
Louise P. King
MD, JD
Board Member
Louise P. King is the director of reproductive bioethics at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. She is an assistant professor of obstetrics gynecology, and reproductive medicine and has a gynecology practice at Mass General Brigham.
Dr. King is a national leader in reproductive bioethics. She is the chair of the ethics committee for the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She serves on boards related to ethics and justice, most notably the AMA Journal of Ethics and the Public Rights Project. She has been quoted extensively in the media on issues concerning reproduction, ethics, and law.
As a lawyer, Dr. King clerked for two state supreme courts and worked in public interest law. She has expertise in constitutional, criminal, and family law. This unique perspective enriches her work in ethics and medicine. As a clinical researcher she looks carefully at inequities in access to optimal surgical services and proposes solutions to encourage equity even in the setting of systemic injustice.
As an educator, Dr. King is a co-director of a first-year medical school course in ethics and co-teaches reproductive bioethics for masters-level students with Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky. She is the associate fellowship director for the surgical training fellowship in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In this role she weaves ethical teaching with mentorship and guidance to surgeons learning advanced surgical techniques. Research projects within her division have focused on racial inequities in access to minimally invasive surgery and pay disparities for female surgeons.