Advancing Pregnant Persons’ Right to Life Symposium
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Boston University School of Law
Thursday, February 8th 2024
Barristers Hall
9:00am–2:30pm
In the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, attention has turned to how a constitutional right to life recognizes and values the life and health of pregnant persons. This symposium will gather leading scholars to explore the jurisprudence of the “right to life” and pathways for developing robust constitutional protection of pregnant persons’ life and health, and more broadly, for all people of reproductive age. By comparison with jurisprudence on the rights to liberty and property in the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution and state constitutional counterparts, the US jurisprudence on the right to “life” is underdeveloped. This stands in contrast to international human rights law, which has articulated a fundamental “right to life” that encompasses rights to life, health, dignity, and autonomy.
Post-Dobbs litigation in state courts over restrictive abortion laws has highlighted state constitutions as a source of protecting the right to life of pregnant persons. Several state courts have invoked the inherent or fundamental right to life of pregnant persons to conclude that abortion bans are partially or wholly unconstitutional.
The symposium will examine these and other contexts in which scholars and advocates are focusing on developing a right to life for people of reproductive age. These include international human rights and reproductive justice principles that inform a constitutional right to life, as well as other related issues where the right to life is at issue, such as environmental justice.
This symposium is hosted by the Boston University Program on Reproductive Justice and co-organized with Northeastern University’s Center for Health Policy and Law and the Center for Reproductive Rights. Boston University Law Review Online will publish the symposium papers.
The final panel will be available via live stream, please register to receive the zoom link.
Symposium Relevant Reading Materials
Amicus Brief on the Texas state constitution and the “right to life” of pregnant persons
Boston University School of Law strives to be accessible, inclusive and diverse in our facilities, programming and academic offerings. Your experience in this event is important to us. If you have a disability (including but not limited to learning or attention, mental health, concussion, vision, mobility, hearing, physical or other health related), require communication access services for the deaf or hard of hearing, or believe that you require a reasonable accommodation for another reason, please contact lawevent@bu.edu to discuss your needs. Please note, that the office of Disability Services typically requires 10 business days notice for services.
Agenda
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8:15am–8:45am
Breakfast
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9:00am–9:15am
Welcome Remarks
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9:15am–9:45am
Panel 1: The Right to Life as a Constitutional and Human Right
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This panel will provide a brief overview of the role of arguments about pregnant persons’ right to life in litigation pre-and post-Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and introduce the right to life as a human rights principle.
Martha Davis, Northeastern University School of Law
Diana Kasdan, Director for Judicial Strategy in US Programs, Center for Reproductive Rights -
9:45am–11:00am
Panel 2: History, Human Rights, and the State Interest in Life
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This panel will have a historical focus, including considerations related to the Thirteenth Amendment, race and Reconstruction, and human rights.
Linda C. McClain, BU Law; Co-Director BUPRJ, Moderator
Michele Goodwin, Georgetown Law
Commentator: Serena Mayeri, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law SchoolCynthia Soohoo, CUNY School of Law
Commentator: Erin Daly, Widener University – Delaware Law School
Commentator: Lynn M. Morgan, Mount HolyokeRebecca Zietlow, University of Toledo College of Law
Commentator: Brandon Hasbrouck, Washington & Lee School of Law -
11:00am–11:15am
Break
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11:15am–12:30pm
Panel 3: Constitutional Principles, State and Federal
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This panel will examine state constitutional principles and litigation as a point of comparison and development in the post-Dobbs environment. Panelists will also discuss federal constitutional claims, such as First Amendment religious liberty arguments.
Nicole Huberfeld, BU Law & BU School of Public Health; Co-Director BUPRJ, Moderator
David Carrillo (with Allison Macbeth), UC Berkeley School of Law
Commentator: Richard Levy, University of Kansas School of LawRichard Levy
Commentator: David CarrilloCaroline Mala Corbin, University of Miami School of Law
Commentator: David Schraub, Lewis & Clark Law School
Commentator: Cathy Kaveny, Boston College Law SchoolKatherine Franke, Columbia Law School
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12:30pm–12:55pm
Lunch
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1:00pm–2:30pm
Roundtable: Current and Future Dimensions of the Constitutional Right to Life as Part of Reproductive Autonomy
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This roundtable will be a moderated conversation about a range of topics related to developing the jurisprudence of the right to life, including implications for achieving reproductive justice, advocating in state courts and legislatures, and environmental justice dimensions of the right to life.
Aziza Ahmed, BU Law; Co-Director BUPRJ, Moderator
Jessie Hill, Case Western University School of Law
Commentator: Katie Kraschel, Northeastern University School of LawSerena Mayeri, Penn Law
Mary Ziegler, UC Davis School of Law
Melissa Murray, NYU School of Law
Michele Goodwin, Georgetown Law
Cristie Traina, Fordham University Dept. of Theology
Erin Daly, Widener University - Delaware Law School
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