1. Home
  2. Our Faculty
  3. Full-Time Faculty
  4. Michele Bratcher Goodwin
  5. Profile

Michele Bratcher Goodwin

Chancellor’s Professor of Law
Michele Bratcher Goodwin

Expertise:

Bioethics, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Health Law, Reproductive Rights, Torts

Background:

Michele Bratcher Goodwin is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and founding director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy. She is the 2022 recipient of the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award as well as the 2022 Trailblazer Award from the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.  In 2020-21, she received the Distinguished Senior Faculty Award for Research, the highest honor bestowed by the University of California. She is also the first law professor at the University of California, Irvine to receive this award. In 2021-22, she was named the Provost’s Distinguished Visiting Faculty Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania.  She is an elected member of the American Law Institute as well as an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Hastings Center (the organization central to the founding of bioethics).

Research and Scholarship Distinction:

Professor Goodwin’s constitutional law scholarship appears in or is forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review, California Law Review, Chicago Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Michigan Law Review, New York University Law Review, Northwestern Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and Yale Law Journal, among others.  This dossier addresses legal questions related to freedom of speech; religious exercise; equal protection; due process; race and sex discrimination; reproductive rights; slavery; and LGBTQ equality. Her scholarship has been referenced by national media, legislators, and civil society organizations. 

She is credited with helping to establish and shape the health law field.  She directed the first ABA accredited health law program in the nation and established the first law center focused on race and bioethics. Her health law scholarship is hailed as “exceptional” in the New England Journal of Medicine. She ranks among the most cited professors in the field.  Trained in sociology and anthropology, Professor Goodwin has conducted field research in Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, focusing on human trafficking (marriage, sex, organs, and other biologics).  Her books include Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood (2020); Biotechnology, Bioethics, and The Law (2015); Baby Markets: Money and the Politics of Creating Families (2010); and  Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts (2006).

Public Commentary:

Professor Goodwin is a sought after public commentator and has been featured in print, radio, and television news, including Politico, Salon.com, Forbes, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Vox, Mother Jones; ABC News; NBC News; NPR, HBO’s Vice News, MSNBC, and Ms. Magazine among others. She is host of the On the Issues with Michele Goodwin podcast at Ms. Magazine. A prolific author, Goodwin’s publications include six books and over 100 articles, essays, book chapters, and commentaries.

National and International Leadership:

Professor Goodwin has long recognized the transformative power and value of education and access. Following earning her juris doctorate, she moved south and guided one of the largest southern school districts in the United States through desegregation, equity and inclusion efforts across 52 K-12 schools, more than 35,000 students, with an operating budget exceeding $350 million.  She later served as an assistant dean at the University of Wisconsin to help galvanize equity and inclusion efforts, followed by directing university programs and institutes.

Professor Goodwin has authored or co-authored amicus briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court as well as the Second, Third, Sixth, and Ninth U.S. Courts of Appeals.  She has provided testimony to state and federal lawmakers and legislative committees and worked with state attorneys general or their staff on health-related matters in California, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York.   

Professor Goodwin serves on the executive committee and national board of the American Constitution Society, and previously on the executive committee and national board of the American Civil Liberties Union. She was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Issues in Organ Donor Intervention Research and appointed an observer by the United States National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (for the revision of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act).  She chaired several sections of the Association of American Law Schools, served as a trustee of the United States Law and Society Association, and was the first woman to be elected Secretary General of the International Academy of Law & Mental Health. 

Awards:

Professor Goodwin has won national awards for excellence in scholarship, outstanding teaching, and committed community service. Gov. Paul Patton of Kentucky commissioned her a Colonel, the state’s highest title of honor for her outstanding contributions to K-12 education. In addition to being recognized with the Margaret Brent Award in 2022, she received the Women of Courage Award from the National Organization of Women (NOW) and the Victim Rights Law Center’s 2022 Leadership Award.  In 2020, Orange Coast Magazine named her one of 35 Kickass Women.  In 2019 she received the Be The Change Award.  In 2018 she was bestowed the Sandra Day O’Connor Legacy Award by the Women’s Journey Foundation. That same year, Professor Goodwin was named Teacher of the Year by the Thurgood Marshall Bar Association and received a commendation from the United States House of Representatives for Outstanding Teaching.   

