The OBservations Podcast

Over the years, the FDA has repeatedly removed safeguards around abortion drugs. Its most recent major change removed the requirement to dispense them in person. What evidence did it rely on to decide they were safe for women?  

In part one of this two-part episode of OBservations, Dr. Christina Francis is joined by Dr. Ingrid Skop, a longtime friend of the podcast and the new Director of Research at AAPLOG. Her recent peer-reviewed paper critically analyzes the FDA's 2021 mifepristone REMS modification rationale.  

In this episode, we explore:  

• Dr. Skop's background and her new role, her 25 years in private practice, and her work at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. She also explains how AAPLOG's research rapid response team is pushing back on flawed studies with letters to the editor.  
• A timeline of FDA actions on mifepristone.  
• What ETASU and REMS mean, and why they matter. The FDA says these requirements are needed to catch missed ectopic pregnancies and heavy bleeding, yet remote dispensing bypasses the pre-abortion testing they call for.  
• The FDA's claim of "no increase in complications" is questionable, since complication reporting was no longer required.  

Stay tuned for part 2 next week, as we break down Dr. Skop's newest, groundbreaking research on the issue with the lack of REMS. 

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In honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, we’re revisiting this important throwback episode on how clinicians can better support patients experiencing pregnancy loss. 

Dr. Christina Francis spoke with Dr. Michaelene Friedenberg, president and CEO of the Institute of Reproductive Grief Care, about the language, timing, and presence that can make a difficult moment of care more compassionate. Drawing on lived experience and years of research, Dr. Friedenberg shares what patients may feel after a loss and how healthcare professionals can help them feel seen and supported. 

Resources:  

• Watch part two of Dr. Francis' conversation with Dr. Friedenberg.  
• Learn more about the Institute of Reproductive Grief Care. 

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Marriage, family formation, and pro-life policy are more connected than many people realize.  

Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of AAPLOG, talks with Melanie Israel, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a platinum sponsor of MBEC 2026, about how think tanks turn research into action through legislation, coalition building, and advocacy. They unpack a decade of pro-life policy shifts, the post-Roe landscape, and emerging questions around abortion, conscience rights, religious liberty, and end-of-life issues. 

Listen to and share this episode if you’re curious as to why marriage and healthy relationships matter to family well-being, how policy can support moms, babies, and fathers, and what’s next for health reform and the Restoring American Wellness initiative.  

Thank you to the Heritage Foundation for being a platinum sponsor of MBEC 2026 and for being a partner in pro-life policy.  

Resources:  

• Learn more about the Heritage Foundation.  
• Learn more about the Restoring American Wellness (RAW) initiative by the Heritage Foundation. 
• Register for MBEC 2027 in St. Louis, Missouri.  

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Antenatal steroids have saved countless babies, but the biggest question in obstetrics is no longer whether they work. It’s when, how much, and for whom. And the answers are changing fast. Enjoy this incredible plenary from MBEC 2026 in Seattle, Washington. Previous podcast guest and MBEC 2027 speaker Dr. Hector Chapa breaks down the evolving science behind fetal maturation, from the original 1972 sheep study to the newest guidance reshaping practice today. 

If you care for preterm patients, teach residents, need to understand why long-held assumptions about steroids are being rewritten, or just want to dive into an interesting and fascinating topic in obstetrics, this episode is for you. Dr. Chapa shows why “fetal maturation” is bigger than lung development, why the old 24-to-48-hour rule is outdated, and why the traditional seven-day rescue window may soon be history. 

If you’re a medical professional, student, resident, or midwife, please join us for MBEC 2027 in St. Louis, Missouri, from February 26-28,2027.  

Resources:  

• Learn more about MBEC 2027.  
• Interested in becoming a sponsor or exhibitor? Learn more here.  
• Check out Dr. Chapa’s OBGYN No Spin Podcast. 

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At OBservations, we describe our podcast as an open conversation on women's health. In this episode, we're expanding that conversation to include men's health and the often-overlooked impact that induced abortion can have on fathers. 

Joining us is Sean Corcoran, CEO of Men for Life and a first-time speaker at MBEC 2027, AAPLOG's national medical conference. Men for Life is the world's only consistently pro-life organization dedicated to ensuring men's voices are included in conversations about human rights and abortion. Through his work, Sean seeks to shed light on how abortion affects fathers and why their experiences matter. 

Before leading Men for Life, Sean built a successful career as a family law attorney. In 2022, he retired from law to focus on being fully present as a husband and father while pursuing a new calling. Today, he writes and speaks on fatherhood, addiction and recovery, and the impact of abortion on men. 

Sean's passion for this work is deeply personal. At just 19 years old, he lost a son to abortion, an experience that led to years of addiction, self-destructive behavior, homelessness, and encounters with the criminal justice system. Through recovery and healing, he found renewed purpose and has dedicated his life to helping others navigate similar struggles while advocating for fathers whose voices are often left out of the abortion conversation. 

In this conversation, Sean shares his redemption story, discusses the mission of Men for Life, and explains why acknowledging the experiences of fathers is an important part of understanding the full impact of abortion. 

Resources:

• Learn more about Men for Life.  
• Learn more and register for MBEC 2027 in St. Louis, Missouri.  
• Inquire about Men for Life’s Fatherhood Program.  

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The Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) fight is headed toward a make-or-break ruling, and the evidence coming out of court could reshape how women hear about this lifesaving option nationwide.  

Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at the Thomas More Society, walks through the California attorney general’s case against Heartbeat International and Real Options, including the push for more than $20 million in penalties and a gag order that could stop women from learning abortion pill reversal exists. He explains how the litigation unfolded, why the state tried to frame free life-saving counseling as “false advertising,” and how discovery exposed major weaknesses in the state's claims. 

You’ll hear how the trial tested the credibility of ACOG, what happened when Dr. Mitchell Crenin’s study was scrutinized under oath, and why the data around APR looks very different when the full records are examined. Peter also shares how Heartbeat’s network and Real Options have tracked thousands of cases, including a reported success rate of more than 70 percent at Real Options, and why the women themselves are the ones paying the price when this information is withheld. 

This episode is essential if you care about medical freedom, women’s health, pregnancy center defense, or the future of abortion pill reversal in America. The ruling could land just before the holidays, and the impact may reach far beyond California. 

Resources:  

• Learn more about the Thomas More Society  
• Learn more about Abortion Pill Reversal  
• Learn more about the APR lawsuit in California  

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In this special episode of OBservations, the tables are turned once again as AAPLOG CEO Dr. Christina Francis hands hosting duties over to her friend and pro-life advocate Monica Snyder, Executive Director of Secular Pro-Life.  

Together, they unpack two viral reports – one from ProPublica about the connection between ectopic pregnancies and pro-life laws. This conversation will give you the facts the media often doesn't tell you.  

Why might a physician send a patient home for follow-up instead of treating immediately? What is the difference between methotrexate, abortion drugs, and diagnostic aspiration? And what do current medical guidelines actually recommend when a pregnancy's location cannot yet be determined? 

Whether you're a physician, policymaker, or simply trying to make sense of the headlines, listen to this episode for clear, evidence-based exploration of ectopic pregnancy that is too often misunderstood. 

Resources:  

• Learn more about Secular Pro-Life 
• Secular Pro-Life's Breakdown on Pro-Publica's Ectopic Pregnancy article 
• AAPLOG’s Ectopic Pregnancy Guideline 
• AAPLOG’s Concluding Pregnancy Ethically Guideline 
• Explore Secular Pro-Life's Speakers 
• Study mentioned: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2833030

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Most abortion conversations fail before they truly begin, not because you lack good arguments, but because you're approaching the wrong moment, the wrong person, or the wrong goal. 

In this episode, recorded live at MBEC 2026, Monica Snyder, executive director of Secular Pro-Life, shares how pro-life medical professionals can build genuine influence with pro-choice friends, colleagues, and patients without turning every conversation into a debate. 

Drawing on years of advocacy training and her own experience as a pro-life atheist in deeply secular spaces, Monica explains why physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals carry unique cultural authority in this conversation, and why their voices matter more than many realize. She discusses how pro-life medical professionals can break through echo chambers, support vulnerable patients, and help others realize they are not alone in their views. 

Monica was a featured speaker at MBEC 2026 and will return as a speaker at MBEC 2027 in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Register to attend MBEC 2027, February 26-27, in St. Louis, Missouri and experience more incredible speakers like Monica Snyder.  

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A prenatal diagnosis should never decide whether a child lives or dies.  

This episode brings a unique perspective to the surrogacy case involving McKenna West and Baby Gabriel case, as OB/GYN Dr. Christina Francis and Pediatrician and Executive Director of the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) Dr. Jill Simons discuss the case from a medical perspective. They discuss what it reveals about disability discrimination, commercial surrogacy, and the urgent need to treat pre-born children as patients with dignity. 

When baby Gabriel was diagnosed in the womb with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, the pressure on his surrogate to abort sparked a national conversation about who gets protected in medicine - and who gets treated like a commodity. In this conversation, listen to Drs. Francis and Jill unpack why that diagnosis is not the end of the story, what modern treatment for HLHS actually looks like, and why the right medical response starts with care, not abortion or abandonment. 

Resources:  

• Learn more about ACPeds 
• Read AAPLOG and ACPeds’ statement on the McKenna West case. 

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Pro-life laws are not what put women at risk - misinformation does. Dr. Callum Miller breaks down the medical, legal, and ethical arguments behind abortion policy, and why the most alarming claims about miscarriage care, ectopic pregnancy, and abortion pills collapse under unbiased scrutiny. 

From Malta’s zero maternal deaths in 12 years to the UK medical groups that publicly warned about mail-order abortion pills, Dr. Miller walks viewers through how fear gets weaponized in the abortion debate. If you want to understand what the FDA, the media, and medical institutions get wrong, this episode gives you the facts behind the controversy. 

Dr. Callum Miller is a medical doctor and research fellow at the University of Oxford, where he teaches philosophy and researches abortion policy across medical, ethical, legal, and sociological perspectives. He has published 30+ academic papers and has received prizes from Oxford and the Royal College of Psychiatrists for his bioethics work. 

Essential listening if you care about abortion policy, women’s health, medical ethics, or how to stand firm in a hostile professional climate without being naive about the risks. 

Additionally, hear from one of our MBEC 2026 sponsors, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, and the critical research they do. Dr. Cameron Louttit joins to discuss their work on life sciences, the safety of abortion drugs, and the importance of accurate scientific communication in the pro-life movement. Learn more about MBEC 2027 and possible opportunities for sponsorship, attendance, and student scholarships!  

Resources:  

• Learn more about Dr. Calum Miller.  
• Learn more about MBEC 2027.  

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