Abortion Law and Women’s Reproductive Rights

On Friday, December 3rd, the Human Rights Institute (together with the Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program, the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, and If/When/How) will host a conversation on access to abortion as a human right and on the linkages between restrictive abortion laws and the systemic oppression of women—especially Black and other women of color—in America. This conversation comes on the heels of the Supreme Court oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case about a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Mississippi abortion law is a direct challenge to an individual’s right under Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Professor Jill Morrison, Executive Director of the Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellowship Program and Professor of the Reproductive Justice Seminar, will lead the discussion with key advocates in the Dobbs case and other sexual and reproductive health rights experts. Laurie Bertram Roberts, Co-Founder of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund and Executive Director of the Yellowhammer Fund Hillary Schneller, Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights and co-counsel for Jackson Women’s Health Organization