A Womb of One's Own

“A Womb of One’s Own provides a timely, essential account of the role of medicine in US abortion politics. Using a genealogical approach to theorize medicalized citizenship, Claire McKinney offers a rich interpretation of how medicine mediates political belongs and constructs gendered citizens.”– “Jennifer Denbow, author of Reproductive Labor and Innovation: Against the Tech Fix in an Era of Hype”“Over the past 150 years, medicine has operated as a political institution, defining women as reproductive subjects requiring expert governance rather than citizens capable of self-rule. McKinney argues that reclaiming abortion as a citizenship right - while reckoning with medicine’s historical role in women’s subordination - is essential to feminism post-Dobbs. A Womb of One’s Own is a powerful call for a feminist politics that holds liberty, equality, and health together as the inseparable conditions of full citizenship.”– “Michaele Ferguson, co-editor of Iris Marion Young: Gender, Justice, and the Politics of Difference”

Claire McKinney is Associate Professor of Government at The College of William and Mary.