Julie Rikelman, ’93, J.D. ’97, discusses her Supreme Court win
Julie Rikelman ’93, J.D. ’97, has taken the fight for access to abortion to the Supreme Court and won. A warrior for reproductive rights, Rikelman was the lead litigator for the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, which was decided 5-4 for the plaintiff on June 29 (with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. ’76, J.D. ’79, voting with his liberal colleagues). The senior director of U.S. litigation for the Center for Reproductive Rights, Rikelman argued successfully that the Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles placed an undue burden on the women of the state. Because the Louisiana law was basically identical to one in Texas that was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2016 — a precedent emphasized by Roberts in his concurring opinion — this latest case, the first to focus on abortion...