9/17/20  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss two new legal filings by the Trump DOJ that blur the line between the President as government official and the President as private citizen. In the first case, the government argues that the President's twitter feed is not an official public forum, so he can block people with whom he disagrees. In the second, the government argues that the President's denials that he sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll were made in his official capacity as President. Listen now!

7/6/20  //  In-Depth Analysis

Congress should decide what happens to the Equal Rights Amendment, not the courts or the Executive Branch.

6/29/20  //  Quick Reactions

As in prior abortion cases, the Chief Justice gave abortion supporters a victory while at the same time laying the groundwork for much weaker protections for abortion rights.

3/2/20  //  Commentary

With the argument in June Medical days away, Gretchen Borchelt of the National Women's Law Center argues that the Court must "reaffirm that women’s equality is fundamentally connected to the right to abortion."

2/28/20  //  Commentary

Three leading scholars call Louisana's attempt to deny doctors standing in abortion-related cases "cynical," and they explain why the Court would have to upset decades of well-settled, sensible precedent to agree with Louisiana.

2/27/20  //  Commentary

Many have argued that the law at issue in June Medical does not promote anyone's health. But, looking deeper, Priscilla Smith argues that the state's whole statutory scheme "reflects and entrenches unfounded stereotypes about women."

1/28/18  //  Daily Update

Advocacy groups sued the Department of Education over its sexual assault guidance. HHS's new religious freedom division constitutes a new attack on women's health, wrote Jamille Fields at The Hill.

12/24/17  //  Daily Update

Another federal judge blocked a Trump Administration executive order that would allow employers with religious objections to refuse employee's contraceptive coverage as a part of healthcare plans.

11/5/17  //  Daily Update

Notre Dame University ended contraception coverage for students and staff after the Trump administration rolled back the contraception coverage mandate under the Affordable Care Act.

10/8/17  //  Daily Update

Civil rights groups are preparing to challenge the administration's decision to halt the equal pay rule.

8/24/17  //  Daily Update

Commentators argued that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s campaign to roll back Title IX reforms is built on a campaign of misinformation.

6/18/17  //  Daily Update

The National Women's Law Center sues the Department of Education for failing to provide information on its enforcement of sexual-harassment complaints.

2/12/18  //  Commentary

A recently filed amicus brief highlights how one court has departed from Whole Woman's Health and other cases.

7/5/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

The question is not whether the reconstituted Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade. The only question is how the Supreme Court will do so.

6/11/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

A half century ago women and men challenging abortion restrictions were creative in making claims on the Constitution, taking to the streets, to the legislatures, and to the courts. In their audacity and creativity, we can find our future.

6/7/18  //  Commentary

The administration’s policy of forcibly separating children from their parents highlights some of the shortcomings with the legal justifications for the administration’s position in Azar v. Garza, the case in which the administration is refusing to allow undocumented women in its custody to obtain abortions.

5/16/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

If Roe is overturned, doctrines of religious freedom may help safeguard reproductive rights, but only if we build the groundwork by recovering the history of religious reproductive justice and amplifying the moral reasoning of pregnant people

9/17/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

In recent months, commentators and the justices themselves have raised concerns about declining public confidence in the judiciary. But confidence has to be earned. Enforcing the law and summarily reversing the Fifth Circuit is an essential first step.

11/14/19  //  Uncategorized

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Charlie, and Easha discuss a court's opinion vacating the Trump Administration's so-called "conscience rule." This rule would have broadly permitted many employees in the healthcare sector from in any way participating in procedures with which they have religious or moral disagreements—even in emergencies. Listen now!

10/30/17  //  Commentary

DOJ's position was about opposition to abortion, full stop. This explains it's baffling indifference to delaying to the moral implications of delaying a second-trimester abortion by eleven days.

10/2/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

While June Medical does not ask the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade or Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the practical effect of the state’s positions would allow states to regulate abortion out of existence

3/17/17  //  Commentary

The President should set a better example for other employers and leave the question of how to dress like a woman—with all of the trade-offs and nuances it entails—to the people who actually have to do it.

4/9/18  //  Commentary

This post, which addresses collective responsibility for #MeToo, is part of a series on #MeToo, sex discrimination, and possible solutions that amount to more than quick fixes.

5/15/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

The rock-the-world power of #MeToo shows us that the ultimate key to change is story-sharing with families, friends and neighbors

4/5/18  //  Commentary

This post, which addresses retaliatory lawsuits against accusers, is part of a series on #MeToo, sex discrimination, and possible solutions that are more than quick fixes.

