♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. tonight on "pbs news weekend"... after roe -- my conversation with a woman caught up in the restrictive texas abortion law after suffering a miscarriage. marlena: i don't understand how this is happening. and it makes me sad to see many stories of other women who are going through being denied care too. i just feel that it's not right. geoff: then... long covid -- more than two years into the pandemic, we lo at the much-needed support for the 31 million americans still suffering after contracting e virus. and... butterfly effect -- the monarch butterfly joins the growing list of species facing extinction. all that and the day's headlines on tonight's "pbs news weekend." ♪

>> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- ♪ and friends of "the newshour." ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: good evening. it's good to be with you. we start tonight in kentucky, as catastrophic flash floods across the eastern part of the state and wider appalachia have killed at least 25 people. four of the dead are children, tragically all from a single family, according to kentucky governor andy beshear. heavy rains eased today, allowing floodwaters to recede, but there is more rain in the forecast tomorrow, adding urgency to the ongoing rescue efforts. entire neighborhoods remain underwater. and officials say hundreds of homes and businesses have been lost. governor beshear says he expects the death toll to continue to rise, and that the search for victims could take weeks. president biden has returned to strict isolation after testing positive for covid again, the white house physician said in a letter today. the president is not experiencing any symptoms.

it's said to be a rebound case for the president, who tested negative every day since tuesday and held public events this past week. the white house doctor notes that rebound cases occur in a small percentage of patients treated with the antiviral drug, paxlovid. meantime, in iraq today, thousands of protesters stormed parliament for the second time this week. demonstrators used ropes and chains to pull down cement barricades before staging a sit-in and refusing to move. outside, iraqi security forces fired tear gas to try to disperse the crowd the protesters are followers of the influential shiite cleric muqtada al-sadr, who vowed to cause unrest if parliament tried to approve a government that wasn't, in his view, free of foreign influence and corruption. the protests have blocked efforts to nominate a new prime minister, and future sessions of parliament have been suspended until further notice. pope francis says that physical

ailments during his week-long trip to canada are leading him to contemplate an early retirement. the pope, who is 85, has knee problems and has difficulty walking unassisted. francis spoke to reporters aboard the papal plane on the transatlantic flight back to rome. pope francis: i don't think i can continue doing trips with the same rhythm as before. i think that at my age and with this limitation i have to save myself a bit in order to be able to serve the church, or decide to step aside. this, with all honesty, it's not strange. it's not a catastrophe. you can change the pope. geoff: before his trip to canada, the pope canceled a trip to africa slated for july. new york governor kathy hochul declared an emergency in the state over the spread of monkpox, to increase officials' ability to respond to the virus and distribute more vaccines. over 1300 cases have been confirmed in new york -- that's one in four cases in the country.

california is the second highest state, with nearly 800 cases. on thursday, theity of san francisco also declared a state of emergency. and... someone in illinois woke up a billionaire this morning after a single ticket won the mega millions lottery jackpot. after 29 consecutive drawings since april with no matching numbers, the jackpot topped $1.3 billion. the one and only winning ticket was purchased in a chicago suburb. after taxes, taking the money all at once in cash is worth over $780 million. the odds of winning were 1 in 303 million. you have a better shot of being struck by lightning. still to come on "pbs news weekend"... what help is needed for the millions living with long covid. and what can be done to save the now-endangered monarch butterfly. ♪ >> this is "pbs news weekend" from weta studios in washington% home of the "pbs newshour," weeknights on pbs.

geoff: when my next guest, marlena stell, suffered a miscarriage late last year, she says she begged her doctor for help but instead was forced to live for at least two weeks with fetal remains inside her because of strict anti-abortion laws. she says she was devastated to learn that because the procedure she needed is also used during abortions -- which a texas law restricted -- her doctor refused to pform it. her story is an excruciating reality that could become more common after the overturning of roe v. wade. marlena stell joins us now. i appreciate your willingness to share your story. marlena: thanks for your time. i appreciate the chance to speak. geoff: you and your husband have a two year old. as i understand it, you were thrilled to learn of your pregnancy. at seven weeks you got an ultrasound, showed that everything with your baby was normal. and then tell us what happened. marlena: i found out -- i had my

