Featuring MSFC's chapter leaders, Caroline Cary and Paula Valiño.

Caroline Cary, a first-year at Washington University in St. Louis’ School of Medicine, decided to go to medical school because of her passion for obstetrics and gynecology. She was especially interested in the social justice and advocacy facet of reproductive healthcare. Yet four days after she committed to the medical school, Cary caught wind of a new decision coming from Washington, D.C.

That day, May 2, 2022, the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked which, once official, effectively overturned the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which recognized the constitutional right to abortion. The decision also allowed individual states to regulate or outlaw abortions, and shortly after the decision was released, Missouri’s trigger ban went into place, prohibiting all abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest.