Ukraine: The Handoff

In Part 1 of our series, we followed the surreptitious journey of abortion pills into Ukraine in the early months after the Russian invasion.

In this second part, Rough Translation host Gregory Warner and reporter Katz Laszlo land in Lviv, Ukraine, on a fall night during a citywide blackout, to continue following the pills, and find out about the doctors and patients who needed them.

As the pills spread out across Ukraine, their story changes shape, and brings them – along with Radiolab host Molly Webster – into complicated conversations about pregnancy and choice in a time of war.

Additional Context:

• See a Lviv blackout through host Gregory Warner's eyes – he posted photos from his time in Lviv on Twitter.
• To understand Ukraine's president, it helps to know the training ground of his youth: the competitive comedy circuit, in this Rough Translation episode. 
• Listen to "Birthstory," Molly Webster's 2015 story of pregnancy and crisis across borders for Radiolab.
• Find OB-GYN Galina Maistruk's research here. 
• Learn about the organization collecting testimonials from the war in Ukraine here. 

Send us an email at roughtranslation@npr.org.

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