Priscilla J. Smith (born 1963) is an American
attorney and professor, notable for her advocacy for
abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
in the United States. She is currently employed as a Clinical Lecturer and Program Director for the Study of Reproductive Justice at The
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
. She previously served as an attorney and U.S. Legal Program Director at the
Center For Reproductive Law & Policy.
Notable Work
Smith gained fame for her role in the landmark
Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
case ''
Gonzales v. Carhart
''Gonzales v. Carhart'', 550 U.S. 124 (2007), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. The case reached the high court after ...
'' in 2007. She argued on behalf of abortion provider
LeRoy Carhart
LeRoy Harrison Carhart (October 28, 1941 – April 28, 2023) was an American physician from New Jersey best known for performing abortions late in pregnancy. He was known for his participation in the Supreme Court cases '' Stenberg v. Carhart' ...
to challenge the constitutionality of the
, a federal law banning the practice of
intact dilation and extraction
Intact dilation and extraction (D&X, IDX, or intact D&E) is a surgical procedure that terminates and removes an intact fetus from the uterus. The procedure is used both after miscarriages and for abortions in the second and third trimesters of ...
. The Supreme Court, in the majority opinion authored by Justice
Anthony Kennedy
Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Pres ...
, upheld the law and ruled against Carhart.
In 2001, she also argued in ''
Ferguson v. City of Charleston'' against nonconsensual drug testing for obstetrics patients at Medical University of South Carolina''.'' The women who were tested positive were often arrested and imprisoned on
child abuse
Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...
charges. The Supreme Court ruled that the forced drug tests were unconstitutional and a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
In 2017, Smith testified before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, arguing against the constitutionality of the Heartbeat Protection Act.
Education
Smith received her BA from
Yale College
Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...
in 1984 and her JD from Yale Law School in 1991.
References
External links
Oyez.org profile
American lawyers
American abortion-rights activists
Living people
1963 births
Yale College alumni
Yale Law School alumni
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