Navigating the Noise: Abortion Politics, Equity and Ethics

Alison Edelman, M.D., M.P.H.
Professor, OB/GYN, OHSU

Katie Watson, J.D.
Associate Professor of Medical Social Sciences, Medical Education, and Ob/Gyn
Faculty, Medical Humanities & Bioethics Graduate Program
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Professor Watson will explore the underdiscussed racial justice, economic justice, and health equity impacts of abortion access. Professor Watson will argue that these historical and contemporary elements, plus the role safe and legal abortion plays in gender equity, make its preservation an ethical imperative in medicine. 

Professor Watson’s articles on abortion ethics and practice have appeared in publications including NEJM, JAMA, The Lancet, the AMA Journal of Ethics, and The New Yorker. She is the author of Scarlet A: The Ethics, Law, and Politics of Ordinary Abortion (2018 Oxford) which was described as “revolutionary” by the New York Times review and was recently recommended in its “Ten Books to Understand the Abortion Debate in the United States” list. She is the co-editor of Reproductive Ethics in Clinical Practice (2021 Oxford).

Dr. Watson’s talk will be preceded by a brief introduction by Dr. Alison Edelman, professor of OB/GYN and Division Director of Complex Family Planning at OHSU. Dr. Edelman will briefly review the impact on abortion care with the reversal of Roe v Wade; providing context for what those changes mean for pregnant people nationally, in Oregon, and at OHSU.