In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, states across the country have restricted access to abortion and, often, to speech and information about abortion. These restrictions have intersected in unusual ways with education about reproductive health in medical schools and residency programs. They also form an intriguing parallel with a new wave of legislative restrictions, often enacted in the same states, on teaching about race, sex, and gender identity in K-12 and college settings. This panel features experts on reproductive health, free expression, and higher education who will place these two forms of educational censorship in conversation with one another, exploring how censorship in one educational arena can implicate other educational settings and wider conversations.
PEN America is grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their support of this event.