UCI Law's Goodwin delivers Barrett Lecture to packed house at UC Davis Law

Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor at UC Irvine School of Law, delivered the Edward L. Barrett Jr. Lecture on Constitutional Law to an overflow crowd on Nov. 6 at UC Davis School of Law.

Bratcher previewed her forthcoming book Policing the Womb, which explores the impact of laws surrounding pregnancy that can result in the punishment and incarceration of women, particularly poor women and women of color.

In her talk, Goodwin discussed fetal protection statutes, and detailed the harrowing case of Marlise Muñoz, a pregnant woman who was declared brain-dead but kept alive on a ventilator by the hospital – against her husband's wishes -- under a Texas law restricting the application of advance directives in pregnant patients.

“So many stories get overlooked when we just look at abortion” when discussing reproductive health, rights and justice, Goodwin told the Barrett Lecture audience.