Navigating life issues

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 31st of December.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Up first, a year-end recap from the life beat.

This year, WORLD followed dozens of stories related to the sanctity of life. Everything from the ten ballot measures on abortion to a controversial court ruling on in-vitro fertilization.

Joining us now to review some of these top stories and to talk about the year ahead is WORLD’s life beat reporter Leah Savas.

REICHARD: Leah, good morning.

LEAH SAVAS: Good morning. Thanks for having me on.

REICHARD: Well, let's just start with a recap of this year. What would you say is the top development on the lifebeat?

SAVAS: Yeah, so normally, I'm really focused on the abortion issue, but this year, in vitro fertilization came into the headlines and that was because of a state supreme court ruling out of Alabama. A ruling that parents who lose their embryonic children to an accident or other unfortunate event that happened during the IVF process, that they could sue under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act. Now, that didn't mean that, you know, IVF providers could face homicide charges or something, but I think a lot of people thought that's what it meant. So, there was this big national backlash, people coming out in support of IVF, specifically Republicans saying, you know, “I'm all about this. We need to support IVF.” But even though it was misunderstood, it did raise a lot of important questions. So, here's a theologian I interviewed about the case. His name's Matthew Lee Anderson.

MATTHEW LEE ANDERSON: What does it mean to be a human being frozen in ice in a laboratory, right? It's a very strange condition that we've brought these embryos into, I think the burdens of judgment that it places on reproductive doctors is just way too high.

REICHARD: Well, let's segue now into abortion stories. What's top of mind there?

SAVAS: Yeah, so there were two abortion related Supreme Court cases this year, and they were the first cases to come to the Supreme Court on the abortion issue since the Dobbs decision. So, that was pretty big. One of them had to do with abortion pills. The justices were hearing oral arguments in this case that pro-life doctors brought against the Food and Drug Administration, basically critiquing their lax safety requirements on distributing the abortion drug.

That case did not go the way pro-life doctors were hoping. Eventually the justices ruled that those doctors did not have standing. And then the other case was out of Idaho. The federal government had sued Idaho over its protections for unborn babies, basically saying, you know, your lack of a health exception in your pro life law is against federal law. So, they're trying to pressure the state to require doctors to be able to perform abortions, not only to save the woman's life, but also to save her health. And that also did not go favorably for pro-lifers. The justices said that they shouldn't have taken the case up at all.

REICHARD: Yeah, there was so much news on your beat this year. I saw stories on women who had these terrible complications related to laws ostensibly related to laws passed in pro-life states. What can you tell us about those?

SAVAS: Yeah, so, there was a lot of coverage specifically from ProPublica. They were publishing all these articles basically saying, you know, here's a case of a woman who died because of the state's pro-life law. Well, you know, they were trying to blame it on the laws. Why, for instance, a doctor wasn't intervening to remove a dead baby from a mom who was like, infected? You know, stuff like this. But doctors I interviewed—pro-life doctors—in other states, and including in states with similar laws in place, they were saying that this is probably just cases of poor medical judgment. So, here's one doctor I spoke with, Dr. Jonathan Scrafford:

DR. JONATHAN SCRAFFORD: Where are the examples of people who did give appropriate medical care and then were convicted, or their lives were ruined, they went bankrupt, they lost their job because of these things? There has to be some burden of proof at some point about these concerns…

REICHARD: And ProPublica dropped some of those stories really close to the election. Maybe they were hoping to influence voters at that point. Now, earlier we mentioned the 10 states that had abortion measures. Remind us what happened there.

SAVAS: Yeah, so, there were 10 states that voted on abortion related ballot measures. They were all slightly different, but each of them would essentially enshrine abortion into the state constitution. Seven of those passed, including in red states like Missouri, but in three other states, pro-lifers were able to defeat those pro-abortion ballot measures using varying tactics. For instance, in Nebraska, pro-lifers actually backed an alternative amendment that that succeeded, while the pro-abortion amendment failed. And a lot of people see this as kind of a path forward for the movement. A lot of people see this as kind of a path forward for the movement. So, here's a senator from Nebraska, Pete Ricketts:

PETE RICKETTS: I believe that the life begins at conception. What we put in certainly says, “Hey, abortion after the first prime minister is not allowed.” But it doesn't say it's a fundamental right to abortion, so it doesn't open the door to things like funding abortions. I think part of the challenge is we've got a lot of work to do, winning hearts and minds. Our 434 ballot initiative gives us that opportunity to be able to do that.

REICHARD: Alright, well, let's look ahead to the New Year. Leah, what stories will you be watching?

SAVAS: Yeah, there's gonna be a lot going on, for sure, but definitely fall out from these pro-abortion constitutional amendments, what actually happens in the courts and in state legislatures related to that. Looking at the US Supreme Court also recently, we found out that they're taking up another abortion related case, this time having to do with whether pro-life states can remove abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding. So we'll be watching all those things and a lot of other things too.

REICHARD: Yeah, plenty of work to do. And Leah, you welcomed new life into your family this year, didn't you?

SAVAS: Yes, we had our first baby this summer. He came the same week as the anniversary of the Dobbs decision. So I was actually finishing up a Dobbs anniversary piece while I was in labor with him, because I was bored. I promise no one was forcing me to do that…

REICHARD: That is dedication, and we appreciate it. Congratulations for your new son. You have a lot going on there. Thanks for joining us today Leah.

SAVAS: Yeah, thanks for having me, Mary.

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