first ultrasound early september and everything looked great. i was about seven and a half weeks. couple of weeks later, i asked for another ultrasound because i am a high risk mom. i'm a bit older at 42 now, and i came in a couple of weeks later and the baby was not viable. it was not a viable pregnancy. and i was devastated because this is obviously a by that my husband had been trying for. we want a sibling for my daughter. and as soon as i found out the newsi asked for a d and c because i had a miscarriage in the past. before i had my daughter, i wasn't able to expel d so i had a d and c back then and it went well and i was able to have my daughter after that. so i fured it would be the same this time. having a d and c i thought wouldn't be a problem because it was very obvious from the ultrasound that the pregnancy was no longer -- there was no longer a fetus or baby in there. so the doctor had told me no. and before she could even give me any interveion at all, i had to go to get another

ultrasound at another place. and so that's what i did as i called around and got an ultrasound somewhere else and came back to the doctor. was still told no. eventually was given the pill as an option, and i personally felt unsafe dng that because i knew my past history of not being able to expel. i didn't want to be at home alone. i felt safer being in a hospital. that was the best option for me personally with my past experiences. geoff: and the doctor who told you no, did she say explicitly that it was because of the texas abortion law? marlena: she had said when i first asked for a d and c that she could not do anything for me because of the heartbeat bill until i went and got proof or extra ultrasound somewhere else and then came back to her with that second ultrasound results. geoff: the process of having to go from doctor to doctor and getting multiple ultrasounds, what was that like for you? marlena: i was trying to call

around multiple places to see who could get me in the fastest, because once i knew that i miscarried, i knew that i didn't want to be walking around. i wanted to get this taken care of medically so i was able to heal and move on and try again. i had to call multiple places myself. after several calls, i finally got in three days later, and then that took a couple of days to get the results back to my doctor before she could get back to me, so it was multiple days of just trying to go get another ultrasound, wait for them to send it to my doctor, wait for her to see them and then get back to me. geoff: you have said that over that time, that doctors and anti-abortion protesters who you encountered as you were going to some of ese clinics, that they made you feel like you did something wrong. tell me more about that. marlena: so i eventually, because i was denied a d and c, ended up going to an abortion clinic downtown, i was absolutely desperate this point. we didn't know if we should fly to another state or try somewhere else. so i called a clinic, got in, and as i was dropped off, my husband wasn't allowed to come

in with me. i had to be escorted in by a host at the clinic. and as i was going in, there was people protesting outside telling me i was a baby killer. they had signs telling me i didn't have to do this. so for someone like me who wanted that baby, that's devastating to hear when they don't know what you're going through or why you're there. geoff: marlena, i'm so sorry. i'm sorry you had to deal with that. how are you now? how how are you and your husband? how is your family? how are you all holding up? marlena: we're doing okay. we've had to make a decision on whether to try again. we've had hard conversations of whether to stay in texas or move out to be able to try again. while we live here, we just made the decision that we don't feel safe -- for my safety -- of trying again here, just because of our experience. and we're just worried that something may happen if i don't care -- get care time.

we have to consideme being here for my two year old daughter that i do have. geoff: why are you sharing your story? i mean, i think you could be forgiven if this was something that you kept to yourself an didn't share with the american public, why do you feel compelled to let people know what you experienced? marlena: i think when it first happened, i was just so shocked. i couldn't believe that i was having such a difficult time getting care that in the past i had no problem. so i want to share that story because i honestly, i want to know if there's other women going through that. and if so, i wanted them to know that they weren't alone. and i wanted to bring attention to this so that people know that people like me who want children are getting affected. it's not just a certain group of women. it's all women who are pregnant. i just wanted more awareness for it, honestly. geoff: how has this experience changed you? marlena: i'm a bit more skeptical now and obviously emotional. still trying to heal from all of that. i just -- i'm in shock. honestly, i don't know what else

to say other than i don't understand how this is happening. and it makes me sad to see many stories of other womho are going through being denied care too. i just feel that it's not right. geoff: marlena stell, i appreciate your willingness to join us and my best to you and your family. marlena: thank you so much. i appreciate it. ♪ geoff: an estimated 16 million americans are suffering from long covid, according to the census bureau. the condition develops after someone contracts covid, tests negative, but continues to have symptoms, which can range from mild to debilitating. i recently talked to dr. monica verduzco-gutierrez, a professor from university of texas health san antonio, and karyn bishof, the founder of the covid-19 longhauler advocacy project about what is being done to treat this illness and support those who are suffering. karyn, i want to start with you,