6/28/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Alexandra Brodsky on how the Department of Education has retreated from civil rights enforcement and hid behind unlawful opacity.

11/16/17  //  Commentary

Hargan v. Garza is but one instance in a broader attack on abortion access.

5/15/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Courts are important, but they are not the only sun around which all other entities revolve and from which they gain their light

5/24/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Take Care has hosted a symposium on "Reproductive Rights and Justice Stories"—an important new book edited by Melissa Murray, Katherine Shaw, and Reva B. Siegel

7/19/18  //  Commentary

Would Justice Thomas really strike down federal legislation restricting abortion? We may soon find out.

6/2/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

A draft of the Trump Administration's revised contraception mandate has been leaked. If implemented, this policy would weaken civil rights for women. Moreover, the plan could violate the Establishment Clause by providing a religious accommodation for some private citizens only by shifting costs to others who may not share their beliefs.

1/4/18  //  Uncategorized

On the first episode of Versus Trump of 2018, Jason and Charlie look back at Versus Trump cases in 2017 and score them as Administration wins, losses, or not-yet-decided. They also look ahead at big issues to come in 2018. Listen now!

3/29/18  //  Quick Reactions

In a recent article, I reflect on what I wish I would have known in law school related to #MeToo.

7/4/19  //  Commentary

This week on Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie are joined by guest host Alexandra Brodsky to discuss the Ninth's Circuit's recent decision that let go into effect major new regulations for the primary federal program dealing with family planning and women's health—a program known as Title X. Listen now!

3/7/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie and Jason discuss a new lawsuit from California challenging new regulations regarding Title X, an important federal family planning program. Listen now!

2/24/20  //  Commentary

On March 4, the Supreme Court will hear its first abortion case in several years. In the first entry of our symposium, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky sets up the stakes—and fears that the case is going to end with the five conservative justices allowing severe restrictions on abortion, such as have not been upheld since Roe v. Wade.

10/12/17  //  Commentary

On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Easha and Jason discuss the Administration's drastic expansion of the number of companies that may now offer health insurance that does not cover birth control, as well as several lawsuits that were immediately filed challenging these new regulations. Listen now!

9/24/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

What is clear in June Medical Services v. Gee, as with the other antiabortion measures making their way through the courts, is that these targeted regulations of abortion providers have nothing to do with protecting women or their health

9/19/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

By David Strauss: Ideological lower court judges have challenged the Supreme Court by defying its precedent. There is one way for the Court to keep from being put in this position time and again. It should summarily reverse, making clear that only the Court will decide when its own precedent is no longer good law.

5/13/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

The story of reproductive justice extends far beyond courts and involves all the conditions in which individuals make decisions about having and not having children

10/26/17  //  Commentary

On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Easha and Charlie have a quick turn-around emergency pod to discuss an ongoing—wait, just now resolved—case filed by a pregnant 17-year-old girl in federal immigration custody who seeks an abortion. Easha and Charlie first talk about the procedural wrangling that this case has wrought and second about the legal claims in the case, which bring them into the exciting worlds of reproductive rights, immigration law, and international relations. Listen now!

7/9/18  //  Commentary

Sometimes the oncoming storm is easier to spot than the silver linings.

5/17/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

President Trump's rhetoric draw upon a familiar narrative that pathologizes immigration and immigrant reproduction as a threat while protecting and supporting the nation’s “good” mothers, families, and neighborhood

2/13/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Last week’s Supreme Court stay orders say a lot about how the Court views the substance of the underlying constitutional claims in Dunn v. Ray and June Medical Services v. Gee.

4/6/17  //  Quick Reactions

The Republicans’ bill to arbitrarily deny grants to family planning programs could be challenged in several ways.

5/20/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Artificial reproductive technology might disestablish the traditional ideas of maternity on which abortion law and discourse rests

6/22/19  //  Commentary

By Priscilla J. Smith: Conservatives are hiding behind the abortion debate to attack contraceptive access and getting away with it

5/17/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Race and class are intricately entwined with laws like the Hyde Amendment, and no advocacy on the issue can ignore this fact

1/3/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Charlie, Jason, and Easha comment on several cases addressing whether the Trump Administration may legally expand the number of employers who do not need to provide insurance that includes coverage for contraception. Listen now!

10/24/18  //  Commentary

While bleak, planning to lose is not about conceding defeat. It’s about laying the groundwork for a brighter future and avoiding precedential barriers to that future.

