{"id":98085,"date":"2023-01-26T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=98085"},"modified":"2024-01-08T15:27:09","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T20:27:09","slug":"bu-law-program-on-reproductive-justice","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2023\/bu-law-program-on-reproductive-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"BU Law to Launch Program on Reproductive Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-emphasis-on-text has-media has-media-focus-center-top\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"A large group of reproductive rights protestors approach the US Capitol building\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-636x477.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1101x826.jpg 1101w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-909x682.jpg 909w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1376x1032.jpg 1376w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1761x1321.jpg 1761w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-459x344.jpg 459w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-705x529.jpg 705w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-917x688.jpg 917w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1411x1058.jpg 1411w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1819x1364.jpg 1819w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1333x1000.jpg 1333w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/01\/reproductive-justice-protest-gayatri-malhotra-unsplash-1600x1200.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Photo by Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">BU Law News<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBU Law to Launch Program on Reproductive Justice\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Available in fall 2023, the program will foster student interest and facilitate career opportunities in reproductive justice and adjacent fields.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">January 26, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/lauren-eckenroth\/\">Lauren Eckenroth<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph record-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-dropcap-outlined has-dropcap has-dropcap-color-quaternary\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>When Jacqueline Tosto <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2019\/jacqueline-tosto-practicing-reproductive-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\">accepted an&nbsp;If\/When\/How Reproductive Justice Fellowship<\/a>&nbsp;at Atlanta\u2019s&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sisterlove.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">SisterLove Inc.<\/a> after her graduation in 2019, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp had just signed an&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/05\/07\/us\/heartbeat-bill-georgia.html\" target=\"_blank\">abortion bill<\/a> banning the procedure six weeks into a pregnancy. At the time, it was one of the most restrictive bills in the country. Other states\u2014including Alabama and Ohio\u2014were pursuing similar efforts, pushing reproductive justice to the forefront of national discourse, but <em>Roe<\/em> was still very much intact.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI knew that I was privileged coming to law school in the first place so I wanted to do what I could,\u201d she says. She had taken a reproductive justice class and \u201cbecame obsessed.\u201d The If\/When\/How fellowship program, which focused on providing access and resources for women with HIV, was a \u201cperfect interplay\u201d of Tosto\u2019s interests and the skills she had gained through various opportunities at BU Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The landscape of abortion access has changed significantly since Tosto\u2019s graduation, but through a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/academics\/find-degrees-and-programs\/jd-program\/bu-program-on-reproductive-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BU Program on Reproductive Justice<\/a> (BUPRJ) offered by BU Law in partnership with schools and centers across the University, even more students will have sustained access to educational and career opportunities in this critical field. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/aziza-ahmed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Aziza Ahmed<\/a>, BU Law professor and R. Gordon Butler Scholar in International Law, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/linda-c-mcclain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Linda C. McClain<\/a>, BU Law Robert Kent Professor, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/nicole-huberfeld\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nicole Huberfeld<\/a>, BU Law professor and Edward R. Utley Professor of Health Law at the BU School of Public Health, led the effort to establish the program, which will be available to students starting in fall 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/21pdf\/19-1392_6j37.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/a><\/em> (2022) returned the regulation of abortion to state control, a patchwork of new bills have emerged across the country seeking to restrict access to abortion services and limit access to services in other states. The lack of clarity in the language and enforcement of such laws has led some medical providers to delay or deny treatment of common pregnancy-related conditions, such as ectopic pregnancies and incomplete miscarriages, out of fear that they may be charged with facilitating an abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote record-block-bu-pullquote alignwide is-style-modern has-image-focus-center-middle has-quaternary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">This crisis requires a sustained, multidisciplinary focus on reproductive justice and health. The Program on Reproductive Justice will create a home to work on these issues across BU, in the community, and beyond.