Previously, Professor Goodwin was the Everett Fraser Professor at the University of Minnesota, with appointments in the Law School, Medical School, and School of Public Health.  Professor Goodwin has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago and University of Virginia law schools. Prior to teaching law, she was a Gilder-Lehrman Post-Doctoral Fellow at Yale University

, Constitutional Law

(Log in to view full course descriptions in the UCI Law Course Catalog)

  • Michele Goodwin, Civil Liberties in a Pandemic: The Lessons of History, __ Cornell L. Rev. __ (2021) (forthcoming with Erwin Chemerinsky).
  • Michele Goodwin, A Different Type of Property: White Women and the Human Property They Kept, 118 Mich. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2020).
  • Michele Goodwin, Immigration, Public Health, and The Constitution, __ Penn L. Rev. __ (2021) (forthcoming with Erwin Chemerinsky).
  • Michele Goodwin, Women on the Front Line, __ Cornell L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2021).
  • Michele Goodwin, Preservation of Discrimination Through Transformation: The Transgender Military Ban, 114  Northwestern  L. Rev. 751 (2019)(with Erwin Chemerinsky).
  • Michele Goodwin, The Thirteenth Amendment: Modern Slavery, Capitalism and Mass Incarceration, 104 Cornell L. Rev. 899 (2019).
  • Michele Goodwin, Constitutional Gerrymandering Against Abortion Rights, 94 NYU L. Rev. 61 (2019) (with Erwin Chemerinsky).
  • Michele Goodwin, Policing the Womb: The New Race & Class Politics of Reproduction (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
  • Michele Goodwin, Challenging The Rhetorical Gag and Trap: Reproductive Capacities, Rights, and The Helms Amendment, 111 Northwestern L. Rev. 1417 (2018).
  • Michele Goodwin, Pregnancy, Poverty, and The State, 127 Yale L. Journal 1270 (2018)(with Erwin Chemerinsky).
  • Michele Goodwin, Abortion: A Woman’s Private Choice, 95 Tex. L. Rev. 1189 (2017) (with Erwin Chemerinsky) (reprinted in 2018 Edition of Women and the Law, Tracy Thomas eds.)
  • Michele Goodwin, Compulsory Vaccination Laws Are Constitutional, 110 Nw. U. L. Rev. 589 (2016) (with Erwin Chemerinsky).
  • Michele Goodwin, Constitutional Exceptionalism, 2016 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1287 (2016) (with Alison Whelan) (reprinted in Civil Rights Litigation and Attorney's Fees Annual Handbook, Steve Saltzman eds. 2017/18)
  • Michele Goodwin, Religion Is Not a Basis for Harming Others, 104 Geo. L.J. 1111 (2016) (with Erwin Chemerinsky).
  • Michele Goodwin & Erwin Chemerinsky, No Immunity: Race, Class, and Civil Liberties in Times of Health Crisis, 129 Harv. L. Rev. 956 (2016).
  • Michele Goodwin, Shine Tu & John Paris, Biotechnology, Bioethics, & The Law (2015).
  • The Global Body Market: Altruism’s Limit (Michele Goodwin ed., 2015).
  • Michele Goodwin & Allison M. Whelan, Reproduction and the Rule of Law in Latin America, 83 Fordham L. Rev. 2577 (2015).
  • Michele Goodwin, Invisible Women: Mass Incarceration’s Forgotten Casualties, 94 Tex. L. Rev. 353 (2015).
  • Michele Goodwin, Fetal Protection Laws: Moral Panic and the New Constitutional Battlefront, 102 Calif. L. Rev. 781 (2014).
  • Michele Goodwin, Black Markets: The Supply and Demand of Body Parts (2nd edition) (2013).
  • Michele Goodwin & Naomi Duke, Parent Civil Unions: Rethinking the Nature of Family, 2013 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1337 (2013).
  • Michele Goodwin, Law’s Limits: Regulating Statutory Rape Law, 2013 Wis. L. Rev. 481 (2013).

