The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade and found no constitutional basis for a right to choose abortion. Teresa Stanton Collett of the University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota), David French of The Dispatch, Katherine Mayall of the Center for Reproductive Rights, and Mary Ziegler of UC Davis School of Law and author of Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment, join for a conversation exploring the role of the Supreme Court in shaping abortion rights under the Constitution, how U.S. abortion law compares to that of other countries after Roe, and what lessons the United States can learn from how abortion is treated by law in other nations. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.
This program is presented in partnership and generously sponsored by the Center for Constitutional Design at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.
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This episode was produced by Tanaya Tauber, John Guerra, and Melody Rowell. It was engineered by Greg Scheckler. Research was provided by Vishan Chaudhary, Eliot Peck, Colin Thibault, Sam Desai, and Lana Ulrich.
Participants
Teresa Stanton Collett is a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota, where she serves as director of the school's Prolife Center. She has published numerous legal articles and is the co-editor of Recovering Self-Evident Truths: Catholic Perspectives on American Law and the co-author of a law casebook on professional responsibility. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as before legislative committees in several states.
David French is senior editor for The Dispatch, where he also writes the weekly newsletter The French Press and co-hosts the weekly podcast Advisory Opinions. He is a contributing writer for The Atlantic where he is also the author of its newsletter The Third Rail. His most recent book is Divided We Fall: America’s Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation.
Katherine Mayall is the director of Strategic Initiatives in the Global Legal Strategies unit at the Center for Reproductive Rights. For the past decade, she has overseen research on abortion law and policies worldwide, including the Center’s World Abortion Laws Map. She has previously served as director of Capacity Building, senior manager of the Global Legal Program, and Global Advocacy Adviser at the Center.
Mary Ziegler is a professor of law at UC Davis School of Law. She is the author of a series of books exploring the history of American abortion law and politics, including After Roe: The Lost History of the Abortion Debate; Beyond Abortion: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Privacy; and Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present. Her new book is Dollars for Life: The Antiabortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Americans United For Life/YouGov, “AUL/YouGov: American Supermajorities Support Fetal Rights, Majority Supports Personhood Rights”
- Center for Reproductive Rights, "European Abortion Laws: A Comparative Overview"
- Lisa Remez, Katherine Mayall and Susheela Singh, International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, “Global Developments in Laws on Induced Abortion: 2008–2019”
- Center for Reproductive Rights, “Kenya’s Abortion Provisions”
- David French, The Dispatch: The French Press newsletter, "Roe Is Reversed, and the Right Isn’t Ready"
- Mary Ziegler, Abortion and the Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present
- Mary Ziegler, Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment
- Braver Angels
- Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health (2022)
- Kaia Hubbard, US News & World Report, “Where State Abortion Laws Stand Without Roe”
- David French and Mary Ziegler, The Atlantic, "What Comes After Roe?"
- Mary Ziegler, The New York Times, "Roe's Death Will Change American Democracy"
- Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Carrie Hilger, Newsroom: University of St. Thomas, “Law Professor Teresa Collett Files Briefs in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization”
- Dobbs Brief of 240 Women Scholars and Professionals, and Prolife Feminist Organizations in Support of Petitioners
- David French, The Atlantic, “The Pro-Life Movement’s Work is Just Beginning”
- Clarke Forsythe, Americans United for Life, "Why the States Did Not Prosecute Women for Abortion Before Roe v. Wade"
- Paul Benjamin Linton, Regent University Law Review, "Neutralizing State Constitutions as a Source of Abortion Rights: The Path Forward"
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript may not be in its final form, accuracy may vary, and it may be updated or revised in the future.
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