Are we our bodies? Or are our bodies simply something we have, something we can control, alter, suppress, or even redesign to conform to who we believe ourselves to be?

Nearly half a century ago, St. John Paul II began delivering the 129 lectures that would become known as the Theology of the Body. But far from being simply a Catholic teaching about sex and marriage, Theology of the Body offers a sweeping vision of what it means to be human, and it may be more relevant now than ever.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. John Grabowski, Professor of Moral Theology and Ethics at The Catholic University of America, to explore St. John Paul II’s understanding of the human person, the meaning of the body, sexual difference, love, marriage, and self-gift.

What does it mean to say that we don’t merely have bodies, but are embodied persons? Why did God create us male and female? Does the human body have an intrinsic meaning that we receive, or is it something we can redefine? What does sex communicate through the “language of the body”? And what happens when technology gives us increasing power to separate sex, procreation, biological reality, and personal identity?

We discuss:

• What Theology of the Body actually is

• Why St. John Paul II begins with Genesis and “the beginning”

• Original solitude, original unity, and original nakedness

• Why the body reveals the person

•What it means to be a unity of body and soul

• The spousal meaning of the body

• Why human beings are created for communion and self-gift

• Male and female embodiment and sexual difference

• The “language of the body” and how our bodies can communicate truth or falsehood

• The difference between love and use

• Sexual desire, chastity, and authentic freedom

• Why contraception and natural family planning are morally different

• How Theology of the Body helps us think about IVF and reproductive technologies

• What St. John Paul II’s anthropology says about separating sexual identity from the biological body

• The difference between medicine that heals the body and technology that attempts to redesign it

Dr. Grabowski has taught at The Catholic University of America for more than 30 years and has served three terms as a theological advisor to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He and his wife, Claire, were appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the Pontifical Council for the Family, and Pope Francis appointed him as an expert to the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the Family. He has written or coauthored eight books on moral theology, marriage, sexuality, bioethics, and the human person.

St. John Paul II believed the Church needed an understanding of the human person that was “up to the challenge” of the questions of our time.

Was he anticipating the very crisis of what it means to be embodied that we are living through today?

Subscribe for more conversations

If this episode encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share to help more people discover thoughtful conversations about bioethics, human dignity, and human flourishing.

📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page at 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

Our culture prizes autonomy, independence, and self-sufficiency. But what happens when we inevitably need someone else?

From the preborn child who is completely dependent on his or her mother, to the person living with profound disability, to the elderly patient who can no longer care for himself, some of the most vulnerable human beings are also the most dependent.

So if we equate dignity with autonomy, what happens to human dignity when autonomy disappears?

In this episode of Bioethics Babe, Arina Grossu Agnew sits down with Leah Libresco Sargeant, author of The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto, to challenge one of the most powerful assumptions in modern culture: that human flourishing means needing other people as little as possible.

We discuss:

• Leah’s journey from atheism to Catholicism and the search for objective moral truth

• Why Alasdair MacIntyre and virtue ethics challenged her atheist worldview

• Why Leah rejects autonomy as the ideal of human flourishing

• The difference between autonomy, agency, and stewardship

• Why dependence does not diminish human dignity

• What feminism gets wrong when it confuses equality with sameness

• Why pregnancy poses such a profound challenge to the autonomous model of the human person

• Abortion, the dependence of the preborn child, and the real vulnerability of mothers

• Why a truly pro-life society must support women, children, families, and caregivers

• Disability, aging, and what happens when independence becomes a measure of human worth

• The connection between our fear of dependence and the cultural push for assisted suicide and euthanasia

• The real costs of caregiving and who should bear them

• Whether technology is helping us heal the body or tempting us to escape its limits

• Why needing others, and being needed by others, is part of the human condition

• How our dependence on one another ultimately points toward our deeper dependence on God

If dignity depends on being strong, productive, rational, and independent, then all of us are only one illness, accident, disability, or season of life away from losing it.

But what if we have it backwards?

What if dependence isn't the opposite of human flourishing, but part of what it means to be human?

Subscribe for more conversations

If this episode encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share to help more people discover thoughtful conversations about bioethics, human dignity, and human flourishing.

📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page at https://bioethicsbabe.com/our-culture-worships-autonomy-what-if-were-wrong-with-leah-libresco-sargeant-ep-47/.

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

What gives our work dignity? It begins with the dignity of the person who does it.

This Labor Day, as we celebrate the contributions of workers who build, create, serve, care for others, and sustain our communities, we’re reminded of something deeper: our worth is not determined by our productivity, accomplishments, abilities, or even our capacity to work.

Every human person possesses inherent dignity and inestimable worth, from fertilization to natural death.

That conviction is at the heart of Bioethics Babe and the questions we explore each week at the intersection of medicine, science, faith, and culture.

As Bioethics Babe approaches its first anniversary, our conversations have reached listeners in 63 countries and 631 cities. Thank you for being part of this growing mission to defend human dignity and promote authentic human flourishing.