Prof. Goodwin’s Scholarly Papers on SSRN

  • March 24, 2022:
    Host, Criminalizing the Emergency Room, Contemporary Issues in Health, Law, and Bioethics, Harvard Medical School's Center for Bioethics, Online
  • March 10, 2022:
    Host, Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice: The Supreme Court and Beyond, Contemporary Issues in Health, Law, and Bioethics, Harvard Medical School's Center for Bioethics, Online
  • Feb. 24, 2022:
    Host, Ethical and Workforce Considerations in Abortion Care Provision, Contemporary Issues in Health, Law, and Bioethics, Harvard Medical School's Center for Bioethics, Online
  • Feb. 16, 2022:
    Featured Speaker, The Future of Reproductive Rights in America, Writers Bloc and the Beverly Hills Bar Association, Online
  • Feb. 2, 2022:
    Keynote Speaker, The Beloved Community, MLK Jr. 2022 Keynote, Salt Lake Community College, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Jan. 21, 2022:
    Featured Speaker, Are Abortion Rights Essential to Democracy?, Schar School’s Gender and Policy Center at George Mason University and Ms. Magazine, Online
  • Jan. 19, 2022:
    Featured Speaker, 2022 Health Equity Summit, Hastings Center, the American Medical Center and the American Nurses Association, Online
  • Sept. 20, 2021: 
    Featured Speaker, Elevating and Engaging with Black Lives: Elected Officials, American Constitution Society, Online
  • May 25, 2021:
    Panelist, Toward Racial Justice, UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence, Online
  • May 3-4, 2021:
    Featured Speaker, Civil Litigation in a Post-COVID World, Clifford Symposium 2021
  • March 16, 2021:
    Featured Speaker, Mark A. Nordenberg Lecturer in Law, Medicine and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh
  • March 5, 2021:
    Speaker, Taking Our Space: Women of Color and Antiracism in Legal America, Rutgers University – Camden, Online
  • March 1, 2021:
    Moderator, Ongoing Challenges of Disability Discrimination in Law, Politics & Society, LA ALOUD, Online
  • Feb. 23, 2021:
    Panelist, Can We Look to the Courts for Justice?, Public Counsel, Online
  • Feb. 22, 2021:
    Panelist, Racial Equity in Fertility Care: “Legal and Clinical Perspectives,” Yale School of Medicine, Online
  • Feb. 19, 2021:
    Organizer, Reckoning & Reconciliation: Art, Architecture, & Culture in Contested Sites, Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, Online
  • Feb. 8, 2021:
    Featured Speaker, Race, Sex & Policing in America, ACLU Minnesota Advancing Women’s Equality Series, Online
  • Jan. 13, 2021:
    Featured Speaker, Women, Mass Incarceration, and Criminal Justice, ACLU Minnesota Advancing Women’s Equality Series, Online
  • Dec. 8, 2020:
    Moderator, Allyship in Action: How to Be an Effective Ally, Fall 2020 Orange County Bar Association Racial Justice Town Hall
  • Dec. 2, 2020:
    Book Presentation, “Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood,” Bastyr University
  • Nov. 19, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, A Different Type of Property: White Women and the Human Property They Kept, Loyola University School of Law, Chicago
  • Nov. 19, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Chicago-Kent Law Review Symposium, Chicago Kent
  • Nov 13, 2020:
    Panelist, Combating Disparities: Maternal Health for People of Color, If/When/How
  • Nov. 10, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, National Association of Women Judges
  • Nov. 6, 2020:
    Feautred Speaker: Mental Health and the Legal Profession, Fordham Law School
  • Oct. 30, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Women on the Frontlines: Covid and Beyond, Cornell Law Review Symposium
  • Oct. 18, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Not Just ICE: How We Build Across Movements, Belly of the Beast
  • Oct. 16, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Between Life and Death: Revisiting the Case of Jahi McMath, ASBH
  • Oct. 15, 2020:
    Feautred Speaker, Intersecting Realities, UCI 1619 Project, UCI Humanities Center
  • Oct. 14, 2020:
    Speaker, “Work Mate Marry Love,” ALOUD LA, Online
  • Oct. 14, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Special Briefing: Supreme Court and the Elections, Feminist Majority Foundation
