Reproductive Justice Policy

Catalog description

With the impactful decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the US Supreme Court in 2022 struck down almost 50 years of federal policy precedent of Roe v. Wade (1973). This opened a time of confusion as states scrambled to determine the meaning and implications of existing and future state and local policies. This course specifically utilizes the term reproductive justice. As Ross & Solinger (2017) describe, the definition of reproductive justice intentionally moves beyond the pro-choice/pro-life perspectives of policies regulating abortion and focuses policy assessment through core principles of 1) the right not to have a child, 2) the right to have a child, 3) the right to parent children in a safe and healthy environment, and 4) sexual autonomy and gender freedom for every human being. This course will first provide historical context of reproductive justice policy in USA history, then focus on local, state, and federal policies regulating reproductive justice. Policies will be particularly analyzed through the lenses of LGBTQ+, race, disability, and critical theory.