At the Center of the Abortion Battleground

Greer Donley

The night that Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, Greer Donley knew that Roe v. Wade—the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision—would be overturned. 

A year and a half later, Donley, associate professor of law, associate dean for research and faculty development, and John E. Murray Faculty Scholar in Pitt’s School of Law, co-authored a paper titled, “The New Abortion Battleground,” that foreshadowed Roe’s reversal and the battles it would spark, both among states and between states and the federal government. Four months later, Roe was overturned and the interjurisdictional battles began.

It also began a whirlwind year for Donley. The paper was cited in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization dissenting opinion, was downloaded tens of thousands of times, and was covered by major news outlets. 

Donley and her collaborators worked to put their ideas into practice, drafting legislation and writing opinion pieces, including essays in “The New York Times” on the role of the federal government to protect abortion rights, and the role of abortion-supportive states.

“In some sense, the disruption of Roe created openings for people with new ideas,” Donley says. Since the Roe decision 50 years ago, reproductive scholars have been working within the same framework. Donley has a background in U.S. Food and Drug Administration law, which quickly became relevant as medication abortion (an abortion completed with pills alone) is now a defining difference between a pre- and post-Roe America.