pierucci | Ep. 29

    What happens when parents hear the words, “Something may be wrong with your baby”? In this episode of Bioethics Babe, we sit down with board-certified neonatologist and pediatrician Dr. Robin Pierucci to unpack what really happens after a prenatal diagnosis. From life expectancy predictions and medical uncertainty to the emotional shock families experience, this conversation exposes the hidden pressures shaping decisions before a child is even born. Are parents being fully informed or unintentionally influenced? Drawing on decades of experience in the NICU, Dr. Pierucci founded Navigating Fetal Concerns, and reveals how diagnoses are communicated, where bias can enter the conversation, and why a diagnosis is not the same as a prognosis. We also explore the trauma families face, the role of perinatal hospice, and what true support and ethical care should look like in these moments. We discuss: · What really happens after a prenatal diagnosis · The difference between diagnosis and prognosis · How life expectancy is estimated and where it can go wrong · The emotional and psychological impact on parents · How medical framing can shape decision-making · Bias, pressure, and “non-directive” counseling in practice · Common prenatal diagnoses, including Down syndrome and Trisomy 18 · The role of perinatal hospice and palliative care · What true support for families should look like · Why uncertainty and humility matter in medicine This episode raises one of the most important questions in modern medicine: When a diagnosis is given before birth, what do we owe that child and his or her parents? 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page::https://bioethicsbabe.com/marked-before-birth-the-hidden-pressure-after-a-prenatal-diagnosis-with-neonatologist-dr-robin-pierucci-ep-29/ 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 60m
  4. “Did Feminism Fail Women in Birth? Reclaiming the Female Body” with Leah Jacobson | Ep. 28

    APR 22

    “Did Feminism Fail Women in Birth? Reclaiming the Female Body” with Leah Jacobson | Ep. 28

    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 explore 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 a radically different vision. One that reconnects women to their bodies instead of overriding them. We discuss: Why birth can become a life or death moment and what that reveals about risk and trustThe hidden consequences of labor induction and the cascade of interventionsWhy maternal intuition is often ignored in modern medicineThe difference between hospital births and birth centersHow women’s healthcare became fragmented and disconnectedWhat “wholistic feminism” actually meansWhy control may be the wrong goal when it comes to women’s bodiesThis episode challenges the assumption that empowerment means control and asks whether true empowerment begins with understanding and trusting the body instead. If we get this wrong, it doesn’t just affect birth. It affects how we understand women, identity, and the human person itself. Subscribe to Bioethics Babe for conversations at the intersection of science, ethics, and human dignity. 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page:https://bioethicsbabe.com/did-feminism-fail-women-in-birth-reclaiming-the-female-body-with-leah-jacobson-ep-28/. 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 28m
  5. “Does Brain Death Actually Exist? The Case Against Brain Death" with Dr. Paul Byrne | Ep. 27

    APR 15

    “Does Brain Death Actually Exist? The Case Against Brain Death" with Dr. Paul Byrne | Ep. 27

    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 years arguing that what we call brain death may not be death at all. So what is death? And what happens if we have defined it wrong? In this episode, we explore: Does brain death actually exist, or is it a medical construct?Can someone be alive without measurable brain function?What really happens in the body at the moment of death?Is the concept of brain death rooted in science, or something else?Are organs being taken from patients who are still alive?What should families know before consenting to organ donation? This is one of the most controversial debates in bioethics and the stakes could not be higher. Because the answer to this question determines whether that person gets treated or discarded: When is a person truly dead? 🎧 Listen now and decide for yourself. Subscribe to Bioethics Babe for conversations at the intersection of science, ethics, and human dignity. Because truth matters, and human dignity isn’t optional. 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page:. https://bioethicsbabe.com/does-brain-death-actually-exist-the-case-against-brain-death-with-dr-paul-byrne-ep-27/ 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 20m
  6. “If We’re Just Matter, Why Do We Matter? The Crisis of Human Dignity” with Dr. Ashley Fernandes | Ep. 26

    APR 7

    “If We’re Just Matter, Why Do We Matter? The Crisis of Human Dignity” with Dr. Ashley Fernandes | Ep. 26

    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: 👉 Materialism: where the human person is reduced to biology, function, and preference 👉 Personalism: where dignity is intrinsic, unchanging, and grounded in who we are If dignity depends on intelligence, autonomy, or capacity, what happens to pre-born babies, disabled people, elderly people, and those who suffer? And if medicine can do more than ever before, who decides what it should do? This conversation goes beyond politics and policy to the foundation beneath it all: ⚖️ Are human rights real or just a useful fiction? 🧠 Can science explain human dignity or only describe the body? ❤️ What does it mean to treat someone as a person and not a problem? Because if we get the human person wrong, everything else unravels. Topics Covered: Materialism vs. Christian personalismHuman dignity and human rightsIVF, embryo selection, and “designer babies”Assisted suicide and end-of-life ethicsTranshumanism and gene editingThe limits of science in answering moral questions Subscribe to Bioethics Babe for conversations at the intersection of science, ethics, and human dignity. Because truth matters, and human dignity isn’t optional. 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page:. https://bioethicsbabe.com/if-were-just-matter-why-do-we-matter-the-crisis-of-human-dignity-with-dr-ashley-fernandes-ep-26/ 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 56m
  7. “Margaret Sanger: Did Birth Control Rewire Feminism and Spark the Sexual Revolution?” with Dr. Angela Franks | Ep. 25

    MAR 31

    “Margaret Sanger: Did Birth Control Rewire Feminism and Spark the Sexual Revolution?” with Dr. Angela Franks | Ep. 25

    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: How early feminism shifted from supporting women as mothers, to controlling fertilityWhy Sanger saw fertility as the root of social problemsThe overlooked connection between the birth control and the eugenics movementHow contraception reshaped sex, relationships, and commitmentWhy separating sex from procreation didn’t just change behavior, it changed the meaning of sex itselfHow the Pill made the sexual revolution possible and why it brought unintended consequencesThe ethical questions behind early contraceptive trials on vulnerable womenWhether modern feminism has lost something essentialAnd what it would take to reclaim an authentic vision of feminism todayThis isn’t just about history. It’s about the ideas that shaped our culture and whether they delivered the freedom we were promised. Because if fertility becomes something to control, what do we lose in the process? 📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: https://bioethicsbabe.com/margaret-sanger-did-birth-control-rewire-feminism-and-spark-the-sexual-revolution-with-dr-angela-franks-ep-25/ 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 6m
  8. “Do Rape, Incest, and Life of the Mother Justify Abortion? A Bioethicist Responds” with Fr. Tad Pacholczyk | Ep. 24

    MAR 24

    “Do Rape, Incest, and Life of the Mother Justify Abortion? A Bioethicist Responds” with Fr. Tad Pacholczyk | Ep. 24

    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: Why rare cases like rape and incest dominate the abortion debateThe difference between emotional arguments and ethical reasoningWhether abortion heals or compounds traumaThe principle of double effect explained in real medical casesEctopic pregnancy and other “life of the mother” scenariosThe critical distinction between direct vs. indirect abortionWhy bioethics insists there are always two patients: mother and childIf 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: https://bioethicsbabe.com/do-rape-incest-and-life-of-the-mother-justify-abortion-a-bioethicist-responds-with-fr-tad-pacholczyk-ep-24/ 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 2m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

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
    33
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Arina Grossu Agnew
  • Show Website
    Bioethics Babe

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