Abortion Rights at a Crossroads

February 25, 2022 -
8:30am to 5:00pm

 Symposium Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Pitt’s Health Law Program

Abstract: Abortion rights are more fragile than they have been in decades. States are passing increasingly strict and creative abortion bans right as the Supreme Court reconsiders the scope and existence of the constitutional right to abortion. At the same time, the nature of abortion care is changing, and the COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed a radical shift in how medication abortion is accessed. Professor Melissa Murray will provide the Mark A. Nordenberg Lecture in Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry as the conference keynote and will be joined by leading national scholars on abortion rights and reproductive justice. 

8:30 – 8:45 ∞ Introductory Remarks

8:45 – 9:15 ∞ How We Got to This Moment
Mary Ziegler
Stearns Weaver Miller Professor, Florida State University College of Law
Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Spring 2022

9:15 – 10:30 ∞ Shifting Law, Shifting Narratives 
Ederlina Co, Associate Professor of Law, Legal Practice, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law
Joanna Grossman, Ellen K. Solender Endowed Chair in Women & The Law, SMU Dedman School of Law
Yvette Lindgren, Associate Professor of Law, UMKC School of Law
Maya Manian, Visiting Professor, American University Washington College of Law

10:45 – noon ∞ Self-Managed Abortion and the Law
Aziza Ahmed, Associate Professor of Law, Northeastern University School of Law
David Cohen, Professor of Law, Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
Rachel Rebouché, Interim Dean & James E. Beasley Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law
Cynthia Soohoo, Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law

Noon – 12:30 ∞ Lunch break

12:30 – 1:45 ∞ The Harmful Effects of Abortion Politics on Other Aspects of Reproductive Justice
Elizabeth Kukura, Assistant Professor of Law, Drexel University, Thomas R. Kline School of Law
Jill Wieber Lens, Robert A. Leflar Professor of Law, University of Arkansas School of Law
Seema Mohapatra, Murray Visiting Professor of Law, SMU Dedman School of Law
Priscilla Ocen, Professor of Law, Loyola (LA) Law School

2:00 – 3:30 ∞ Race-ing Roe: Reproductive Justice, Racial Justice, and the Battle for Roe v. Wade
Mark A. Nordenberg Lecture in Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry
Melissa Murray, Professor, NYU School of Law

Abstract: This talk challenges the recent argument, promoted by Justice Clarence Thomas, that the right to abortion is rooted in, and tainted by, racism and eugenics. It argues that this proposition is historically inaccurate and represents a dangerous attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade and reconceptualize racial injury.

3:45 – 4:15 ∞ Where Do We Go from Here? 
Kim Mutcherson, Co-Dean & Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School

4:15 – 4:30 ∞ Concluding Remarks

Location and Address

Online