#191 Overturning Roe v. Wade with Laura Hercher

Help us to defend our title as the Best Science and Medicine Podcast! Go to podcastawards.com and select “DNA Today” in the Science and Medicine category. Bonus if you tweet/post that you nominated DNA Today (and tag us), then we will share your post and give you a shoutout on the show as a thank you. You have the power to get DNA Today nominated again! On Friday, June 24th, 2022, the US Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationvoting to overturn Roe v. Wade— the 1973 ruling that guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights. In this discussion we will be explaining the abortion laws and how this decision specifically affects genetic counseling with Laura Hercher. Laura is a seasoned genetic counselor and the host of ​​The Beagle Has Landed podcast. She is also on the team at Sarah Lawrence College’s Genetic Counseling program coordinating student research, directing the ethics course and facilitating the weekly current events discussion. In the week leading up to this episode we asked our listeners to submit their questions on our social media channels, be sure to listen to see if your question was answered!On This Episode We Discuss:Trigger laws and when they go into effectThe effect of this decision on pro-choice states (CT, NY, CA, etc)How this ruling disproportionately affects people who can’t afford to travel for abortionsGenetic counseling in a post-Roe world and how this decision affects the fieldThe legal ramifications for genetic counselors discussing patients’ options in abortion banned statesHow the overturning of Roe is going to impact pedigrees Receiving care (medication, D&C, D&E) in states that now have abortion bansHow this affects pregnancies that are non-viable and people with conditions where a pregnancy is life-threatening Recommended resources/organizations for people to donate money or volunteerFollowing this episode, DNA Today made a donation to The National Network of Abortion Funds, which aims to remove barriers to abortion access. We encourage our listeners to do the same here. To stay up to date on the latest developments in the overturning of Roe v Wade and hear Laura’s thoughts on these issues, follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also follow her podcast, The Beagle has Landed, on Twitter and Facebook.Stay tuned for the next new episode of DNA Today on July 8th, 2022 where we’ll be welcoming Atticus Shaffer, who played Brick Heck on the ABC sitcom The Middle, to discuss his experience with Osteogenesis Imperfecta ! New episodes are released on Fridays. In the meantime, you can binge over 190 other episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, streaming on the website, or any other podcast player by searching, “DNA Today”. Episodes since 2021 are also recorded with video which you can watch on our YouTube channel. DNA Today is hosted and produced by Kira Dineen. Our social media lead is Corinne Merlino. Our video lead is Amanda Andreoli. See what else we are up to on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and our website, DNApodcast.com. Questions/inquiries can be sent to [email protected]. PerkinElmer Genomics is a global leader in genetic testing focusing on rare diseases, inherited disorders, newborn screening, and hereditary cancer. Testing services support the full continuum of care from preconception and prenatal to neonatal, pediatric, and adult. Testing options include sequencing for targeted genes, multiple genes, the whole exome or genome, and copy number variations. Using a simple saliva or blood sample, PerkinElmer Genomics answers complex genetic questions that can proactively inform patient care and end the diagnostic odyssey for families. Learn more at PerkinElmerGenomics.com. (SPONSORED)HemoShear Therapeutics is a clinical stage company developing new treatments for patients with rare metabolic disorders. By partnering with fellow biopharma companies, HemoShear is accelerating their drug discovery and developm