Penn Bioethics Seminar Series: Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow

Policing the Womb: The Politicization of Reproduction
 

The Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow:
Michele Bratcher Goodwin
Chancellor’s Professor of Law
Founding Director, Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy
University of California at Irvine School of Law 

This event is free, open to the public, and hybrid (via Zoom).
***Registration via Zoom is required for BOTH in-person and virtual attendance.***

Abstract: The uncertainty about reproductive liberties and rights makes it especially important to provide a strong constitutional foundation and the best possible constitutional defense for their protection.  That is because abortion rights in the United States are in serious jeopardy.  Despite the fact that a legal abortion is medically safer than carrying a pregnancy to term in the United States, that right may soon be more illusory than real.  If Roe v. Wade is overturned, lessons from the era preceding that landmark decision underscore the broad harms women will encounter, particularly because 49% of pregnancies in the United States are unintended.  In traditionally conservative states, the rates of unintended pregnancies are even higher: 54% in Texas, 55% in Alabama and Arkansas, 60% in Louisiana, and 62% in Mississippi, among others.  Yet these states also have some of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the developing world: Texas is described as ranking worst in the developing world on maternal mortality.  This talk addresses these issues. 

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SAVE THE DATES! March 2022 Event Schedule
Events are free, open to the public, and some are hybrid.
Registration via Zoom is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

• Wed, March 16, 2022—Lecture and Reception
  5:00-7:30p ET, Class of 78 Pavilion, 6th Floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library
  Host by the Department of Africana Studies, Center for Africana Studies, and Penn Program on Race, Science, and Society
  Stay tuned for more details.
   
• Thu, March 17, 2022—Revisiting Reproductive Justice Through A Vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
  4:00-6:00pm ET, Rainey Auditorium, Penn Museum (3260 South St)
  Hosted by the Office of the Provost
  Stay tuned for more details.
   
• Wed, March 30, 2022—Health Law and Anti-Racism: Reckoning and Response
  12:30-5:30pm ET, World Forum at the Perry World House (3803 Locust Walk)
  Hybrid option available
  Register: https://medicalethicshealthpolicy.med.upenn.edu/events/health-law-and-anti-racism-symposium
  
  In-person and virtual attendees will be eligible for:
  — Free ASLME membership
  — Up to 4.0 Ethics CLE credits
  
  This program has been approved for 4.0 Ethics CLE credits for Pennsylvania lawyers. CLE credit may be available in other jurisdictions as well. Attendees seeking CLE credit should make a payment via the online registration link in the amount of $160.00 ($80.00 public interest/non-profit attorneys). In order to receive the appropriate amount of credit, passwords provided throughout the program must be noted in your evaluation form.
  
  Penn Law Alumni receive CLE credits free through The W.P. Carey Foundation’s generous commitment to Lifelong Learning.
  
  See here for more info on how to claim credits.

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Dr. Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and founding director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy at the University of California at Irvine School of Law, is a pioneer of health law whose visit will be hosted by the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy in the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Goodwin led the first ABA-accredited health law program in the United States, established the first law center focused on race and bioethics, and is the author of Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood (2020), Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts (2006), and more than 100 articles, essays, and book chapters across both scholarly publications and popular media. 

Please contact Mary.Pham@pennmedicine.upenn.edu with any questions.