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Matthew B. Lawrence

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    Judicial

    What I tell my law students reversing Roe would mean for the rule of law

    Matthew B. Lawrence
    June 01, 2022
    Students protest for abortion rights

    Students in New York City participate in a school walk-out and march to show their support for abortion rights and gun control on May 26.

    Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    Lawrence is an associate professor at the Emory University School of Law.

    The leaked opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has brought to mind Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s haunting question about what reversing Roe v. Wade would mean for the rule of law: “Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception — that the Constitution and its reading are just political acts?”

    As a law professor, it was my job to try to answer this question for my students this semester. My short answer was “maybe.” My long answer comes through a series of eight things I tell my students when I teach the case.

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