Prof. Goodwin Delivers Leary Lecture at University of Utah Law

Professor Michele Goodwin delivered her lecture, "The New Reproductive Battlefront: Law, Medicine, & the Cultural Politics of Pregnancy," at the 2012 William H. Leary Lecture at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. Goodwin's lecture discussed her recent scholarship on the constitutionality of maternal conduct laws and fetal protection laws. Goodwin's lecture particularly focused on the changing use of these laws by law enforcement and prosecutors. Originally intended to protect women from third-party harms during pregnancy, prosecutors have more recently used these laws against pregnant women by prosecuting them for a variety of activities, including falling down steps, drug use, refusing cesarean sections, and attempting suicide. In this context, Goodwin's lecture examined the use of the criminal law to shape new reproductive health norms by emphasizing the selective enforcement of these laws against poor women and women of color. The Lecture is an annual event honoring former Law School Dean William H. Leary, who emphasized the importance of tolerance, respect, and open discussion of philosophical questions in an intellectual atmosphere. Prior Leary lecturers include Justice William Brennan, Cass Sunstein (Harvard), Owen Fiss (Yale), Kenji Yoshino (NYU), Duncan Kennedy (Harvard), Michael Walzer (Princeton), Joseph Sax (Berkeley), and Patricia Williams (Columbia).