An expert panel is scheduled on Oct. 12 to explain the recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

Earlier this year, the decision to overturn the Constitutional right to abortion was taken by the U.S. Supreme Court, giving states the right to regulate or ban abortion.

The Lindenwood’s Public Health Student Association decided they wanted to host this panel to give the community more information about the decisions that had been made in Missouri as far as abortion and how it would impact others.

“It is not a debate or anything like that. So people don’t have to feel like they have to come and
pick sides during this panel. It’s strictly to educate,” Organization members Aniah Moore and Izzy Folan said.

What the current abortion law in Missouri is after the June 2022 ruling is abortions in the state of Missouri are illegal in all cases except for if it is a medical emergency that need to be done to save the pregnant person’s life.

What Missouri defines as a medical emergency is if the pregnant person does not receive the abortion immediately, they will die, or suffer irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily
Function.

A key point of what will be touched on during the panel is more information will be told about the SCOTUS ruling and how it affects people nationally and locally. And more specifically the legal, political, and personal effects of the ruling.

The association wants the community to know how the ruling will impact different groups of people and what those different groups think about the ruling.

This is their reasoning for having experts be a part of the panel so they can tell what their opinions are. The PHSA wants this panel to be a safe space for people to gain any clarification about anything they do not understand, and to give them local resources if they need help.

One of the experts of the panel is Sidney Watson, JD. Watson is a specialist in health law and health care access for the poor. Her legal career has been dedicated to advocating for low-income people. Both as a legal services lawyer and as a law professor. She received her bachelor’s from University of Southern Louisiana in 1974 and her juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1977.

The next expert is Senator Andrew Koenig. He represents the 15th District, which includes central, southwest and west St. Louis County. He is a 2001 graduate of Marquette High School and received his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Lindenwood University in 2005. He served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2009-2016.

The next expert is Senator Karla May. She represents the 4th Senatorial District comprising a portion of the City of St. Louis, Richmond Heights, and Shrewsbury. She was sworn into office on Jan. 9, 2019.

Before she was elected to the Missouri Senate, she served as a state representative for the 84th District in the Missouri House of Representatives. She was elected in 2010 and she served eight years. She received her Associate of Science in Business Administration from Forest Park Community College and got her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Saint Louis University.

Representing Birthright St. Charles will be Sheri Petruso. She is their Executive Director and Counselor. Birthright has been in St. Charles since 1981 when they started as a branch of Birthright St. Louis. In 2010, they became independent to support the needs of the growing St. Charles community.

They have counselors who have their master’s degrees and the knowledge to go over all of someone’s options with them. They can also refer people to helpful resources that know how to help and assist. Representing the Hope Clinic for Women is Hanz Dismer. They are counselors at the clinic.

The clinic has been serving the St. Louis region since 1974. It also is a member the National Abortion Federation and the Abortion Care Network. Those are national organizations that promote the highest standard in patient care. Hope Clinic is also the 2017 Tiller Awardee.

The Public Health Student Association hopes that after this panel everyone at Lindenwood University will have a better understanding of the ruling, the history of Roe v. Wade, how it will impact communities, and “are able to build those personal connections in understanding that it’s so much more than just a ruling that says this is Illegal.”

The panel will happen on Oct. 12 at 5 – 7 p.m. in Harmon Hall in the Dunseth Auditorium.