Title IX's Reproductive Remedies

Abstract

Despite the growing public outcry surrounding sexual assault at colleges and universities, the problem of pregnancy among survivors has been given inadequate attention. Meanwhile, institutions of higher education continue to resist compliance with federal law mandating insurance coverage of reproductive health care for their students. This Note argues that Title IX, the civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools, requires colleges and universities to make contraception and emergency contraception available on campus to student survivors of sexual assault. If pregnancy is understood as an injury when it results from rape, Title IX obliges schools to take these steps to remedy that injury and prevent its recurrence. In order for student survivors to realize the equal education opportunity envisioned by Title IX, access to contraception and emergency contraception is critical. Finally, I argue that reading Title IX as a vehicle for contraceptive access could reignite broader doctrinal implications for reproductive justice as an issue of sex equality.