  • Oct. 13, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Public Interest Law & Policy Speaker Series, Washington University
  • Oct. 12, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Reckoning Law's History in Race and Sex Discrimination, San Diego District Attorney's Office
  • Oct. 11, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, The US Supreme Court; Helping or Hurting Democracy?, ACLU SCOTUS
  • Oct. 8, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood, William & Mary Center for Racial & Social Justice
  • Oct. 8, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Luminaries Lecture Series, Newport Beach Public Library Foundation
  • Sept. 30, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Nourishing Black Futures: Setting an Antiracist Agenda on Food Justice and Black Maternal Health, American University
  • Sept. 24, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Women Also Know Law Inaugural Summit, University of Michigan
  • Sept. 21, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Understanding the Role of Race in Health, Harvard Bill of Health (Petrie-Flom Center)
  • Sept. 17, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Reproductive History, Health, and Justice in the United States, LA Law Library
  • Sept. 16, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Composite Bodies, Inaugural Lecture, Harvard Mahindra
  • Sept. 10, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Cornell Community Conversation on Race and Labor in America - Discussion of "13th" documentary, Cornell 13th Amendment
  • Aug. 12, 2020:
    Moderator, Elevating and Engaging with Black Lives on Law School Campuses, American Constitution Society, Online
  • July 22, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Child Marriage Survivor Stories Summit, Child Marriage
  • July 16, 2020,
    Moderator, Capture the Flag Film Premier, Capture the Flag
  • July 15, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Power Lunch for a Supreme Court Review, The Sip Hour, Online
  • June 30, 2020: 
    Featured Speaker, Covid and the Constitution: Renowned constitutional law expers discuss issues involving constitutional law and the COVID-19 pandemic, Bar Association of San Francisco
  • June 6, 2020:
    Panelist, The Pandemic and the Law: Legal Precedent Meets Unprecedented Times, American Constitution Society National Convening, Online
  • March 25, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, “Policing the Womb: Invisible Women & the Criminalization of Motherhood,” Columbia Law, Online
  • March 11, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Confronting Maternal Mortality, California Women's Law Center and the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy, Beverly Hills, CA
  • March 3, 2020
    Featured Speaker, Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
  • Feb. 21, 2020:
    Keynote Panelist, Future of the Future: The Ethics and Implementation of AI, UCI Forum for the Academy and the Public, Irvine, CA
  • Feb. 18, 2020:
    Featured Speaker, Overcoming Injustice: Why Women’s Constitutional Citizenship Still Matters, John T. Washington Lecture, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
  • Dec. 9, 2019:
    Featured Speaker, “Policing the Womb” in conversation with Michelle Anderson, The Futures Initiative (co-sponsored by the Office of the Dean at the Graduate Center), CUNY, New York, NY
  • Dec. 5, 2019:
    Featured Speaker, In Conversation with Rebecca Traister on How to Ground a Reproductive Rights Movement in New York, New York, NY
  • Dec. 4, 2019:
    Featured Speaker, Forum on Judiciary Independence, Orange County Bar Association, Chapman University, Orange, CA
  • Dec. 2, 2019: 
    Featured Speaker, “Policing the Womb,” SPUI25 Public Lecture presented by Amsterdam Law Hub, Bureau Clara Wichmann and the Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Nov. 21, 2019: 
    Featured Speaker, The Transgender Military Ban: Preservation of Discrimination Through Transformation, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, Chicago, IL
  • Nov. 18, 2019:
    Speaker, Your Career Sponsor: Why It's Important for Your Career and How to Get One, The Orange County Bar Association Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Newport Beach, CA
