Legal Scholarship Blog

Harvard Law School – The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School will present: COVID-19 and the Politics of Reproductive Health: Global Perspectives. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this panel discussion will be held virtually, as an online webinar. To ensure that you will receive access to the livestream and be kept up to date on any changes to the event, register now.

Event Description

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged health systems around the world, displacing attention to other much-needed services and conditions. It has particularly impacted access to sexual and reproductive health goods and services⁠—not only in the U.S., as discussed in Reproductive Rights in 2020: June Medical Services v. Russo and COVID-19, but around the globe. While in some places governments have made concerted efforts to mitigate the displacement of sexual and reproductive health services by telehealth and other means, in many others the pandemic has provided cover for policies that neglect and even undermine reproductive health and rights. Reproductive rights movements and mobilizations (including around abortion) have been interrupted; contraception access has been affected; and sexual and obstetric violence have both increased. Join us for a discussion of the impact that COVID-19 has had on sexual and reproductive health and rights around the world.

Panelists

• Introduction: Carmel Shachar, Executive Director, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School
• Paola Bergallo, Associate Professor of Law, Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Argentina
• Ruth Fletcher,Senior Lecturer in Medical Law, Queen Mary’s School of Law
• Camila Gianella, Executive Director, Centre for Social Science Research (CISEPA), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
• Nerima Were,Program Manager, Sexual Reproductive Health Rights, The Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN)
• Moderator: Alicia Ely Yamin, Senior Fellow in Global Health and Rights, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School