because you contracted covid back in march 2020, working as a paramedic in south florida. when did you first realize that you had long covid symptoms? karyn: after getting covid in march 2020, i for about five weeks felt like i was getting better, but i wasn't getting better as quickly as everybody else. in symptoms that i had that had went away were coming back, symptoms that i never had before started. and these were symptoms that you never heard of, right? we only heard about fevers and shortness of breath and having a cough. these were symptoms that weren't in the mainstream media that many long haulers are struggling with because our providers didn't believe us that these were related to covid. so that five, six, seven, eight week mark, you hear notoriously from long haulers about being the start of their long covid. geoff: yeah. how are you feeling now? are you still struggling with long covid symptoms?

karyn: the number of long covid symptoms that i still deal with are way too numerous to even mention. i still deal with over 80 two and a half years in. aging syndrome and cfs, fibromyalgia. i've been diagnosed with also chronic migraine and new daily persistent headaches, eosinophilic esophagitis and many, many other debilitating conditions. when you have these alone, it's debilitating. imagine having long covid and all of these conditions combined, which are referred to as long covid and associated conditions. geoff: and dr. gutierrez, what about that? where does the current research stand and what are the public healthonsequences of long haul covid? dr. gutierrez: research is coming out every day, but it's still not fast enough. really right now in regards to long covid, we're still trying to figure out, you know, who are the people that are getting it, what is the presentation? what is the official definition? there is still so much that we

have to learn, and it's unfortunate that there are people who a suffering on a daily basis and we still don't have the answers. and we did really well on doing really quick research when it came to getting vaccines and getting these acute treatments to keep people from dying, which is wonderful. but now we need to put that same energy, focus, financial backing into getting treatments for long covid. geoff: karyn, and you touched on this earlier, but i just want to draw you out on this. how difficult has it been to get assistance from the government, especially because now i imagine you test negative for covid, even though you still have the symptoms of it. karyn: yeah. i mean, i think a lot of people hear long covid and they assume that somebody is still positive. long term consequences of your covid-19 infection, whether or not your case was mild, means

that you are seeking medical care from providers who are not receiving mandated education on long covid and associated conditions. that means you're facing medical providers who have wait times of six months, 12 months, 18 months. and when we're talking about the lack of social safety nets, which is one of the largest, if not the largest barriers that the long covid community faces, we're talking about long haulers who cannot even access waivers or forms that they need to get into many of these social support programs like social security, disability, where long covid is not an accepted or recognized condition, per se. but also to get workplace accommodations, to get into programs that require work requirements, sometimes like food assistance or temporary cash assistance. geoff: dr. gutierrez, when karen talks about the long covid community, who is that? what groups are most affected by long haul covid? dr. gutierrez: now wenow that long covid can happen to anyone.

the majority of people who develop long covid had mild covid. the other numbers that 're seeing is that it's going to be a population of people who are in their forties and fifties and also disproportionately affect women as well. we are also seeing in the household pulse survey that recently came out and what is on the cdc website talks also about populations who are marginalized, inclusive of persons who arhispanic, black, who of course, we know have also been disproportionately affected by getting covid, also have more long covid as well. so it really doesn't matter the background of the person as far as, you know, were they healthy, were they not healthy, their age. there is going to be a risk of getting long covid. geoff: is there a specific diagnostic test yet to determine whether or not someone has long covid? dr. gutierrez: no, we don't have that. we don't even have a good standard definition because what the cdc says, the nih, the world

health organization, even those definitions are a little bit fferent when you compare across. geoff: and then beyond all that, karyn, what more should be done to help give people suering from long covid the help that they need? karyn: i think, again, the biggest help that we need is national education and awareness campaigns. more than half of the country is still never even heard the term long covid, let alone understand what that encompasses. and i think that the response that our community has right now is we have no hope. and we see the messaging of everyone's going to get covered -- get covid at some point. but there's no messaging of if you are that one in five who get long covid or if you are that 41% that we found in our community that has filed for or is about to file for social security disability, and you don't have a plan and you don't have a backup and you don't have a support system in your family or anyone else who can helpou,

