This seminar on reproductive rights and justice will explore the legal and ethical issues implicated by decisions about pregnancy and childbirth. We will primarily examine constitutional and statutory law in the United States, although we will occasionally use a comparative perspective to illuminate certain issues. Topics will include the constitutional right to abortion and legislative restrictions on that right, criminalization of certain prenatal decisions and its impact on poor and minority women, issues arising from advances in medically assisted reproduction, and legal issues implicated by reproductive surrogacy. Students will write several short response papers and a longer research paper. In addition, students will lead one substantive class discussion as part of a group, and individually present their research papers to the class in an oral presentation.
Blais, Lynn E.