Personhood: The New War over Reproductive Rights and Justice

About this episode

Mary Ziegler discusses the ongoing battle over reproductive rights and the implications of personhood in relation to abortion and the law.

What’s next for the battle over abortion? In this lecture, Mary Ziegler argues that undoing Roe v. Wade was never the endpoint for the antiabortion movement. Since the 1960s, the goal has been to secure recognition of fetuses and embryos as persons under the 14th Amendment, making abortion unconstitutional. The battle for personhood also aims to overhaul the regulation of in vitro fertilization and contraception, change the meaning of equality under the law, and determine how courts decide which fundamental rights Americans enjoy. Mary Ziegler is one of the world’s leading historians of the U.S. abortion debate, and an expert on the law, history, and politics of reproduction, health care, and conservatism in the U.S. She is the author or editor of numerous articles and seven books on reproduction, autonomy, and the law. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 40704]

People in this episode

Guest: Mary Ziegler

Topics covered

• reproductive rights
• abortion
• personhood
• 14th Amendment
• in vitro fertilization
• contraception
• fundamental rights

Keywords

• abortion
• personhood
• reproductive rights
• 14th Amendment
• Mary Ziegler
• law
• health care
• in vitro fertilization
• contraception

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Walter H. Capps Center, UCTV

Books & works: Roe v. Wade

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