The Need for Educational Research Engagement With Courts, Public Policy, and Practice in a Post-Dobbs Era

Abstract

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), the U.S. Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent regarding the federal right to an abortion for people who can carry pregnancies. This case has substantial significance for the education field, directly affecting school- and college-age marginalized students who can carry pregnancies. In this essay, I argue that Dobbs and subsequent policies have created a significant need for educational research to inform courts, public policy, and practice to improve social and educational structural support for marginalized students who can carry pregnancies in a post- Dobbs era. This need is because Dobbs and subsequent policies have significantly diminished reproductive justice, and reproductive justice is intricately tied to marginalized students’ ability to fully engage in their education. Timely educational research is critical to address the systemic inequities that Dobbs and related policies have exacerbated and reified.