What Will Post-Roe Campuses Be Like?

The news had been anticipated, but it was still jarring. The U.S. Supreme Court will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the almost half-century-old legal precedent that established access to abortion as protected by the Constitution, according to a draft opinion that was leaked to Politico and published on Monday night.

The justices are slated to issue their final ruling on the relevant case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, this summer. If it strikes down Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 case that largely reaffirmed it, more than a dozen states would quickly criminalize abortion and a dozen others would follow. Many institutions in those states, including colleges, would be left scrambling to adapt. As instructors already report striking levels of disenchantment among students — some of it due to life events getting in the way of education — abortion restrictions could, in some cases, add more complications to tumultuous private lives. Medical schools could be left puzzled about what they’re allowed to teach. And, in the years to come, colleges may find themselves struggling to attract top talent as professors balk at moving to states with aggressive abortion laws on the books.