abortion

Access to Mifepristone Could Hinge on Whether Pregnancy is "Illness"—What History Says

by Kristi Upson-Saia

Although antiabortion judges have mocked the idea that pregnancy is an illness, medical thought back to the ancient Mediterranean world have recognized the sharp downturn in women's health when they become pregnant. 

The Rise of the SCOTUS "Shadow Docket"

An increasing amount of the court's consequential business is being conducted through emergency orders in response to lower court rulings, without public argument or signed opinions, argues legal scholar Steve Vladek. Although there are reasons for fast action in some cases, the court's public legitimacy is undermined.

Texas Judge Revives Anthony Comstock's Crusade Against Reproductive Freedom

by Bill Greer

The career of Anthony Comstock shows what can happen when a highly committed moral crusader gains traction in the political system. His rehabilitation in the contemporary abortion war is cause for concern. 

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.

We Must Not Revive Slavery-Era Jurisprudence to Deal with the Complexities of Reproductive Technology

by Tamika Y. Nunley

The use of antebellum laws about the ownership of human property to resolve a dispute between a divorcing couple over frozen embryos shows the necessity of fully addressing women's reproductive freedom under the law rather than seeking simple abstractions of property. 

SCOTUS's Stay of Mifepristone Ruling a Win for Abortion Rights, but Shows Dangerous Power of "Shadow Docket"

Important judicial decisions are increasingly made through the procedural rulings the Court makes on lower-court decisions, without extensive briefings, arguments, or publicity. Law professor Steve Vladek explains why this matters, and why Samuel Alito is mad at him.

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. 

How the Comstock Act is Making a Comeback

Lauren MacIvor Thompson and Mary Ziegler discuss the history of the 19th century Comstock Act and its appeal to abortion opponents as a legal tool to ban abortion nationally. 

Medical Drawings of Pregnancy Have Centered Fetuses and Uteruses—While Erasing Women

Early depictions of the fetus in utero—imaginative as much as descriptive—were a boon to obstetric medicine, but also placed the fetus above the mother in terms of the medical system's concern, contends medical historian Rebecca Whiteley

Could the Comstock Act Help the Right Ban Abortion Nationwide?

Historian Lauren MacIvor Thompson explains how the law, which hasn't been enforced in 50 years, is being considered as a tool to secure a nationwide abortion ban by a group of Republican Attorneys General. 

Did Dobbs Return Abortion to the States and the People? LOL

by Leah Litman

The conservative legal movement has no intention of subjecting abortion to democratic processes. 

After Dobbs, Women Have Been Pushed Out of the Legal Debate on Abortion

by Felicia Kornbluh

Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk's recent ruling focused on his interpretation of the rights of fetuses and physicians, while ignoring the real-world health and reproductive concerns of women. Reproductive freedom advocates can learn from earlier generations of women who stressed the rights of women before Roe. 

Federal Judges Explain Things to Me

by Felicia Kornbluh

An ideological and fact-challeged ruling by a single judge to revoke the FDA's approval of mifepristone shows the danger of years of complacency about the security of reproductive freedom. 

After Texas Ruling on Abortion Medication, Get Ready to Hear More About the Comstock Act

by Mary Ziegler

The ruling of Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk invoked a reading of the 150 year-old anti-obscenity law to claim that the distribution of mifepristone by mail is illegal. 

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. 

History of Reproductive Law Shows Women in Power aren't the Solution

by Lara Friedenfelds

The end of Roe v. Wade makes difficult pregnancies and miscarriages potentially legaly perilous for women. The history of how the law determines fault in a lost pregnancy shows that women are as capable as men of participating in a regime that punishes other women for the ends of their pregnancies. 

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. 

Citing Slavery-Era Property Law, VA Judge Rules Embryos are Property

A bioethicist argued that the judge could have resolved a property dispute without reference to chattel slavery, and that invoking the statue was offensive.