Public Health’s Preemption Problem: Key Health Justice Impacts and Updates
Overview
April 12, 2023 | 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. ET
“Preemption,” in a nutshell, is the idea that laws issued by a higher level of government can invalidate lower level laws. In practice, a state may use its preemptive authority to prevent a locality from taking certain action, and the federal government can similarly prevent a state from acting in certain arenas. Preemption helps to ensure that, when laws conflict, there is a clear path to determining which law governs. Yet applying preemption has practical impacts; impacts which shape the lives and health of the public. Preemption may mean that the federal government can take steps to protect the public’s health through federal regulation despite alternate or conflicting state views.
Yet preemption can also be weaponized against public health in certain arenas, as states block innovative or health-protective measures taken by localities. Recently, preemption landscapes have changed in certain key arenas including transgender discrimination, race in school curricula, and reproductive health. Attend this webinar to learn about the current U.S. preemption landscape in these arenas through the lens of health equity and justice to illustrate both the power of preemptive actions as well as the potential threats certain preemptive actions may pose to the public’s health.
View/Download Webinar Slides
By attending the webinar, you will:
- understand how states are wielding preemption as a tool in discriminating against transgender people;
- learn about the backlash against critical race theory and how states are broadly preventing any discussion related to race in school classrooms; and
- learn about key topics in preemption relating to reproductive rights and reproductive health, from federal and state perspectives, post-Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (June 2022).
Moderator: Amy Cook JD, Senior Law and Policy Analyst, Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University Beasley School of Law
Presenters:
- Jennifer L. Piatt, J.D., Deputy Director, Network for Public Health Law—Western Region Office
- Sabrina Ruchelli, J.D., Law and Policy Analyst, Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University Beasley School of Law
- Sterling Johnson, J.D., Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University Beasley School of Law; Ph.D. Student, Geography & Urban Studies, Temple University
- Adam Herpolsheimer, J.D., Law and Policy Analyst, Center for Public Health Law Research, Temple University Beasley School of Law
You may qualify for CLE credit. ASLME is an approved provider of continuing legal education credits in several states ASLME will also apply for CLE credits in other states upon request. An email from ASLME regarding CLE credits will be sent to attendees following the webinar.
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