When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, advocates for reproductive rights say it created new hardships for the most vulnerable among us – survivors of gender-based violence, BIPOC and/or LGBTQI+ people.
Experts from across New Orleans and the nation’s capital will assess what they are seeing, how the community they serve is being affected and what the greatest needs are now and in the near future at the program, “Reproductive Justice & Gender-Based Violence Post-Dobbs: Living at the Intersections of Oppression and Bodily Autonomy,” being held on Thursday, Feb 2, at the American Bar Association Midyear Meeting.
Louisiana is one of the states (along with Texas and Mississippi) at the epicenter of the fight for reproductive rights. Due of a trigger law that went into effect after the Dobbs decision, abortion is banned in the state with very limited exceptions.
A constellation of legal issues and rights remain unresolved, including what constitutes a medical emergency, when care can be withheld, how telemedicine and morning-after pills can be used and determining when life begins.
Maricarmen Garza, chair of the ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence and chief of programs for the Tahirih Justice Center, will moderate the panel, which includes Deon Haywood, executive director of Women With a Vision, Inc. in New Orleans; Aracely Muñoz, director of the Lawyers Network and of the Washington, D.C., office of the Center for Reproductive Rights; Pearl Ricks, executive director of the Reproductive Justice Action Collective in New Orleans; Michelle Erenberg, executive director of Lift Louisiana; and Ellie Schilling, partner with Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin in New Orleans.
In addition to what they’re seeing, the panelists will also discuss how the ABA can respond. The association, which has “robust” policy on reproductive rights and has filed a number of amicus briefs in related cases, also excels at convening lawyers, says Munoz, which can help those providing the services.
The program is sponsored by the CDSV and Louisiana State Bar Association and co-sponsored by the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. It will be held live and on Zoom. To register to watch on Zoom, click here.