Subscribe to the Bioethics Babe YouTube channel, share our episodes, and help us bring these conversations to even more people.

To support our work, visit BioethicsBabe.com.

A surrogate was hired. Then, at 20 weeks, he was diagnosed with a serious heart defect, and everything changed.

McKenna West, a 28-year-old cardiac nurse and mother of two, says the intended parents asked her to abort their biological son after he was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). Their surrogacy agreement reportedly required termination for a fetal abnormality if the intended parents requested it.

McKenna scheduled the abortion. Then she refused to go through with it.

Instead, she began researching how to save the baby's life, eventually relocating to Texas, where he was born and underwent major heart surgery.

Now comes the extraordinary twist: the same parents who requested his abortion are pursuing treatment to save his life and fighting for their parental rights. His biological mother calls him “the love of our lives,” yet testified that she does not regret requesting his abortion.

How can those two things coexist?

In this episode of Bioethics Babe, Arina Grossu Agnew examines the extraordinary case of McKenna West and Baby Gabriel/Rumi and the profound bioethical questions it raises about commercial surrogacy, abortion, disability, reproductive technology, parental rights, and the commodification of women and children.

Can a surrogacy contract punish a woman for refusing to abort? Does a child's right to life depend on whether he is healthy and wanted? And why should the same heart defect that in their eyes justified ending his life before birth become a reason to marshal surgeons and intensive care to save him after birth?

This case ultimately forces us to confront one fundamental question: What makes a human life worthy of protection?

Subscribe for more conversations

If this episode encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share to help more people discover thoughtful conversations about bioethics, human dignity, and human flourishing.

📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page at https://bioethicsbabe.com/they-wanted-him-aborted-for-a-heart-defect-the-surrogate-fought-to-save-him-the-case-of-mckenna-west-ep-46/.

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

What happens when a mother facing a devastating pregnancy complication is told that continuing her pregnancy could cost her uterus or even her life?

When Julia Wilson-Franks’ water broke just after 19 weeks, her daughter Lucia was still alive. But Julia says that over the next 10 days, numerous OB/GYNs repeatedly pressured her to induce labor or end her pregnancy. One doctor asked her, “Are you willing to leave your son without a mother?”

Sitting beside Julia when she heard those words was her 10-year-old son, Quinn, whom she had also been advised to abort years earlier.

Julia refused.

Ten days after her water broke, Lucia was born naturally at 20 weeks and 6 days. She lived for six minutes in her mother’s arms. Julia understood that Lucia might not survive, but she experienced the 10 additional days of pregnancy very differently from her doctors. While she felt they viewed each passing day primarily as increasing risk, she was grateful for every moment her daughter remained alive inside her.

In this episode of Bioethics Babe, Julia shares what happened behind closed doors during those 10 days and why she believes medical counsel crossed the line into coercion. We discuss informed consent, patient autonomy, medical paternalism, the loss of trust that eventually led her to subsequent home births, and the inherent dignity of human life regardless of prognosis or length of life.

And we confront a provocative question: In a medical culture that champions “choice,” what happens when a mother uses that choice and autonomy to refuse abortion?

Subscribe for more conversations

If this episode encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share to help more people discover thoughtful conversations about bioethics, human dignity, and human flourishing.

📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page at https://bioethicsbabe.com/her-water-broke-at-19-weeks-doctors-said-she-could-die-and-pressured-her-to-abort-she-refused-with-julia-wilson-franks-ep-45/.

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

Can a 13-year-old order abortion pills online without anyone verifying her age, confirming her pregnancy, or speaking with her face-to-face?

Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB/GYN and CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), decided to find out.

She went undercover, posing as a 13-year-old with multiple serious medical risk factors, including severe anemia, an IUD, a history of ectopic pregnancy, multiple prior C-sections, and blood thinner use. According to Francis, despite the red flags, she was able to obtain abortion pills through the mail without an ID check or an in-person medical evaluation.

What arrived four days later raised even more questions about medical oversight, informed consent, follow-up care, and what happens when complications occur.

In this episode of Bioethics Babe, Dr. Francis takes us inside her undercover investigation and explains the medical risks women and girls may face, including hemorrhage, infection, incomplete abortion, and the danger of an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy.

We also examine how easily abortion pills could potentially be obtained by abusers or traffickers, why Dr. Francis believes the current system falls short of genuine telemedicine and informed consent, and what she is calling on the FDA to do as it reviews the safety of mifepristone.

How did we get to a point where powerful abortion drugs can be mailed with so little direct medical oversight, and what does that mean for the women and girls medicine is supposed to protect?

Subscribe for more conversations

If this episode encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share to help more people discover thoughtful conversations about bioethics, human dignity, and human flourishing.

📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page: https://bioethicsbabe.com/can-a-13-year-old-order-abortion-pills-online-an-ob-gyn-went-undercover-with-dr-christina-francis-ep-44/.

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

Has environmentalism become so politicized that Catholics have forgotten what the Church actually teaches?

And here’s the bigger question: Is caring for the environment actually a pro-life issue?

