Monmouth College is holding an open talk on several controversial topics as of late and how they impact the Constitution.
The event, titled “The Health of the Constitution” will be held Tuesday night and is open and free to the public, but attendees will be required to wear masks.
Two of the more contentious constitutional issues of our day, abortion rights and COVID mandates, will be the center of the discussion.
“We will be discussing COVID, abortion, and other current events topics and how they impact our discussion of the health of the Constitution and the nation as a whole,” says Monmouth College political science professor Andre Audette. “How have these debates impacted U.S. law, politics, and international affairs?”
Audette will be speaking alongside department colleague, visiting professor Jessica Vivian. Michael Nelson, chair of the department at Monmouth, will introduce the panel.
Vivian will speak on Texas Senate Bill 8, the controversial legislation that became law earlier in the year and is one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws. Audette will address COVID regulations, including quarantine laws, mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and the recent executive order by President Joe Biden.
“These are two issues that, really do, have the potential to divide the country. We’ve seen division in our everyday lives and so, how do we make sure that the Constitution remains strong and that we’re able to come out of this with some sort of basis for moving forward in our society,” Audette says. “We’ve had a decent track record of that so far. The Constitution still stands today despite some attacks against it.”
Following the presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session in which audience members are invited to ask about the issues of the evening or other current event topics related to the Constitution.
The event starts at 7:00 pm in the Morgan Room on the second floor of Poling Hall.