  • Nov. 15, 2019: 
    Speaker, “Religion Is Not a Basis for Harming Others,” Temple Bat Yahm Adult Ed Shabbat Dinner & Lecture, Newport Beach, CA 
  • Nov. 13, 2019:
    Speaker, United Nations International Conference on Population and Development: Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Nov. 6, 2019:
    Speaker, Edward L. Barrett Jr. Lecture, UC Davis School of Law, Davis, CA
  • May 31, 2019:
    Host, University of California Press: Sex, Society, and the Law Book Series Launch, Annual Law and Society Meeting,Washington, DC
  • May 28, 2019:
    Panelist, The Fight for Equal Pay with activist Lilly Ledbetter, California Women's Law Center Distinguished Guest Speaker Series, Beverly Hills, CA
    April 3, 2019:
    Presenter, “What Society Do We Want to Be?” Confronting Extremism Talks, UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence, Irvine, CA
  • April 3, 2019: 
    Speaker, “Political Women: Revising and Rewriting History,” Redlands American Association of University Women, University of Redlands, Redlands, CA
  • March 7, 2019:
    Panelist, A Discussion with Women Jurists, California Women's Law Center, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
  • Feb. 15, 2019: 
    Speaker, University of Colorado Law School Workshop, Boulder, CO
  • Feb. 9, 2019: 
    Keynote Speaker, 31st Annual Sadie T.M. Alexander Conference, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, PA
  • Jan. 30, 2019: 
    Speaker, Fruits of the Flesh: The Complexities of Informed Consent in a Modern Era, 2019 INTEGRIS Lecture, OCU School of Law, Oklahoma City, OK
  • Jan. 28, 2019: 
    Speaker, A Conversation on Gun Violence, UCI Medical School, Irvine, CA
  • Jan. 25, 2019: 
    Speaker, 2019 American Journal of Law and Medicine Symposium - The Crisis of Democracy in Healthcare: Nonlegislative Efforts to Change Health Law, Boston University School of Law, Boston, MA
  • Jan. 23, 2019: 
    Speaker, Women and The Courts: Can Marginal Representation Equal Legitimacy?, Orange County Coalition of Diversity in the Law, Pacific Club, Newport Beach, CA
  • Jan. 19, 2019: 
    Emcee, Orange County Women’s March, Santa Ana, CA
  • Jan. 3, 2019:
    Speaker, AALS Hot Topic Program - Partisan Conflict and the Legitimacy of the Supreme Court, 2019 AALS Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA
  • Oct. 22, 2018:
    Speaker, #MeToo and the Supreme Court, Karsh Center for Law and Democracy, University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, VA
  • Sept. 25, 2018: 
    Visionary Speaker, Fulfill Liberty's Promise, ACLU of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
  • Sept. 7, 2018: 
    Speaker, Saving Title X for California Roundtable, Sponsored by Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy, hosted at Feminist Majority Foundation
  • Aug. 21, 2018: 
    Speaker, What's at Stake for Women if Kavanaugh Is Appointed to the Supreme Court, Feminist Majority Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
  • Aug. 14, 2018: 
    Speaker, The FACT Act Decision and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Impact on the Future of Reproductive Health Care (2018), California Women's Law Center
  • May 11, 2018: 
    Keynote speaker, National Council of Jewish Women
  • May 9, 2018: 
    Keynote speaker, UCI Engage Celebration of Community Engagement
  • May 4, 2018: 
    Convener and presenter, Challenging the Rhetorical Trap: Reproductive Capacities, Rights, and the Helms Amendment
  • April 25, 2018: 
    Panelist, More Than Just a Wedding Cake: The Intersectionality of Civil Rights in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. V. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles WLALA Pro-Choice and Reproductive Rights Committee, Beverly Hills, CA
  • April 20, 2018: 
    Convener and presenter, Race, Class & Sexual Harassment, Women, Law & Technology Symposium, UCI
  • April 11, 2018: 
    Speaker, Brain Death and the Controversial Case of Jahi McMath, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
  • April 4, 2018: 
    Speaker, "Pregnancy, Poverty, & the State,” Distinguished Enlund Lecture, DePaul College of Law, Chicago, IL
  • March 17, 2018: 
    Speaker, Women's Health Issues and Care in The Face of Politics, League of Women Voters, Long Beach, CA
