CLINICAL TRIALS & RESEARCH
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Impact of Dobbs on Reproductive Health: Unintended Consequences for/on Research 

September 10, 2024 @ 10:00 am 12:30 pm

Hybrid: In-person (Boston) and Virtual (Zoom)

Topic: Impact of Dobbs on Reproductive Health: Unintended Consequences for/on Research 

In 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, against a federal right to abortion. The effects of this ruling continue to reverberate across the research ecosystem. Clinical trials often involve the administration of investigational therapies that pose reproductive risks. Because of this, participants are routinely asked to undertake measures that could pose privacy risks to them in states where elective termination of pregnancy is illegal. These measures include documentation of the results of pregnancy tests and reporting of incidental pregnancies and their outcome, among others. These risks may also extend to site staff in states where providers are prohibited from advising or facilitating elective termination of pregnancy. In addition, research on various aspects of pregnancy is itself at risk of being stifled for similar reasons. What should the research community’s response be to this situation? Is there an obligation to educate participants about these risks as part of the informed consent process? Who should bear this responsibility? What mechanisms are available to help shield participants and other stakeholders from undue risk while permitting the collection of important pregnancy data? To what extent, if any, do Certificates of Confidentiality provide sufficient legal protections? Will this ruling impact innovation in reproductive health research in the US more generally? At the next Bioethics Collaborative, we will focus on these and other questions related to the ongoing effects of the Dobbs rulingon clinical research. 

This meeting is open to sponsors of the Bioethics Collaborative. For more information about the Bioethics Collaborative and how to become a sponsor, click here.