4/23/18  //  Commentary

This post, which highlights an academic paper related to #MeToo, is part of a series on #MeToo, sex discrimination, and possible solutions that amount to more than quick fixes.

1/16/20  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week’s Versus Trump, Jason, Easha, and Charlie discuss the Trump Administration's new legal opinion regarding the legal status of the Equal Rights Amendment, also known as the ERA. They consider what will happen now that Virginia has become the 38th state to ratify the ERA since 1972. Is it too late, or can Congress do anything to add this amendment to the Constitution? Listen now!

2/5/18  //  Commentary

President Trump's selection of primarily male nominees for a variety of positions will have consequences for the profession in the long run.

4/4/17  //  Commentary

The Vice President’s policy against dining with women reveals some problems with his recent vote to allow states to deny funding to organizations that are devoted to reproductive justice and reproductive health.

3/25/18  //  Quick Reactions

The news that a major law firm is requiring its summer associates to sign agreements to confidentially arbitrate sexual harassment claims underscores why we still need #MeToo.

9/27/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Pavan and June Medical Services are both examples of lower courts bending over backwards to avoid the clear command of Supreme Court precedent. Both merit the same treatment from the Supreme Court – summary reversal.

2/13/19  //  Commentary

While Roberts deserves some praise for his vote last week, the story of this Louisiana law is far from over. And what Roberts does next will tell us a lot—about him and the trajectory of the Court he leads.

5/14/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

While several of the essays in the edited collection of Reproductive Rights And Justice Stories talk about social movements that have influenced the law, some recent events suggest we should have those discussions without losing our focus on courts themselves

10/7/19  //  Commentary

The Trump Department of Justice has recently started asserting that the federal government has an interest in discrimination, rather than in preventing discrimination

3/28/18  //  Commentary

This post, which considers the current Supreme Court term through the lens of #MeToo, is part of a series on #MeToo, sex discrimination, and possible solutions that are more than quick fixes.

4/3/17  //  Commentary

Vice President Mike Pence’s policy of not dining with women is unconstitutional. It also suggests how far this administration will go to cut back on anti-discrimination law.

9/16/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

June Medical Services v. Gee is the Supreme Court’s next opportunity to weigh in on women’s constitutional right to decide to end their pregnancies.

9/23/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Antiabortion lawyers think that they can turn a fact and evidence-based legal standard into an argument against stare decisis, which would advance their ultimate goal of overturning Roe. In June Medical, it is time for the justices to prove them wrong.

11/13/17  //  Commentary

DOJ's conduct in Hargan v. Garza is the clearest example of how this administration wants to use DOJ for political purposes.

6/4/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

Regulatory changes that the Trump-Pence Administration reportedly plans to implement extend well beyond our religious liberty traditions (and beyond accommodations authorized by the Supreme Court)

3/26/18  //  Commentary

This post, which addresses non-disclosure agreements, is part of a series on #MeToo, sex discrimination, and possible solutions that are more than quick fixes.

2/25/20  //  Commentary

In our Symposium on June Medical, Andrew Beck of the ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project wonders if a decision in this case will leave many Americans with a right to abortion on paper—but not in practice.

11/16/17  //  Commentary

On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie discuss a new lawsuit that forces courts to answer the question of whether the federal government needs a warrant to search people's electronic devices at the U.S. border, and they also respond to a discussion on the Supreme Court podcast First Mondays regarding the government's recent filing in the Hargan v. Garza abortion case. Listen now!

8/23/18  //  Commentary

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie talk about an unusual and surprising case where the Trump Administration has filed a brief in support of fair housing advocates who have sued Facebook for its part in enabling discriminatory advertising. Listen now!

5/20/19  //  Commentary

I clerked for Justice Brennan at the time. Here's how the proposed Equal Rights Amendment affected Roe v Wade and Frontiero v. Richardson.

2/25/19  //  Quick Reactions

The concurring opinions in Timbs v. Indiana raise some concerns about how (some of) the Justices would address the Trump administration’s treatment of undocumented minor women.

5/30/18  //  Quick Reactions

The Supreme Court's denial of cert in Planned Parenthood v. Jegley raises some concerns.

5/21/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Despite legal efforts to eliminate it, pregnancy discrimination remains rampant. Responses based in liberty, temporary disability, and sex equality arguments have met limited success in courts.

1/11/18  //  In-Depth Analysis

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the outlandish arguments made to prevent undocumented young women from obtaining abortions.

