reproductive rights

After Dobbs, Abortion Politics are Straining the Republican Coalition

by Daniel K. Williams

When the party could focus on appointing anti-Roe judges, the Republicans could make abortion a political issue without having to decide matters of policy that inevitably leave parts of their coalition angry and disappointed. Have they lost by winning? 

The Relevance of Common Law to Today's Abortion Debate: How Did the Law Work in Practice?

by Katherine Bergevin, Stephanie Insley Hershinow and Manushag N. Powell

Samuel Alito's ruling in Dobbs claimed to ground itself in the English common law's treatment of pregnancy. But he focused on a small number of published treatises while ignoring the record of how the law actually treated pregnant women and fetuses. 

Abortion Restrictions Aimed at Minors Will Never Stop There

by Mary Ziegler

In the years after Roe v. Wade, abortion opponents recognized both that children didn't always enjoy the same constitutional protections as adults and that many voters would separate "parental rights" from the organized effort to roll back abortion rights. The ploy was effective, and is being repeated in legislation banning travel to access abortion.

The New Anti-Abortion Movement is Targeting Complete Bans

Abortion law historian Mary Ziegler says that a younger generation of uncompromising leaders is likely to win control of the antiabortion movement and push for legislation and policy changes without regard for their public popularity. Daniel K. Williams says the Dobbs ruling has only fueled their sense of righteousness.

Judge Kacsmaryk Misread the Comstock Act

by Lauren MacIvor Thompson

The initial draft of the 1873 anti-obscenity legislation, which banned mailing information about and devices or medicines intended to induce abortion, had an exemption for physicians, and later court precedents interpreted the act as if that exemption were part of the law. Judge Kacsmaryk has ignored this legal history in his ruling. 

On Abortion, Corporate Chains Like Walgreens Fear the Republicans More than the "Woke"

by Mary Ziegler

Despite claims that "woke" corporations are pushing a left-wing agenda, Republican Attorneys General have successfully pressured Walgreens under threat of litigation to stop selling mifepristone in states where abortion remains legal. 

Texas's Abortion Ban Can Never be Made Humane

by Mary Ziegler

When abortion access depends on establishing that a pregnant woman deserves an exception to a ban, the law will inevitably prevent doctors from serving patients with problem pregnancies. 

Harvard Law Symposium on Roe 50 Years Later

A conference hosted by the Radcliffe Institute convened legal and historical scholars to discuss the future of reproductive rights. 

The Story of one of the Few Black Members of Chicago's Secret Abortion Rights Underground

Recent attention to the Jane Collective's pre-Roe activities to help women obtain abortions has passed over the work of a small number of Black women like Marie Leaner within the group, and the struggle to connect reproductive and racial justice politics. 

Black Women's Activism Ties Reproductive Rights to Broader Goals of Freedom

by Kim Gallon

Black women's reproductive lives have always been complicated by institutional racism, sexism, and the balance of personal autonomy and racial solidarity. Black feminists have struggled to use the African American press as a space to force discussion of the issues. 

Criminalizing Abortion Will Tear Families Apart

There are relatively few Americans living today whose parents were harassed or jailed for performing illegal abortions. Their stories should inform the debate today. 

Why Medical Exceptions to Abortion Bans Won't Protect Women

by Evan Hart

Under new restrictive state laws, judges and lawyers, not doctors or patients, will decide who can get a medically necessary abortion. 

A Return to the 1960s "Abortion Handbook for Responsible Women"?

by Lina-Maria Murillo

Women acting on principles of mutual aid have worked to make information about reproductive health, including terminating pregnancies, available even at risk of legal punishment. 

Leslie Reagan: Pro-Life is a Historical Misnomer

The author of "When Abortion Was a Crime" discusses the pro-life movement with Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin. 

The Battle over Reproductive Freedom Still Rages at Dr. George Tiller's Former Clinic

"It’s been more than a decade since Tiller was murdered, but at Trust Women, which reopened and rebranded under his protégé Julie Burkhart in 2013, the past has a habit of lingering outside the gates."

Abortion Is Not Just About Privacy; It's About Freedom

by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

"If women cannot dictate this most basic aspect of their being, then the Supreme Court has effectively consigned them to a distinctly secondary tier of citizenship."

Nursing Clio's Collective Reproductive History Syllabus

This is a selection from an in-progress project to develop a collectively-sourced syllabus for the history of reproduction and reproductive rights and freedom. 

A Guide from the Past for Travelers Seeking an Abortion

by Sarah Elvins

"Women traveling to procure abortions is nothing new. Before the 1973 Roe ruling, state-to-state travel existed, as did highly organized transnational networks to guide women across borders."

What the 1960s Tell Us about the Path to Secure Reproductive Freedom

by Felicia Kornbluh

Those who wish to protect abortion rights and other reproductive freedoms after the Dobbs decision must consider combining any and all strategies available, from lobbying to civil disobedience and mass action. 

What to Expect after Roe, Based on Research

by Diana Greene Foster

The author has systematically studied the consequences to women of having an abortion or having that freedom denied. She explains what to expect when states are free to outlaw abortion: more child poverty, more maternal death, and reduced opportunities for women, with the poor getting the worst of it.