Among the first of its kind in the nation, the BU Program on Reproductive Justice (BUPRJ) is a groundbreaking, interdisciplinary program housed in Boston University School of Law and focused on advancing the conversation about reproductive justice. If you are a JD student whose passions lie in this critical area of the law, the BUPRJ will provide you with a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the coursework, research, and experiential education that will prepare you to address the complex issues and challenges before the legal profession in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022).

Co-directors of the Program

Reproductive Justice and Rights Track

The Reproductive Justice and Rights Track is an offering within the Health Law Concentration. This track will prepare law students to address issues of reproductive rights and justice in practice through advocacy and policy work for nonprofit organizations, state legislatures, federal and state agencies, and law firm practice groups. The approval of a concentration advisor is required. Laura Stephens is the faculty advisor for the Health Law concentration, and Aziza Ahmed, Nicole Huberfeld, and Linda C. McClain serve as faculty advisors for the Reproductive Justice concentration. 19 credits required.

Required courses:
Public Health Law (JD 926)
Reproductive Rights Seminar (JD 775)
Gender Equality Law or JD 990 Feminist Jurisprudence (JD 914) (S) (offered alternating years)

Choose remaining credits from the following doctrinal courses and clinics:
Environmental Justice & Civil Rights (JD 722)
Health Care Decisions and Bioethics (JD 727)
Critical Race Theory Colloquium (JD 731) (S)
Disability Law (JD 749) (S)
Gender, Violence, & the Law (JD 798) (S)
Family Law (JD 811) (3 credits) or Family Law (JD 814) (4 credits)
Health Care Finance (JD 867)
Youth and the Law (JD 895) (S)
The Courts and the LGBT+ Movement (JD 911) (S)
Gender Equality Law (JD 914)
Queerness & the Law (JD 917)
Gender, Law and Policy Colloquium (JD 966)
International Human Rights (JD 991) (S)

Experiential courses: (a maximum of 6 credits for any one clinical or experiential course may count toward the required credits)
Compliance Policy Clinic (JD 823)
Health Justice Practicum (JD 893)
Health Law Externship (JD 954)
Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Clinic (JD 975)
Criminal Trial Practice/Criminal Law Clinic (JD 982, 898, 899)
Semester in Practice: Fieldwork (JD 739) (placement subject to approval)
Semester in Practice: Seminar (JD 740)

Other Law Courses to consider, but cannot be used to satisfy this track:
Taxation and Racial Capitalism (JD 692)
Digital Civil Liberties (JD 779)
Crimmigration (JD 837) (S)
First Amendment (JD 839)
Affordable Housing Law (JD 935) (S)
Hospital Law (JD 913)
Housing Law (JD 961) (S)
Juvenile Delinquency (JD 824) (S)
Restorative Justice: Principles and Practices (JD 827)
Practicum: Community Lawyering [new offering for spring 2024]

School of Public Health Courses
Directly relevant:
Reproductive Health Advocacy: From Rights to Justice ( SPH MC 785) (2 credit, also a 4 credit version – MC815)

Related: (4 credits, except where noted)
Reproductive Epidemiology (SPH EP 759)
Gender, Sexuality, Power, and Inequity in Global Health (SPH GH 735)
Health and Human Rights (SPH LW 740)
Beyond Reproductive Health; International Women’s Health (SPH GH 753) (2cr)
Sexual and Reproductive Health in Disaster Settings SPH GH 766)
Global AIDS Epidemic: Social & Economic Determinants, Impact, & Responses (SPH GH 795)
Safer Sex in the City: From Science to Policy (SPH MC 705)
Women and Health Policy: Gender, Evidence, and Politics (SPH MC 840)
Health of LGBT Populations (SPH SB 807)
Health Law, Bioethics & Human Rights (SPH LW 840) (seminar)
Mental Health Law, Policy and Ethics (SPH LW 854)
Other options in Maternal and Child Health

Also of interest:
BU School of Social Work
Reproductive Justice and Social Work (SSW HB 790)
Reproductive Justice Learning Community

More information about non-law credit.

Events

Career in Reproductive Justice Panel
October 18, 2023

The Women’s Bar Association Honors Pioneering Women of Color
June 7, 2023

After Roe and Dobbs: Seeking Reproductive Justice in the Next Fifty Years
January 26, 2023

Affiliated Faculty

Emily Rothman

Professor and Chair, Department of Occupational Therapy

Latest News

Student Testimonials

Kayla Walker (’21)

“Supporting asylum seekers’ efforts to fight for their right to medical autonomy while in BU’s Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic exposed me to the norm of medical neglect and prioritization of profit over basic treatment in immigration detention. Now, as a border attorney for detained asylum seekers, I see daily how the violence of detention and the threat of deportation work together to disempower immigrants from making decisions about their own bodies, and I work with my clients to create a world in which their choice to seek safety is respected.”

Carmen Alvarado-Hernandez

“I was able to win asylum for a client and her young child. This was life changing for her because it afforded her a pathway to citizenship, access to benefits, and hope for her future.”

Deanna Tamborelli (‘20)

“We successfully applied for a T Visa for one of my clients which resulted in her ability to remain in the United States and to work here legally. If she so chose, she could also apply to bring her children to the US to join her. We also put together a webinar and presented at a CLE on Massachusetts’s vacatur law for survivors of trafficking–which has the potential to impact many survivors in the future by giving them an avenue to have victim-related crimes vacated from their criminal records.”

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