BPR Full Show: 5/15/2019: Alabama Bans Abortion

The Alabama state legislature has passed a near-total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape or incest. We spoke to medical ethicist Arthur Caplan about the slate of anti-abortion legislation across the country, including a law passed recently in Georgia and bills being considered in Ohio and other states. Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center, and co-host of the "Everyday Ethics" podcast.

Then we opened up the lines and asked our listeners: Do you fear for the future of safe, legal abortion in the United States?

Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem examined rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Kayyem is on the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School and a CNN analyst.

We looked back at Massachusetts’s trailblazing case to legalize same-sex marriage 15 years ago. Sue O’Connell examined the decision’s legacies and the cultural changes it created. O'Connell is co-publisher of Bay Windows and the South End News and host of NECN’s "The Take with Sue O’Connell."

Joining us with his picks for the best arts and cultural events around town this week was Jared Bowen, WGBH's executive arts editor and host of "Open Studio."

Taking a long view on Elizabeth Warren's proposal to break up tech giants like Facebook was historian Nancy Koehn, who looked at the history of government intervention in corporations. Koehn is an historian at the Harvard Business School, where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration.

A hands-free driving law is being debated at the State House. We opened up the lines and asked our listeners: do you support it?