Authors explore evolution of abortion laws before and after Dobbs
Professors Deborah R. McFarlane and Wendy L. Hansen began research before Roe was overturned
Two leading experts on reproductive rights published a book earlier this year that details the regulations that arose before and after the Dobbs decision that took away the constitutional right to abortion care.
Dr. Deborah R. McFarlane and Dr. Wendy L. Hansen wrote Regulating Abortion: The Politics of US Abortion Policy, which was released in May. Like many scholars, they began the research before Roe v. Wade was overturned. The book is divided into seven chapters, each focusing on comparative policies between states and America and European countries.
“Roe laid out a framework,” McFarlane said. ‘So it was allowing them. But the issue got more politicized. No question about it. After Roe, you have the anti-abortion movement really picking up steam.”
One of the first major points the book makes is the paradox of how abortion became safer as time went on and yet became more subject to regulations. The authors attribute that to morality politics–with abortion being portrayed as a medically unethical procedure by legislators associated with the antiabortion cause.
The authors give a brief history of abortion laws before Roe. As of 1800, none of the 16 states had any restrictions on abortion. The practice was governed by English common law, which stipulated that abortion was permissible before the quickening, which was the point of fetal movement. Later, it was regulated under the guise that it was too dangerous for women to undergo.
One crucial figure that they wrote about was Dr. Horatio Storer, who was an influential gynecologist in the mid-1800s who pushed for anti-abortion legislation because he thought fetuses had the same rights as those who were born. Additionally, the American Medical Association wanted to force out midwives from the field of maternal care, so outlawing abortion played a role in that.
Another book related to that last point that readers may want to explore is Birth Control: The Insidious Power of Men over Motherhood. Author Allison Yarrow explores how women typically handled birth in the United States until men began going to Europe to study medicine.
They then stole the practice from midwives, who had taught them how to deliver babies. When women initially went to the hospital, there were more deaths because doctors didn’t wash their hands or use many antiseptic techniques. Yarrow thinks maternal care would be dramatically better had birthing remained the province of midwives over the centuries,
McFarlane and Hansen later explore the proliferation of abortion laws that incrementally chipped away at abortion rights after it was legalized by the Supreme Court. Among those were the infamous TRAP laws, which is shorthand for Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers. These laws forced abortion providers to adhere to elaborate restrictions that were designed to drive up the cost of abortion care to the point where they would be incapable of operating without losing money.
The final part dispels three myths the authors say prevail among the public regarding abortion. The first was that abortion policy mirrors public opinion. Hansen explained the reality instead of the portrayal given by antiabortion activists.
“If you look at most public opinion polls, these things vary by how the question is asked,” Hansen said. “So the results can be reported in various ways. But for the most part, public opinion polls show that the majority of Americans support abortion, at least to some extent.”
The other two myths the authors dispel are the belief that abortion regulations are symbolic and that abortion regulations protect women.
Most authors who have published books this year haven’t been able to document the landmark events that have taken place in the last year. Included are the importance of ballot initiatives and using constitutional interpretations by state supreme courts to advance reproductive rights. We have yet to see what will happen if Donald Trump retakes the White House in November. Even if Democrats win, there will still be 26 states where ballot initiatives aren’t a possibility. So, it will begin a thorough process of building a grassroots movement to flip state legislatures.
All of this will require journalists and historians to document the essential changes that will come and to know the changes that came before. This book will help in the latter case.