and there are no social safety nets there are no government , programs that can help you, what do you do? we're seeing people ration medications. we're seeing people forego medical care, which is leading to even worse medical conditions or potentially even death down the road. and that's a failed public health policy that we can easily address, but we're refusing to do. geoff: i thank you both for your time and your insights on this important topic. ♪ last week, the monarch butterfly was officially designated as endaered by the international union for conservation of nature. my colleague ali rogin has more on the significance of the move and what's behind the decli. ali: the iconic monarch butterfly can be found across almost all of north america, but today it faces threats from habitat destruction to climate change. part of why these butterflies

are vulnerable is they migrate thousands of miles annually to california and central mexico for the winter. when the weather warms up in the spring, they reproduce and make the journey north. along the way, they cluster in colonies to stay warm, and lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed plants. over the last several decades, scientists estimate that the population has dropped between 20% and 90%. for more owhat it means for our ecosystem, i am joined by scott hoffman black, the executive director of the xerces society, a nonprofit that focuses on invertebrate conservation. thank you so much for joining us. why is the monarch butterfly population declining so much? scott: it is declining because of us. unfortunately, the way we grow our food, the way we build our homes and have our yards doesn't leave much room for animals like the monarcthat are fly. -- butterfly. habitat loss because of

industrial agriculture and lots of lawns, lots of pesticide use, we use a lot of pesticides both in our food and to keep our roses and lawns perfect. and you overlay that was climate change, which is one of the factors. ali: we mentioned the international designation. what does that mean for monarch butterflies, and how is it different than a designation by the u.s. fish and wildlife service? scott: this is an international designation by a really well-established international group, the international union for conservation of nature. this new report or analysis doesn't have any policy ramifications in the united states, but what it does do is put a spotlight on this animal and how imperiled it really is and the actions we should start to take to recover it. ali: experts will note the monarch population does

fluctuate year to year. is what you are seeing now outside of that kind of standard deviation? scott: certainly. the vast majority of scientists that have looked at the data, it is compelling data that shows that the monarch has been on a decline since the 1980's, certainly since the 1990's. in the west, we've seen in over 95% decline in monarchs in california. in the east, between 70% and 80% decline depending on how you look at it. the verdict is in, this butterfly is declining. ali: most of us are familiar with monarchs, we know their beautiful patterns. in some cultures they carry important spiritual implications. why does it matter that the

populations are declining for the ecosystem? scott: it matters for a widespread insect like this. insects like monarchs are food for so many animals come up birds and other animals. when we used to have hundreds of millions of monarchs and maybe into the tens of millions, when you lose 100 million animals that used to be food for other animals, that is going to be significant. but the monarch is also significant because as you mentioned, so many people know it. it is really an umbrella species. because people really love it, they are willing to take action to protect it, and by protecting it, they are protecting bees and other butterflies as well. this iconic species can help well beyond itself. ali: are there other species you would say fall under the category of hoping the monarch tterfly will ring attention to them? scott: yes, the monarch

butterfly is kind of our charismatic species. those of us that wor on insects, people don't always see the small bees or more diminutive butterflies. what we do for monarchs, which is protecting and storing habitat and managing pesticide use so we are not poisoning areas, really helps this broad suite of animals that live in the same habitats. it is neat, we can recover this butterfly and help many other species at the same time. ali: you mentioned some things individuals can do, eliminate pesticides. tell us more about what we can do as a society and individuals to help monarch butterflies. scott: we need action at all levels. we need policymakers to have good, strong climate change legislation like we might be seeing coming on, because

climate change is a driver. on an invidual level, whether you are a gardener, a farmer, manager park or even a national wildlife preserve, you can make sure we've got milkweed in the landscape, native milkweed is the best. as you mentioned, is the only host plant for monarchs. but also flowers. butterflies migrate long distances and need lots of fuel. ali: we could help save the population. scott, thank you so much for your time. scott: thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: that's our show for toght. i'm geoff bennett. for all of us at "pbs news weekend," thanks for spending part of your saturday with us. >> major funding for "pbs news weekend" has been provided by --

♪ and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

narrator: it is the most storied place in america-- california. ♪ still, its most amazing story has yet to be told-- a wealth of wildlife that has adapted to every possible habitat. [bird chirps] narrator: human ingenuity made a golden gate. [thunder] human need transformed wild spaces. but nature granted planet california its true gold... [seagulls squawking] the most biodiversity in all the americas... all bound together