Rachel is the Dean of Temple University's Beasley Law School in Philadelphia, Rachel is one of the country's leading experts on reproductive law. Her work has been published in several Law Reviews and the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender.

Rachel is a 2001 Mitchell Scholar. She received an LLM in International Law from Queen's University, Belfast. Her studies focused on the women's rights component of the Bill of Rights process in Northern Ireland in 2001. Following the completion of her scholarship year, Rachel remained in Ireland and worked first for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission coordinating submissions and then for Queen's University as a researcher examining how countries were incorporating new human rights standards into their legal systems. On her return to the United States she attended Harvard Law School.

Rachel has worked on women's rights issues in a number of capacities throughout her career. Working in the academic environment allows her to combine teaching and scholarship whilst remaining engaged with relevant social issues and participating in public debate.

Rachel obtained her undergraduate degree from Trinity University, Texas.