Recent Executive Orders have profoundly affected social work practice, particularly in areas impacting vulnerable and marginalized communities. Shifts in federal policies and agency structures have further reshaped access to critical services, presenting new challenges for social workers committed to advocacy, equity, and justice. These changes have also raised ethical dilemmas around our profession’s core values and responsibilities, as outlined in the NASW Code of Ethics.
Join us for this lunchtime series, a collection of speakers over one-hour virtual sessions designed to provide food for thought and actionable insights. Each session will feature discussions on critical policy shifts, their implications for social work practice, and actionable strategies to support vulnerable and marginalized communities. This series offers a space for reflection, dialogue, and professional growth in the face of our evolving social and political landscapes.
Open to all students, alumni, and practitioners
Free to attend | 1.0 CEU available for $10 per session (LCSW/LSW and LCPC/LPC)
Reproductive Rights in This Moment: Where Confidentiality, Self-Determination, and Social Work Values Meet
May 13, 2025
12:00-1:00pm CST
1.0 CE for LCSW/LSW or LCPC/LPC
$10 for CEs, free for no CEs
When the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision landed on June 24, 2022, half a century of reproductive rights protections in the United States changed in an instant. Depending on a person’s location, their rights to make decisions about their reproductive healthcare may vary widely, and their medical providers’ ability to aid them in this decision-making and provide evidence-based care may have changed drastically. Changes to not only abortion care, but also miscarriage care, in vitro fertilization, and family planning of many kinds have occurred in many locations. With continued legislative and judicial efforts to restrict reproductive freedoms further in motion at the federal level, what can we as social workers do to support those in our communities who may be affected? Recalling our professional values around confidentiality, self-determination, and advocacy can anchor social workers in this moment. This session will provide broader context for the current challenges to reproductive rights, strategies for centering the confidentiality and self-determination of the individuals we serve, and a call to action to advocate for change that centers on the dignity and worth of those whose reproductive autonomy is at risk.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will be able to identify historical and present legislative and judicial policy-making that has shaped the current landscape of reproductive rights challenges.
- Participants will be able to connect social work values of confidentiality and self-determination to specific strategies they can utilize to support the reproductive rights concerns of individuals they serve.
- Participants will be able to articulate the role of advocacy as a social worker value and mechanism to make political change to support their communities’ needs for reproductive rights protections.
Registration:
If you do NOT need CEUs for LCSW/LSW or LCPC/LPC, register via the link below:
If you DO need CEUs for LCSW/LSW or LCPC/LPC, register via the link below:
Speaker:
Molly M. McLay
Molly M. McLay, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and therapist who has worked as a mental health educator, researcher, and advocate on issues such as gender-based violence, LGBTQIA support, anxiety, neurodivergence, chronic illness, and sexual health from her current home base of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, for the last 15 years. In early 2024, she opened Molly McLay Counseling & Consultation Services, PLLC, an organization that provides psychotherapy, clinical supervision, and medical advocacy virtually to individuals across the state. She has spent time working toward a PhD in social work at Washington University in St. Louis, and she has previously worked at a group therapy practice, the University of Illinois Women’s Resources Center, and a federally qualified health center with at-risk pregnant and parenting women. She has also been a member of the Champaign County Mental Health Board for the last 3 years and became president of the board in June 2024. Molly has also spent the last 3 years undergoing treatments for infertility and pregnancy loss, and she is the mother of a stillborn daughter conceived via IVF. She is committed to strengthening mental health supports for those who have experienced any kind of reproductive health challenges and believes all birthing people deserve decision-making autonomy over their healthcare.