Mary Faith Marshall, PhD
Emily Davie and Joseph S. Kornfeld Professor of Biomedical Ethics
Director, Center for Health Humanities and Ethics
University of Virginia
Lynn M. Paltrow, JD
Founder of National Advocates for Pregnant Women
Abstract: For decades abortion access has been one of the most polarizing issues in American society. The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has catalyzed the elimination or severe restriction of access to legal abortion care in the United States. In this talk, the speakers will address the consequences of the decision beyond abortion care. The speakers caution that focusing on Roe as a decision that only protects ending a pregnancy ignores the ways in which overturning it will curtail fundamental rights for all those who become pregnant and undermine their status as full persons meriting Constitutional protections. The harms imposed, such as legal surveillance, civil detentions, forced interventions, and criminal prosecution disproportionately affect persons of color and perpetuate structural racism. The speakers will show how evolving misuses of history played a role in abortion jurisprudence, discouraging popular engagement and muddying an already divisive issue.
Sponsored by the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics
Location and Address
Online