Statutes Galore!!

Wow! I can’t believe I have already finished three semesters as a Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health intern. Despite being completely online this summer, I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to continue my work as a research assistant for Dr. Johnson. Although I miss the in person bi-weekly meetings with the interns, I have really enjoyed all of the guest speakers that spoke to us during our ZOOM conferences. I specifically loved hearing from the Center for Reproductive Rights. Even with prior knowledge of the June Medical Services vs Russo Supreme Court Case, I was unaware of the exact legal workings behind litigation cases. This also relates to my work as an intern. Since my last blog post, I have just about finished recording gestational surrogacy and artificial insemination policies for all fifty states. Dr. Johnson and I have recently begun working on a chart to summarize the statutes related to assisted reproduction in a comprehensive Excel chart. Within the chart, we have included the name of the statute, when it was passed, the governor’s political affiliation, and whether or not the state adopted a version of the Uniform Parentage Act. Dr. Johnson is now working on putting this information into SPSS to see what interesting correlations we find within the data. I am excited to present our results at the next Conceiving Equity poster presentation in January. I am looking forward to continuing as a research assistant with Dr. Johnson this fall and to finally