Reproductive Rights in a Post-Roe Landscape

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, the landscape of reproductive rights has changed quickly and dramatically and at all levels in the United States. While many states have completely curtailed the right to an abortion, others have used the opportunity to expand reproductive protections well beyond those previously enshrined in Roe. Attorneys are encouraged to attend this seminar and garner a foothold not only on this changing landscape, but also develop an understanding of the civil and criminal litigation that, in many states, began well before the Supreme Court’s decision in Jackson Women’s Health Organization and that has only increased since.

Attorneys will learn what overturning Roe means on a practical level, and at both the state and federal level, and come to realize that its implications are far beyond whether and where a person can lawfully receive an abortion. Discussions will include an overview of types of litigation occurring throughout the United States, ranging from charging and prosecuting a woman for murder on the basis of her having a stillbirth, to the implications Jackson has for parental rights ranging from prenatal care to the choice to have a home birth.

This intermediate seminar is ideal for attorneys practicing in criminal defense or civil rights.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the nature of the right overturned in Jackson and to be able to articulate the law that replaced that right
• Investigate the range of reproductive rights and penalties as they currently exist in the United States
• Recognize the reach of reproductive litigation, both within civil and criminal law
• Identify current arguments used to replace Roe’s privacy theory of protection
• Explore the potential fallout for other rights grounded in privacy