Reproductive Rights Advocacy: From Courts to Congress, What’s at Stake and What Can We Do?

In the U.S. we face an unprecedented assault on reproductive rights and access.  In the coming months, the Court will decide a case litigated by the Center for Reproductive Rights, in which the State of Mississippi has explicitly asked the Court to overrule nearly 50 years of precedent recognizing constitutional protection for abortion access and reproductive autonomy. Meanwhile, last month, Texas banned virtually all abortion and imposed a cruel “bounty hunter” enforcement scheme. The Supreme Court refused to temporarily block the law. The fall-out in Texas, and nationwide, is still unfolding. 

In this discussion you will hear from Diana Kasdan, Director Judicial Strategy at the Center for Reproductive Rights, about the current legal landscape in the U.S. and what is at stake in the MS and TX cases, and beyond. She will also discuss her role at the Center; different opportunities for working in reproductive rights health and justice advocacy; and how the Center, in partnership with allies, policymakers, and other stakeholders, uses a combination of legal and advocacy strategies to not only defend existing reproductive rights guarantees but build stronger protections for the future.

Diana Kasdan will be teaching PADM-GP 4452 US Reproductive Rights Advocacy at NYU Wagner in Spring 2021. 

About the Center: The Center for Reproductive Rights uses the power of law to advance reproductive rights as fundamental human rights around the world. We are the only global legal advocacy organization dedicated to reproductive rights, with expertise in both U.S. constitutional and international human rights law. Through litigation, policy and advocacy work, the Center works to strengthen legal guarantees to reproductive health care and decision making and has expanded access to birth control, safe abortion, assisted reproduction, and prenatal and obstetric care in regions around the world.