Reproductive Rights, Politics, and Policy

DPI 527M Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course examines the historical and current state of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policy and politics in the United States, with a particular focus on the post-Dobbs landscape. Through foundational caselaw, statutes, social science research, political commentary, and international case studies, students will gain an understanding of SRH law and politics and will use that to analyze and draft policy solutions to current SRH issues. We will discuss law as a social determinant of health, examining how reproductive health outcomes are impacted by public policy and the role that race, gender, age, socioeconomic class, and other identities have on those outcomes. Course topics include: the creation of the Constitutional rights to privacy, contraception and abortion; historical pro-choice and pro-life social movements; gender-affirming case and abortion access for minors and marginalized populations; racism and ableism in SRH; reproductive justice; international case studies for the purposes of comparative policymaking, current issues such as the criminalization of abortion, state shield laws, assisted reproductive technologies, and emerging legal and political strategies.