Seminar series Looking to Europe post-dobbs? Gendered backsliding and the search for reproductive justice Add to calendar 2026-01-14 12:00 2026-01-14 13:00 Europe/Rome Looking to Europe post-dobbs? Sala degli Stemmi Villa Salviati - Castle YYYY-MM-DD Print Share: Share on Facebook Share on BlueSky Share on X Share on LinkedIn Send by email Scheduled dates Jan 14 2026 12:00 - 13:00 CET Sala degli Stemmi, Villa Salviati - Castle Organised by Department of Law Join us for the fourth session of the 2025-2026 Law Department Faculty Seminar. The US Supreme Court’s Dobbs judgment repealing a federal right to abortion in the United States triggered a fervour of constitutional, legislative, and scholarly activity on both sides of the Atlantic. It reverberated in Europe in the form of questions about whether ‘it might happen here’, with France’s constitutionalisation of a freedom to have recourse to abortion in 2024 hailed as a world first. In 2025, Westminster voted to partially decriminalise abortion in England and Wales after a debate explicitly referencing US reproductive rights rollback as a cautionary tale. Among the options for protecting abortion access discussed have been constitutional entrenchment, reliance on international human rights law as grounding reproductive rights, partial decriminalisation, and a reorientation of judicial interpretation towards proportionality analysis. However, comparative experience in Europe and elsewhere shows that these tools are not, on their own, sufficient to prevent the rise of far-reaching conscientious objections, abortion deserts, and the constitutional recognition of foetal personhood. The gendered nature of democratic backsliding has also highlighted the fragility of prior rights gains. This comparative experience thus calls for a serious reassessment of gradual decriminalisation and judicial rights balancing as the means to protect abortion rights. This talk will reflect on the current state of abortion constitutionalisation in Europe in the search for reproductive justice. Register Related events