''Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood'' is a nonfiction book by American scholar and law professor Michele Goodwin. The book details the criminalization of reproduction in United States and argues for choice movements to expand to a

reproductive justice Reproductive justice is a critical feminist framework that was invented as a response to United States reproductive politics. The three core values of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the righ ...

framework. It was released on March 12, 2020, by

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

Synopsis

''Policing the Womb'' centers the criminalization of birth and other aspects of reproduction in the United States, such as

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

and

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. Goodwin contextualizes the contemporary policing of reproduction within the history of American slavery and contends that women's bodies are treated as property by the American state. She describes fetal personhood legislation, the treatment of those who are incarcerated and pregnant, and many of other examples of criminal punishment for pregnant women throughout the book. She contends that this criminalization predominantly targets low-income women, Black, and Latina women by design, as these populations were never included in the vision of pro-choice movements, which center white middle-class women. Goodwin argues in favor of widening current "choice" movements to

, an expansive framework inclusive of domains like abortion access, healthcare, and mass incarceration.

Reception

Jane Richards of

Lithub Literary Hub is a daily literary website that launched in 2015 by Grove Atlantic president and publisher Morgan Entrekin, American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame editor Terry McDonell, and Electric Literature founder Andy Hunter. Conten ...

praised the book as "brilliant". In a positive review,

Katha Pollitt Katha Pollitt (born October 14, 1949) is an American poet, essayist and critic. She is the author of four essay collections and two books of poetry. Her writing focuses on political and social issues from a left-leaning perspective, including abo ...

wrote in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'': "“Policing the Womb” contains the best explanation I’ve read for the necessity of reproductive justice, not just reproductive rights." Writing for ''

Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

'', Abby Minor stated, "Just as

Michelle Alexander Michelle Alexander (born October 7, 1967) is an American writer and civil rights activist. She is best known for her 2010 book '' The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness''. Since 2018, she has been an opinion columnist ...

’s '' The New Jim Crow'' brought public attention to how the prison system reproduces the conditions of racial slavery, ''Policing the Womb'' exposes a new era of reproductive policing and harm in the United States that has gone largely unnoticed, even while it repeats histories of eugenics and forced reproduction." J. Porter Lillis hailed the research in a review for ''Journal of Social Work Values and Ethics'': "The book is an excellent, thoroughly researched text, particularly in respect to case law and case histories. This text does better than just presenting the law, it also provides the personal vignettes and stories of the women impacted by these laws."

Accolades

* Outstanding Academic Titles for 2021, ''Choice Reviews''

Publication

References

{{Reflist

External links