  • March 16, 2018: 
    Speaker, Reproductive Rights, National Black Law Journal Symposium, UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, CA
  • March 15, 2018: 
    Speaker, Religious Exceptionalism, Haifa University Law School, Haifa, Israel
  • March 3, 2018: 
    Speaker, "The Drug War’s Collateral Damage: Women, Girls, and Mass Incarceration,” American College of Trial Lawyers 2018 Spring Meeting, Phoenix, AZ
  • Feb. 18, 2018: 
    Speaker, "Women's Rights in an Era of Pushback," Democrats of Greater Irvine February Meeting, The Duck Club, Irvine, CA
  • Feb. 13, 2018: 
    Speaker, "Reproductive Justice in the Era of Backlash," 2017-2018 Global(HEALTH+LAW) Series, USC, Los Angeles, CA
  • Jan. 20, 2018: 
    Featured Speaker, Orange County Women's March, Santa Ana, CA
  • Nov. 6, 2017:
    Speaker, American Constitution Society lunch event, Duke Law School
  • Oct. 27, 2017:
    Speaker, 5th Annual CRRJ Conference, UC Berkley
  • Oct. 23-25, 2017:
    Honourable Organizing Committee Member and Keynote speaker, Biotech International Conference, Hyderabad, India
  • Oct. 20, 2017:
    Panel Speaker, Northwestern Law Review Symposium
  • Sept. 24, 2017:
    Panel speaker, UC Public Interest Law Conference, UCLA
  • Sept 18-19, 2017:
    Presenter, IIT Chicago-Kent faculty workshop series, Chicago
  • Sept. 17, 2017:
    Speaker, AARTA Conference, Anaheim, CA
  • July 19, 2017:
    Introductory speaker, Expanding Perspectives on Gender Equality, UCI Newkirk Alumni Center
  • July 19, 2017:
    Speaker, American Association of Clinical Anatomists (AACA), Minneapolis, MN
  • June 8, 2017:
    Panelist, presenting “How the U.S. Exportation of Soft Law Set Women’s Reproductive Health Back Worldwide,” Law, Medicine & Bioethics Session, ASLME Health Law Professors Conference, Georgia State University College of Law
  • May 8–9, 2017:
    Organizer/Co–Chair Baby Markets Roundtable 2017, University of Texas School of Law
  • May 5 2017:
    Organizer/Sponsor, CBGHP Gun Violence Town Hall, Feminist Majority Foundation, Beverly Hills, CA
  • April 27, 2017:
    Panelist, The 8th Annual Suzanne Leider Lecture: Global Health, Beckman Center, Irvine, CA
  • April 21–22, 2017:
    Organizer, Law & Religion Symposium at UC Irvine
  • April 20, 2017:
    Organizer, Panel Discussion: Law & The Modern Family, UCI Talks Sex and Gender Colloquium, UC Irvine, School of Law
  • April 19, 2017:
    Keynote speaker, Take Back the Night, UC Irvine
  • April 18, 2017:
    Organizer, Gun Violence Town Hall, Los Angeles, CA
  • April 6–7 2017:
    Lecturer, “Criminalization of Reproductive Choice,” Ethics of "Making Babies" Conference, Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics
  • April 6, 2017:
    Featured Speaker, Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest’s Anniversary dinner, San Diego, CA
  • April 5, 2017:
    Speaker, Harvard Law School’s Students for Reproductive Justice, Cambridge, MA
  • March 30, 2017:
    Organizer, Panel Discussion: Rape Culture & Sexual Assault, UCI Talks Sex and Gender Colloquium, UC Irvine, School of Law
  • March 24–25 2017:
    Speaker, Competing Narratives: The Global Crisis of Liberal Narratives, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Berlin, Germany
  • March 22, 2017:
    Speaker, “Race, Bioethics & Abortion: Why Dr. King Was Right-Family Planning Is Essential For Women’s Liberation & Equality,” Fowler School of Law Health Law Society, Chapman University
  • March 20, 2017:
    Organizer, “Women & Leadership: Breaking Barriers in Law, Science & Business,” Center for Biotechnology & Global Health Policy Workshop, UCI School of Law
  • March 14, 2017:
    Panelist, Sexual Violence on Campus – Definitions, Rights and Responsibilities, LA Law Library, Los Angeles
  • March 5, 2017:
    Speaker, “Reproductive Rights in Historical Context,” Diane and Adam E. Max Conference on Women’s History, New-York Historical Society, New York City
  • Feb. 23, 2017:
    Organizer, When Pride Isn't Enough: Policing & Punishment of LGBTQ, UCI Talks Sex and Gender Colloquium, UC Irvine, School of Law
  • Feb. 22, 2017:
    Speaker, “Forecasting Reproductive Health and Rights in the Era of President Trump,” California Women's Law Center's Distinguished Guest Speaker Series, Feminist Majority Foundation, Beverly Hills