In this episode of Bioethics Babe, I sit down with Clare Ath, co-founder and president of Vita et Terra, to unpack a side of Catholic teaching that is often misunderstood, dismissed, or surrendered to politics.

We explore why Catholics are called to care for creation, what Scripture really means when it gives humanity “dominion” over the earth, and why that does not mean domination. We also examine Laudato Si’, integral ecology, human ecology, and the contributions of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to the Church’s environmental teaching.

But this conversation goes far beyond theology and into practical effects.

What happens when chemicals, plastics, pesticides, and other environmental toxins make their way into our food and water? What could environmental degradation mean for fertility, pregnancy, children, and future generations? And can we protect the natural world without embracing an environmental ideology that treats human beings as the problem?

Clare makes the case that Catholics should reject the false choice between protecting human life and caring for creation. Authentic environmental stewardship begins with human dignity and recognizes that clean water, clean air, healthy communities, and responsible stewardship ultimately serve the human person.

We also tackle consumerism, the technocratic mindset, environmental policy, subsidiarity, and practical ways families can care for creation without falling into partisan politics or nature worship.

Can you be authentically pro-life while ignoring the world future generations will inherit? And have Catholics ceded the environmental conversation for too long?

This is a conversation about reclaiming care for creation from politics and putting the human person back at its center.

Four years after Roe v. Wade was overturned, did Dobbs actually save babies?

Many headlines claim abortions have increased, pro-life laws have failed, maternal deaths have risen, and women are receiving worse medical care. But does the data support those claims?

In this evidence-driven conversation, Dr. Michael New, assistant professor at The Catholic University of America, Senior Associate Scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and one of America's leading researchers on abortion policy, examines what has actually happened since the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision.

We discuss:

• Have pro-life laws saved babies? • Why abortion numbers alone don't tell the whole story • The rise of telehealth chemical abortions and mail-order abortion pills • New research on births in Texas, Florida, and other states • Infant mortality and maternal mortality after Dobbs • Are women receiving worse miscarriage care? • Are OB-GYNs leaving pro-life states? • What migration and public health data really shows • The biggest myths surrounding Dobbs • What the evidence says nearly four years later

Whether you're pro-life, pro-choice, or simply looking for an honest examination of the evidence, this episode goes beyond headlines to explore what the data actually reveals.

When your child is born with a severe brain injury, how do you grieve the future you imagined while fully embracing the child in front of you? Where do you find hope when doctors, therapies, uncertainty, and endless medical decisions become your new normal?

In this powerful episode of Bioethics Babe podcast, Arina Grossu Agnew sits down with Anja Baker—pro-life advocate, wife, mother of four, and disability parent—to share the remarkable story of her son, Hershey, who suffered a severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) brain injury at birth.

Anja opens up about the heartbreak of receiving a devastating diagnosis, the realities of medical parenting, and how her family's faith, community, and supportive school helped them find hope and to "dream again." She also offers encouragement for parents navigating grief, disability, and life-altering diagnoses while challenging our culture's assumptions about human dignity and the value of every life.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What HIE (hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy) is and how it changed Hershey's life
• How parents can grieve while continuing to love and celebrate their child
• Why human dignity is never determined by ability, intelligence, independence, or any other characteristic
• The realities of raising a child with profound disabilities
• How parents become their child's strongest medical advocate
• Why faith, community, respite care, and support systems are essential
• How Harbor Day School gave Anja's family the "space to dream again"
• What hope looks like when circumstances are difficult
• Practical encouragement for families facing life-changing diagnoses

Whether you're a parent, healthcare professional, pro-life advocate, or simply someone seeking a deeper understanding of disability and human dignity, this conversation will challenge, encourage, and inspire you.

Subscribe for more conversations

If this episode encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share to help more people discover thoughtful conversations about bioethics, human dignity, and human flourishing.

📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page at https://bioethicsbabe.com/when-your-baby-is-born-with-a-brain-injury-one-mothers-story-of-hope-with-anja-baker-ep-41/.

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

Artificial intelligence is transforming medicine, health care, education, scientific research, and nearly every aspect of modern life. But as AI becomes more powerful, one question rises above all the others: What does it mean to be human?

In this episode of Bioethics Babe, Arina Grossu Agnew explores Pope Leo XIV's groundbreaking encyclical Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity") and examines how Catholics, and everyone concerned with human dignity, should think about artificial intelligence.

Topics include: • Pope Leo XIV's vision for AI • Christian personalism and human dignity • AI in medicine and health care • Embryo grading, embryo ranking, & designer babies • Quality-of-life medicine & algorithmic bias • Catholic social teaching and AI ethics • How ordinary people can help shape the future of AI

The stakes could not be higher. Technology should always remain the servant of humanity—not its master.

Subscribe for more conversations

If this episode helped you, please like, subscribe, and share it to help more people discover thoughtful conversations on bioethics, medicine, and the inherent dignity of every human person.

📚For Episode Resources, please visit the episode page at https://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