Behind The Lens episode 254: ‘It’s scary, dangerous’

Marta Jewson and La'Shance Perry on their interview with a women about what it's like to be pregnant in Louisiana after the fall of Roe. Delaney Dryfoos on St. James residents' fight against industry.
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This week on Behind The Lens, continuing with our reporting on the aftermath of the Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Marta Jewson and La’Shance Perry talked with a young woman who is pregnant now with her second child on what it’s like to be pregnant in Louisiana today when access to potentially life saving care is restricted. 

And residents of St. James Parish are asking a federal court, again, to bar future heavy-industrial construction in the parish’s Black communities, which are beset by high rates of asthma, cancer and maternal-health risks. The plaintiffs are asking the court to put an end to longtime land-use discrimination that they say is rooted in slavery and its afterlife.

Our guests this week are Lens reporters Delaney Dryfoos, La’Shance Perry, Marta Jewson and managing editor Katy Reckdahl. 

Theme music by Podington Bear. Additional music A Kind of Hope and Beachhead by Podington Bear soundofpicture.com. 

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Carolyne Heldman

Carolyne Heldman has been in media for 35 years, most recently as Executive Director at an NPR member station in Colorado where she was responsible for new multi-platform content initiatives, strategic planning, research, branding, and non-traditional revenue generation. During her tenure she also created and launched four weekly news, public affairs and cultural affairs programs and monthly live Town Hall broadcasts. Heldman moved to New Orleans last summer with her husband and canine companion and they live happily in The Marigny.