  • Feb. 18, 2017:
    Speaker, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Irvine Ranch Water District
  • Feb. 15, 2017:
    Lecturer, “Political Traps and Female Patients: The New Reproductive Battlefront,” UCLA Nursing School and Ethics Center
  • Feb. 14, 2017:
    Speaker, “Policing Women’s Reproduction” UCI Dept. of Sociology’s Center for Demographic & Social Analysis, UCI School of Social Sciences
  • Feb. 8, 2017:
    Moderator, “Women in the Freedom Movement,” MLK Human Rights Program, Salt Lake Community College
  • Feb. 1, 2017:
    Featured Lecturer, “Policing the Womb,” UCI Department of Gender & Sexuality Studies Lectures
  • Jan. 26, 2017:
    Panelist, UCI American Constitution Society's Panel Debate on abortion laws, UC Irvine, School of Law
  • Jan. 17 2017:
    Presenter, “Intersectionality & Coaltion-Building,” Dr. Joseph L. White Lecture, UC Irvine
  • Dec. 6, 2016:
    Keynote Speaker, “When The Bough Breaks and Babies Fall: ART and The Shifting Meanings of Statehood and Statelessness,” Law and Science Conference, Radzyner School of Law, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Dec. 5, 2016:
    Radzyner School of Law, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Nov. 28, 2016:
    Speaker, “Compulsory Vaccination Laws are Constitutional,” Law Matters Workshop, Radzyner School of Law, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Nov. 28, 2016:
    Presenter, “Sex, Drugs, and HIV: Mass Incarceration's Hidden Problem,” The Love and Prejudice in Law Workshop: Family, Economy and Social Dilemmas, Radzyner School of Law, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Nov. 18, 2016:
    Panelist, “Legal Feminism: Looking Back, Looking Forward,” 35th Anniversary Symposium of the Journal of Law and Inequality, University of Minnesota Law School
  • Nov. 11, 2016:
    Speaker via video conference, Georgia State University Law Review Symposium, Atlanta, GA
  • Nov. 11, 2016:
    Speaker, “The Pressures of Poverty: The Hyde Amendment and Self-Induced Abortions,” Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law 2016 Symposium, Hart Auditorium, Georgetown University Law Center
  • Nov. 10, 2016:
    Organizer, Race, Sex & The 2016 Election, UCI Talks Sex and Gender Colloquium, UC Irvine, School of Law
  • Nov. 1, 2016:
    Co-chair, Town Hall Meeting on Gun Violence and Trauma, Washington, DC
  • Oct. 27, 2016:
    Organizer, Sex, Women & Politics: Anita Hill & Clarence Thomas 25 Years Later, UCI Talks Sex and Gender Colloquium, UC Irvine, School of Law
  • Oct. 15, 2016:
    Presenter, “How Sick Is Too Sick or Old for An Organ Transplant?” Ewha Institute for Biomedical Law & Ethics (EIBLE) of Korea at Ewha Womans University
  • Oct. 10, 2016:
    Lecturer, “Patenting Human Genes and Ownership of the Human Body,” Ewha Institute for Biomedical Law & Ethics (EIBLE) Conference at Korea University, School of Law in Seoul, Korea
  • Oct. 7, 2016:
    Panelist, New Directions and New Challenges for Policing, Race and Policing Symposium, UC Irvine
  • Sept. 29, 2016:
    Speaker, “Federal and State Regulation of Sex and Labor Trafficking,” The 89th Annual Meeting of the State Bar of California, San Diego
  • Sept. 24, 2016:
    Speaker/ Moderator, National Women’s Political Caucus of Orange County, Democratic Forum, Orange County, CA
  • Sept. 22, 2016:
    Co-chair, Town Hall on Gun Violence and Vulnerable Populations, Chicago
  • June 9, 2016:
    Plenary speaker, Planned Parenthood Federation of America National Conference, Washington DC
  • May 19, 2016:
    Plenary Speaker, Women Deliver 4th Global Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • May 16, 2016:
    Speaker, Policing Reproduction Symposium, Macaulay Honors College, New York City
  • May 12, 2016:
    Presenter, Lawrence Lader Lecture on Family Planning & Reproductive Rights, Harvard Medical School
  • May 11-12, 2016:
    Speaker, Scandal in Real Time: A National Conference on Black Women, Politics & Oral History, UC Irvine
  • April 12, 2016:
    Presenter, Shallenberger Lecture in Clinical Ethics, “Implicit Bias and the Medical Setting: Losing Patients on the Front End,” Johns Hopkins Medicine
  • April 1–3, 2016:
    Organizer, 2016 Baby Markets 10th Anniversary International Congress, Irvine

