Body & State
Body & State
Podcast Description
Public television and public radio health reporter Sarah Varney has been chronicling the impact on women’s health care since the end of federal abortion rights and documenting what lies ahead for the rights of women and girls. In Body & State, we delve into her reporter’s notebook, hearing conversations with some of the best minds in the country on reproductive healthcare: law professors, historians, and political scientists; abortion rights opponents and supporters; doctors, midwives, doulas, and abortion pill networks. Tune in each episode for expert analysis and insights on the state of reproductive rights in America.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
Focuses on reproductive healthcare, women’s rights, and the implications of legal changes with episodes covering topics like contraception classification, the anti-abortion movement, and expert insights from law professors, historians, and healthcare professionals.

Public television and public radio health reporter Sarah Varney has been chronicling the impact on women’s health care since the end of federal abortion rights and documenting what lies ahead for the rights of women and girls. In Body & State, we delve into her reporter’s notebook, hearing conversations with some of the best minds in the country on reproductive healthcare: law professors, historians, and political scientists; abortion rights opponents and supporters; doctors, midwives, doulas, and abortion pill networks. Tune in each episode for expert analysis and insights on the state of reproductive rights in America.
For decades the Catholic Church has placed restrictions on certain reproductive health services at Catholic-run hospitals. The Ethical and Religious Directives lay out 77 rules for providing health care in the U.S., all based on the church’s theological and moral beliefs. But critics say these rules can run afoul of needed, emergency reproductive healthcare, especially in places where a Catholic-run hospital is the only option.
WATCH ON PBS NEWSHOUR: Religious directives at Catholic hospitals complicate emergency care for pregnant women https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/religious-directives-at-catholic-hospitals-complicate-emergency-care-for-pregnant-women

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