Title: Justice for Jane(s): How Abortion Obstruction for Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors Violates the Best Interests of the Child.
Presenter: Alexandra Carter, MPH, Consultant for ACLU of Northern California; UCGHI Center of Expertise on Women’s Health, Gender, and Empowerment.
Date: November 9th, 2018, 12:00-1:00 pm,
Location: 2121 Berkeley Way - Room 5400
This presentation will discuss the ongoing legal battle over abortion restrictions for unaccompanied immigrant minors in U.S. federal custody and the implications for public health policy, practice, and research. Alexandra will draw on her Master’s research exploring the Garza v. Hargan (now Azar v. Garza) lawsuit which challenges the Office of Refugee Resettlements (ORR’s) new anti-abortion policy. Using a public health and reproductive justice perspective, Alexandra interrogates whether abortion denial is in the “the best interests of the child”—a human rights principle that governs domestic child welfare policy and the treatment of unaccompanied children worldwide.
Alexandra is a dedicated youth advocate and recent graduate from UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health in Health and Social Behavior. Her culminating project was inspired by an internship with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern, CA where her colleagues were among the first to challenge ORR’s abortion policy in court. Her subsequent research and continued advocacy work is driven by her experience as a sexual health educator in Guatemala and California and unites her interests in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, policy advocacy, and the intersections of immigration and reproductive justice. Alexandra is currently a consultant for the ACLU, NC’s Reproductive Justice Project and the UCGHI Center of Expertise on Women’s Health, Gender, and Empowerment.
