Carnegie Mellon University
February 14, 2014

Media Advisory: Carnegie Mellon To Hold Campus Conversation on Abortion in America

Contact: Shilo Rea / 412-268-6094 / shilo@cmu.edu

Event: Forty years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade, the political debate over abortion in America continues, with more than 40 bills introduced in state legislatures to regulate abortion access during the past two years. However, the public debates over abortion often involve misunderstandings of its history and laws.

To provide Carnegie Mellon University students with a full understanding of the abortion issue, the Office of Student Life's MOSAIC program and the Program for Deliberative Democracy will hold a daylong campus event titled Reproductive Rights Since Roe. The sessions will give CMU students and the wider Pittsburgh community the opportunity to learn from local experts about the history of sexuality and choice laws; medical facts pertaining to abortions; religious and philosophical perspectives; case studies; and more. As part of this event, a campus conversation will engage students in the practice of deliberative democracy and allow them to think about the issue from the perspectives of constitutional law, state legislation and campus policy.

"The issue of abortion in America is far more complex than the rhetoric of picket lines and sound bites," said Robert Cavalier, teaching professor of philosophy and director of the Program for Deliberative Democracy. "And through the Campus Conversation, we hope to show that citizens can indeed engage in these kinds of discussions of public policy and to do so in a civil way."

MOSAIC is a yearly community-wide gender conference held on Carnegie Mellon's campus. The objective of MOSAIC is to offer provocative sessions aimed at exploring gender construction, commonalities between and among genders, and fostering intentional dialogue around unconventional gender-based topics. Sessions are led by CMU faculty, staff and students as well as invited community members.

The Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences' Program for Deliberative Democracy supports informed, inclusive and well-structured conversations concerning important issues of relevance to the campus and the larger community.

When: Sunday, Feb. 23

Where: Rangos Hall, University Center, Carnegie Mellon University

Registration and Full Schedule: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/student-life/gender/mosaic/

Cost: Free and open to the public.

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