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Jill C. Morrison, Senior Counsel

Jill C. Morrison is Senior Counsel in Health and Reproductive Rights at the National Women’s Law Center. Since joining the Center in 1998 as a Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow, her focus has been on religious restrictions on reproductive health services. Ms. Morrison is a graduate of Rutgers University and Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism and president of the Black Law Students' Association. She served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Sterling Johnson Jr., Eastern District, New York. Ms. Morrison also practiced in Philadelphia as a Bar Foundation Fellow with the Women’s Law Project, and as an associate with Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll. Ms. Morrison currently serves on the board of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and teaches Reproductive Justice at the University of the District of Columbia Law School.

My Take

A Must See: Colbert on the Shackling of Pregnant Women while in Labor

Posted by Jill C. Morrison, Senior Counsel | Posted on: October 17, 2011 at 02:33 pm

Just an update on a case I wrote about back in May.Stephen Colbert

In August, a jury awarded Juana Villegas $200,000 in damages after a federal court ruled that a sheriff’s office violated her constitutional rights when she was shackled while in labor.

I was shocked, but not surprised at the negative reaction to my original blog. Some seem to believe that being a non-citizen renders one less than a full human being. Leave it to The Colbert Report to perfectly capture the current tone of the debate.  

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Some Good (But Not Great) News on Shackling

Posted by Jill C. Morrison, Senior Counsel | Posted on: August 19, 2011 at 05:26 pm

Our colleagues at the Virginia ACLU report that their state Department of Corrections has taken steps to limit the use of restraints on pregnant women in their state’s facilities.  We applaud their efforts to recognize and address this serious and dangerous practice

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Before debating whether “pregnancy is a disease,” read the Best. Opinion. Ever.

Posted by Jill C. Morrison, Senior Counsel | Posted on: July 21, 2011 at 10:20 am

The recent headline at CBS news stating “pregnancy is not a disease” has compelled me to resurrect the Best. Opinion. Ever. Unfortunately, it was overturned on appeal, but that takes nothing away from its eloquence. The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp describes pregnancy in gender neutral terms, leaving little doubt that if men suffered the following, no one would be making the “oh, it’s so natural and beautiful” argument. I cut out the footnotes that were in the opinion to make for easier reading, but you legal geeks can find In re Union Pacific R.R. Employment Practices Litigation, 378 F.Supp.2d 1139 (D. Neb. 2005).

Enjoy!

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Women's Health Week: It's time to get informed on religious refusals to provide health care.

Posted by Jill C. Morrison, Senior Counsel | Posted on: May 11, 2011 at 02:21 pm

It was almost one year ago that the media was in an tizzy about Sister Margaret McBride, the nun who was excommunicated for allowing a life-saving abortion in the Catholic-affiliated St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Travels with Mom

Posted by Jill C. Morrison, Senior Counsel | Posted on: May 06, 2011 at 04:51 pm

Jill and her mom in EgyptMy mom is my "road dog." Social Security pays for the necessities, so she can spend her retirement traveling with me.

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