<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Professor Linda McClain, codirector of the Program on Reproductive Justice<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>Dobbs <\/em>created a complex crisis for people who are or could become pregnant, as well as the providers who care for them,\u201d says Linda McClain. \u201cThis crisis requires a sustained, multidisciplinary focus on reproductive justice and health. The Program on Reproductive Justice will create a home to work on these issues across BU, in the community, and beyond.\u201d Those issues extend beyond abortion to include control over the timing of pregnancy; healthy pregnancies, births, and newborns; fertility; cancer and other medical treatment that include abortion within the standard of care; and medications that have become inaccessible due to clinicians\u2019 fear that the individual could be pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The BUPRJ will take advantage of faculty expertise at the law school, the School of Public Health, and other schools and centers across the University to offer students a broad range of courses in reproductive justice and related fields\u2014including constitutional law, access to justice, health law, family law, immigration law, and race and law\u2014as well as expanded experiential and research opportunities. The program will foster student interest in reproductive justice and facilitate career opportunities through networking and mentoring events with BU Law alumni and other practitioners in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBU has deep multidisciplinary strength that offers a foundation for linkages on questions of reproductive rights and justice across the campus, and BU School of Law is uniquely situated to become the home for a new program that fosters concrete efforts to advance reproductive justice,\u201d Aziza Ahmed says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The program was announced at an event, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/engagements\/after-roe-and-dobbs-seeking-reproductive-justice-in-the-next-fifty-years\/\" target=\"_blank\">After <em>Roe<\/em> and <em>Dobbs<\/em>: Seeking Reproductive Justice in the Next Fifty Years<\/a>, cosponsored by BU Law and the BU School of Public Health (SPH). BU Law alumni Margaret Daley (\u201987), vice president at Charles River Associates, and Deborah Barnard (\u201987), professional growth and development partner at Holland &amp; Knight, have made the first-ever gift to the Reproductive Justice Program Fund, which will support the development of the program, including student internships and externships, curriculum development, workshops, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"wp-block-button wp-block-bu-button record-block-button has-quaternary-theme icon-navigateright align-icon-left is-style-outline\" href=\"https:\/\/trusted.bu.edu\/s\/1759\/2-bu\/giving\/interior.aspx?sid=1759&amp;gid=2&amp;pgid=420&amp;cid=1057&amp;appealcode=WEBLAW\">Support the bu program on reproductive justice<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStudents at BU Law and SPH have shown strong interest in reproductive health, rights, and justice,\u201d Nicole Huberfeld says. \u201cAlumni also have done significant work in reproductive justice and adjacent areas. BUPRJ would help to nourish student interest through creating a reproductive justice concentration, deepening available course work, expanding experiential opportunities such as internships and externships, facilitating student research projects, supporting student organizations, connecting students with alums who could help to mentor them, and expanding opportunities for post-graduation public interest fellowships in the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cThe uncertainty of this moment calls for reflection, conversation, and action, and scholars and students at BU Law intend to be part of this new phase in the movement for reproductive rights,\u201d Dean <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/angela-onwuachi-willig\/\" target=\"_blank\">Angela Onwuachi-Willig<\/a> says. \u201cA new generation of lawyers who are equipped to advocate for reproductive rights at the federal, state, and local levels will be critical as we work back toward national protections for reproductive rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Through a new BU Program on Reproductive Justice offered by BU Law in partnership with schools and centers across the University, even more students will have sustained access to educational and career opportunities in this critical field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11260,"featured_media":98087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"{\"post_id\":95883,\"hed\":\"Ahead of Her Time\",\"dek\":\"Next Article\",\"class\":\"wp-block-editorial-billboard record-block-editorial-billboard has-media\",\"backgroundId\":\"95919\",\"backgroundUrl\":\"\\\/law\\\/files\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/Blanche-Crozier-Nahant-970x456.jpg\",\"backgroundType\":\"image\",\"backgroundOpacity\":\"100\"}","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"BU Law News","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1663,2935],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3918,3746,3770,3747,3786],"record-topic":[4292],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/98085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98085"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/98085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100327,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/98085\/revisions\/100327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98085"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=98085"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=98085"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=98085"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=98085"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=98085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}