5/16/19  //  Uncategorized

This week on Versus Trump, Jason and Easha go through a few updates to cases involving Title X, which provides money for family planning; the Administration's policy to have many asylum applicants removed to Mexico; and the controversial border wall. Trump lost one, won one—for now, and hasn't yet gotten a decision in the third. Listen now!

10/4/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

June Medical Services v. Gee involves a Louisiana law that would require abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of where they perform abortions. SCOTUS has granted review of the constitutionality of that law.

12/18/17  //  Commentary

A district court has stopped the Trump administration's hasty and poorly justified effort to relieve employers of their legal obligation to cover contraception.

9/7/18  //  Quick Reactions

By Greg Lipper: At his confirmation hearing, Judge Kavanaugh used the phrase “abortion-inducing drugs" while referring to a case he heard on the DC Circuit. This description of the case is at odds with modern science and suggests his hostility to foundational privacy precedents.

4/8/18  //  Quick Reactions

Some recent updates on law students' organization against mandatory arbitration.

10/9/17  //  Commentary

There are many ways to protect life, yet we often speak as if restricting abortion is the only way to do so

10/19/17  //  Quick Reactions

One facet of the government's position in Garza v. Hargan got a laugh at the Supreme Court when the government raised it in another case.

3/26/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

The administration has issued a religious exemption rule that collides with the Establishment Clause

4/3/18  //  Commentary

This post, which addresses enforcement mechanisms, is part of a series on #MeToo, sex discrimination, and possible solutions that are more than quick fixes.

4/22/19  //  Commentary

We recently filed an amicus brief asking the Fifth Circuit to apply the well settled rule that states may not prohibit women from accessing abortions prior to viability.

5/3/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

It's rumored that tomorrow, Trump will issue an executive order on "religious freedom," singling out for protection only traditional and conservative religious views on sex, marriage, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy. That order will most certainly raise grave constitutional issues under the Establishment Clause.

12/14/17  //  In-Depth Analysis

On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Charlie, Jason, and Easha talk about a defamation lawsuit brought by Summer Zervos, a woman who alleges that she was sexually assaulted by President Trump in a hotel room in 2007. Listen now!

4/5/17  //  Commentary

The en banc Seventh Circuit has held that Title VII protects against sexual orientation discrimination. SCOTUS is likely to grant review of this important issue in the near future. But it remains unclear what position the Trump Administration will take.

4/16/18  //  Commentary

This post, which highlights an academic paper related to #MeToo, is part of a series on #MeToo, sex discrimination, and possible solutions that amount to more than quick fixes.

5/17/18  //  Commentary

On this week's episode of Versus Trump, Easha, Charlie, and Jason discuss a series of recent rulings that have stopped the Trump Administration from revoking federal grants to entities that have been working to reduce teen pregnancy. Listen now!

3/11/19  //  Commentary

The administration’s recent claims about gender violence and the humanitarian crisis at the border underscore the administration’s hypocrisy on issues related to gender.

5/22/19  //  In-Depth Analysis

Reproductive justice advocates have increasingly relied on public health research in legislative and judicial disputes

3/6/18  //  Commentary

The Constitution prohibits the government from accommodating religious practices when doing so entails undue hardship to third parties

6/1/17  //  Commentary

The Trump Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a massive expansion of the program that provides employers and exemption from providing their employees with contraceptive coverage. But they have not sought notice-and-comment on the rule, and that could be a major problem.

2/26/20  //  Commentary

In the third post in our Symposium on June Medical, Professor Mary Ziegler links Louisiana's argument that doctors lack standing to litigate cases related to abortion with a broader shift in litigation tactics by those opposed to abortion. And she wonders whether a reversal of precedent on standing doctrine could lead inevitably to the end of Casey and Roe.

4/2/17  //  Daily Update

The male-dominated Trump Administration has targeted women's health legislation.

3/26/17  //  Daily Update

RIchard Thompson Ford argued that President Trump's command that female employees "dress like women" is unworthy of the Presidency, while President Trump's budget blueprint may signal drastic cuts to programs under the Violence Against Women Act.

4/9/17  //  Daily Update

This week Leah Litman analyzed the constitutional arguments against H.J. Res. 43, the bill that would allow states to deny federal grants to women's health care programs. Leah also commented on Vice President Pence's dining policy, and its potential ramifications for reproductive justice and anti-discrimination.

4/16/17  //  Daily Update

This week, President Trump signed into law a bill that allows states to deny funding to Title X clinics. Leah Litman analyzed possible legal challenges to the bill on Take Care.