Your Call

On this edition of Your Call, we'll discuss a recent American Prospect special report about the business of healthcare.

The series examines the "inner workings of monopolies and cartels extracting ever greater sums for ever lousier outcomes, and the policies and protocols pushing doctors and nurses to the brink - and increasingly into labor unions." In the US, the portion of national health expenditures commanded by administrative overhead and waste has grown to an estimated 30 percent, while the portion that pays doctors and nurses has fallen.

We look closer at the continuing bipartisan effort to gut the Veterans Health Administration, the growing influence of private equity, drug price gouging, and the retail-ification of healthcare.

Kelowna, a city of 150,000, has became the latest population center threatened by wildfires scorching parts of Canada. At least 1,000 fires are burning across the country.

Thousands of wildfires survivors have been living in shelters, tents, hotels and cars. Last week’s fires destroyed more than 2,200 structures and devastated the historic town of Lahaina.

On Monday, a grand jury in Georgia indicted Donald Trump and his top associates, including Rudolph Giuliani and Mark Meadows, with a sweeping set of criminal charges.

On this edition of Your Call, we' discuss a TIME Magazine feature about Ashley, a 13 year-old soon to be 7th grader from the Clarksdale, Mississippi, who was forced to deliver a baby after she could not access an abortion under the state's extreme ban on the procedure. Ashley was raped by a stranger in her front yard, and waited months to tell her mother Regina what happened.

Mississippi has the second highest maternal-mortality rate in the country, with 43 deaths per 100,000 live births; Black women are 4 times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications as white women in the state, according to the Mississippi Department of Health.

Abortion is banned or restricted in 17 Republican controlled states. A total of 24 states are expected to ban or heavily restrict access to abortion soon, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Most of these abortion bans include exceptions, but few are granted in practice. A New York Times analysis found that Mississippi has reported no more than two exceptions have been granted.

On this edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss a ruling in Texas that would’ve allowed those facing complicated pregnancies to access life-saving abortion care.

13 women and 2 OB-GYNs testified how the state’s abortion ban caused trauma, forced births, and endangered their health. Samantha Casiano, a 29 year old mom of 4, began vomiting from the witness stand as she testified that the state's abortion ban forced her to give birth to a terminal baby.

The state appealed the judge's decision and blocked it from taking effect.

On this edition of Your Call, we're discussing a major victory for 16 young activists who said the state of Montana violated their right to a healthy environment. Legal scholars say the ruling is a gamechanger for similar climate change lawsuits across the country.

We'll also find out why Project 2025, the Republican plan to dismantle US climate policy, isn't getting more media attention, and why the political press isn’t asking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis about the bleaching and dying coral reefs in the Florida Keys.

Later in the show, we’ll discuss the finalists of this year’s Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards.

On this edition of Your Call, we’ll speak with youth activists about the mental health crisis among children and teenagers in the US.

More than 60% of young people with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment, according to Mental Health America. A report from the surgeon general’s office also warns that social media is a main contributor to depression, anxiety and other mental health issues among teenagers.

What will it take to get young people the help they need?

Last Tuesday, fires fueled by a combination of strong winds from Hurricane Dora and drought conditions tore through Maui, destroying historic town of Lahaina, killing more than 90 people, and displacing thousands.

The recent high-water temperatures off the coast of South Florida has alarmed scientists about the future of coral reefs.