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Personhood: The New Civil War Over Reproduction
The next phase of the war over reproduction in America
What’s next for the battle over abortion? Mary Ziegler argues that simply undoing Roe v. Wade has never been the endpoint for the antiabortion movement. Since the 1960s, the larger goal has been to secure recognition of fetuses and embryos as persons under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, a step that the modern antiabortion movement argues would make liberal abortion laws unconstitutional.
Personhood chronicles the internal struggles and changing ideas about race, sex, religion, war, corporate rights, and poverty that shaped the personhood struggle over half a century. The book explores how Americans came to take for granted that fetal personhood requires criminalization and suggests that other ways of valuing both fetal life and women’s equality might be possible. Ziegler ultimately shows that the battle for personhood has long been about more than it has aimed to overhaul the regulation of in vitro fertilization, contraception, and the behavior of pregnant women; change the meaning of equality under the law; and determine how courts decide which fundamental rights Americans enjoy. This book is necessary reading for anyone seeking to understand the era launched by the reversal of Roe.
What’s next for the battle over abortion? Mary Ziegler argues that simply undoing Roe v. Wade has never been the endpoint for the antiabortion movement. Since the 1960s, the larger goal has been to secure recognition of fetuses and embryos as persons under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, a step that the modern antiabortion movement argues would make liberal abortion laws unconstitutional.
Personhood chronicles the internal struggles and changing ideas about race, sex, religion, war, corporate rights, and poverty that shaped the personhood struggle over half a century. The book explores how Americans came to take for granted that fetal personhood requires criminalization and suggests that other ways of valuing both fetal life and women’s equality might be possible. Ziegler ultimately shows that the battle for personhood has long been about more than it has aimed to overhaul the regulation of in vitro fertilization, contraception, and the behavior of pregnant women; change the meaning of equality under the law; and determine how courts decide which fundamental rights Americans enjoy. This book is necessary reading for anyone seeking to understand the era launched by the reversal of Roe.
376 pages, Hardcover
First published April 22, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 31, 2025
3.5 stars
Interesting book about fetal personhood and its connections not only to anti-abortion movements, though also intersections with race, class, and other social identities. Well-written and astute, and I appreciated how Mary Ziegler highlights that the Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade is (unfortunately) not the end of the fetal personhood movement. Giving it a slightly lower star rating because it does read as very academic – at times like a listing of historical events – and I wonder how accessible the writing style is to general audiences.
Interesting book about fetal personhood and its connections not only to anti-abortion movements, though also intersections with race, class, and other social identities. Well-written and astute, and I appreciated how Mary Ziegler highlights that the Dobbs ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade is (unfortunately) not the end of the fetal personhood movement. Giving it a slightly lower star rating because it does read as very academic – at times like a listing of historical events – and I wonder how accessible the writing style is to general audiences.
July 12, 2025
Highly recommend. Ziegler is THE historian when it comes to abortion. This book goes through the history of fetal personhood. I was unfamiliar with the idea, and I now feel that I have a better understanding of some of those who oppose abortion so ferociously.
December 5, 2025
Such an interesting (an alarming) look at the history behind today's struggle for a woman's right to life-saving medical care. I listened to an audio-recording, and I think it would be good to revisit it in print.
May 31, 2025
A thorough examination of the American anti-abortion movement from the development of the idea of fetal personhood through today, under Dobbs... and every decade and coalition in between.
August 19, 2025
minus 1 star mainly because she used both “woman” and “pregnant person / patient” through the book, and i think it could’ve used a footnote about her thoughts on gendered language.
August 21, 2025
Made me absolutely livid. If I could give this 10 stars I would.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews