Thank you for joining us at the Orange County Women’s Health Summit! Your presence and engagement made it a truly impactful event, addressing critical issues in women’s health and equity. We appreciate your support and commitment to making a positive difference in our community and beyond.
Presentation Slides:
- Thank you to our KEYNOTE SPEAKER, Dr. Khiara M. Bridges, who explained the history of U.S. law surrounding abortion through the Dobbs decision, the resulting complex web of abortion bans and restrictions across the country, and the implications for health equity. Dr. Bridges also reviewed the Reproductive Justice framework and links between sexual and reproductive health, environmental health, the criminal justice system, and voting rights. View Dr. Bridges’ presentation slides.
- Our MORNING PANELISTS discussed the local reproductive health landscape, including where abortion services can be accessed in Orange County and Southern California, the impact of the Dobbs decision on providers and patients (including patients traveling from out-of-state to Orange County for care), and how California is responding to Dobbs by increasing access, expanding and diversifying the workforce, and creating new legal protections. View the morning panel presentation slides.
- Our AFTERNOON PANELISTS reviewed important research about deviations from the standard for OB/Gyn care, as well as Google searches for self-managed abortion, since the Dobbs decision. They also explained how pharmacists in California provide new access points for contraception and medication abortion. View the afternoon panel presentation slides.
- Finally, the MESSAGE TRAINING debunked a number of abortion myths, educated attendees on the different types of stigma surrounding abortion, and provided new language and tools to shift the narrative around abortion. View the message training slides.
Brief Agenda:
8:30 am: Registration Check-In Opens
9:00 am: Program Begins
9:20 am: Keynote Address – Khiara M. Bridges, JD, PhD, Professor of Law, UC Berkeley
10:45 am: Panel: Local Reproductive Healthcare Landscape
12:15 pm: Lunch
1:15 pm: Panel: Research and Policy
3:00 pm: Message Training
4:00 pm: Summit Ends
Keynote Speaker
Khiara M. Bridges, JD, PhD
Professor of Law,
UC Berkeley School of Law
Dr. Bridges is a distinguished expert on the intersection of race, class, and reproductive rights. Her keynote will review the history of abortion law in the U.S., discuss the current state of abortion bans and restrictions across the country, explain the federal and state response to date, and explore implications for health equity.
Additional speakers include local healthcare professionals who will assess the sexual and reproductive health landscape in Orange County, a researcher conducting the leading nationwide study on maternal health outcomes since the Dobbs decision in 2022, and other policymakers and advocates in the field.
UC Irvine Program in Public Health is thrilled to partner with the Orange County Women’s Health Project (OCWHP) and a number of community-based organizations to revive the Orange County Women’s Health Summit on Friday, October 13, 2023.
The 9th OC Women’s Health Summit will explore how the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overruled Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of SEPA v. Casey (and thereby eliminated the federal Constitutional right to abortion), has resulted in a complex web of state abortion bans and restrictions that negatively impact sexual and reproductive health throughout the country. The Summit will also address the dangerous consequences of Dobbs, the California and federal responses, and implications for health equity.
All proceeds will support women’s health related programs and research in the UCI Program in Public Health.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
If you would like to get involved in future Summits, learn more about other women’s health initiatives at UCI Public Health, or would like to make a donation in support of women’s health, please contact Juliana Goswick, Director of Development, UCI Public Health, at jgoswick@hs.uci.edu.
In partnership with:
