New Frontiers in Federalism – Session 3: Abortion and the Chaos of Conflicting Mandates

The third “Emerging Federalism” session describes the maze of conflicts among the states in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision on abortion. Dobbs has unleashed a torrent of statutes, regulations, civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions about all aspects of abortion, including the legal viability of the constitutional right to travel between states; the rights and obligations of states to extradite; and issues relating to the primacy of federal law regarding “medication abortions,” as well as conflicting federal judicial decisions on the subject. The implications of conflicting mandates for the private sector are also considered.

The speakers participate in a roundtable discussion about all of the multifaceted aspects of this impossibly difficult problem of inter-government clash. In addition, the panel focuses on the difficulty of everyday citizens and, in particular, pregnant women, to understand which possible governments in which locations, at which governmental level, and with what authorities, could permit or coerce action on abortion.

Moderator: 
Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network, NYU Law School

Panelists: 
Professor Mary Ziegler, UC-Davis Law School
Dean Rachel Rebouche, Temple University Beasley School of Law
Professor Carolyn Shapiro, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law

Sponsoring Committee:
Rule of Law Task Force, Marcy Kahn, Chair

Co-Sponsoring Committees:
Health Law, Heather Hatcher, Chair
Sex and Law, Farah Diaz-Tello and Iliana Konidaris, Co-Chairs
Election Law, Rachael Harding, Chair
Government Ethics and State Affairs, Ed Murray, Chair
Federal Courts, Richard Hong, Chair

Co-Sponsoring Organization:
Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network at NYU School of Law
The Brennan Center for Justice