Description
Book SynopsisExplores the historical roots of controversies over abortion, fetal personhood, miscarriage, and maternal mortality. On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, asserting that the Constitution did not confer the right to abortion. This ruling, in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health case, was the culmination of a half-century of pro-life activism promoting the idea that fetuses are people and therefore entitled to the rights and protections that the Constitution guarantees. But it was also the product of a much longer history of archaic ideas about the relationship between pregnant people and the fetuses they carry. In Policing Pregnant Bodies: From Ancient Greece to Post-Roe America, historian Kathleen M. Crowther discusses the deeply rooted medical and philosophical ideas that continue to reverberate in the politics of women's health and reproductive autonomy. From the idea that a detectable heartbeat is a sign of moral personhood to why infant and ma
Trade ReviewTimely and important.This book is a wake-up call for those who care about and for women and children.
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Library Journal (starred review)Historian Kathleen Crowther sees a connection between Ancient Greek philosophers studying embryos and modern day abortion restrictions....In her new book,
Policing Pregnant Bodies...Crowther examines ancient metaphors that are still being used, describes the process through which early physicians came to understand fetal development, and explores the pernicious notion that a pregnant woman is the primary threat to the health of her fetus.
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NPR[Crowther] effectively shows how the same misogynistic ideas crop up repeatedly throughout history, pitting pregnant people against fetuses in a dangerous zero-sum game....In
Policing Pregnant Bodies, Crowther combines three decades of experience as a medical historian with a rare ability to communicate clearly and engagingly with a general audience.
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ScienceCrowther, a very knowledgeable historian of reproduction, effectively draws together ancient and modern religious and philosophical thought about the importance of the developing fetus and the minimal role (as told from the mostly male perspective) of the pregnant female body.This book is well researched and well referenced.
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ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction
Chapter 1. The Tell-Tale Heart
Chapter 2. The Fetus in the Bottle
Chapter 3. The Dangerous Womb
Chapter 4. The Secrets of Women
Chapter 5. Abortion and the Fetus
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
Notes
Bibliography
Index