Keynote and Endowed Lecture Honors

  • 2020-2021 Distinguished Senior Faculty Award for Research Lecture, University of California, Irvine (2021) 
  • Mahindra Humanities Center, Harvard University—Composite Bodies (Sept. 2020) 
  • Plenary Moderator, UNFPA’s 25th Anniversary Conference on Population & Dev. (ICPD) (2019) 
  • John T. Washington Lecture, University of Central Florida (February 2020) 
  • Edward L. Barrett Jr. Lecture in Constitutional Law, UC Davis (November 2019) 
  • University of Pennsylvania Law School, Sadie T.M. Alexander Commemorative Conference (February 2019)
  • Integris Lecture, Oklahoma City University School of Law (January 2019)
  • Greta Bird Inaugural Lecturer, Southern Cross University (November 2017)
  • Capitol Day, Keynote Speaker, Planned Parenthood of California (May 2017)
  • Suzanne Renee Leider Lecture, Respondent, University of California, Irvine (May 2017)
  • Diane and Adam E. Max Colloquia, Closing Panel, New York Historical Society (March 2017)
  • Plenary Speaker, Planned Parenthood 100th Anniversary Annual Meeting (June 2016)
  • Lawrence Lader Lecture, Harvard University (May 2016)
  • Macaulay Honors College Lecture, City University of New York (May 2016)
  • Shallenberger Lecture, Johns Hopkins University (April 2016)
  • 2015 Annual Lecture in Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University (October 2015)
  • Minnesota Academy of Medicine Annual Lecture (May 2015)
  • 2015 Robert H. Levi Leadership and Carey Symposium in Markets and Ethics (May 2015)
  • Chancellor’s Chair Lecture, University of California, Irvine School of Law (April 2015)
  • Distinguished Lecture, St. Thomas University School of Law (February 2015)
  • 2014 Howard A. Schneiderman Bioethics Lecture, University of California, Irvine (2014)

Academic Honors and Grants

  • 2020-2021 Recipient of the Distinguished Senior Faculty Award for Research, conferred by the University of California, Irvine Senate (“most prestigious award University of California faculty members can receive.”)   
  • John Hope Franklin Prize, Honorary Mention, Law and Society Association (2020) 
  • Plenary Moderator, UNFPA’s 25th Anniversary Conference on Population & Dev. (ICPD) (2019) 
  • Hastings Center Fellow (2018)
  • Thurgood Marshall Bar Association Professor of the Year Award (2018)
  • American Bar Foundation Fellow (2017-)
  • Black Leadership Advancement Coalition, Leadership Award (2017)
  • National Academy of Science, Committee on Issues in Organ Donor Research (2016-)
  • American Society of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, Board Member (2016-2019)
  • 2016 Outstanding Faculty Award, Law Students For Reproductive Justice (2016)
  • Chief Executive Roundtable, University of California, Irvine (2015)
  • Trustee, Law & Society Association (2013-2015)

Civic Honors, Awards, & Memberships

  • ABA's Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award (2022)
  • Be The Change Awardee (2019) 
  • Aspen Institute, Opening Session (2019) 
  • Aspen Institute, Big Ideas Stage (2019) 
  • Women’s March, Orange County (2019) 
  • Commendation from the United States House of Representatives for Outstanding Teaching (2018)
  • Thurgood Marshall Bar Association Professor of the Year Award (2018)
  • Commencement Speaker, University of California San Francisco (Global Health Program (2018) 
  • Keynote Speaker, The Advocates Society (2018)
  • Sandra Day O’Connor Legacy Award, Women’s Journey Foundation (2018)
  • Plenary Speaker, American College of Trial Lawyers (2018)
  • American Law Institute (elected 2016)
  • Plenary Speaker, Women Deliver, 4th Global Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark (2016)
  • Plenary Speaker, International Academy of Trial Lawyers (July, 2015)