Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction

by Mary Ziegler

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Feminism, Politics, Audiobook, Law, United States

376 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 22, 2025

Reviews

[Thomas]

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.

[Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard]

If you’re nosy like I am, and you enjoy learning the tea about the political infighting from the last half century among anti-abortion groups, this is the book for you.

[Haley]

3.5-4⭐️. Important history, but nothing that surprising to me - although that may be unique to my circumstances given I have in-depth experience with the evangelical church, have previously studied changes to the “pro-life” movement over time, and now follow Supreme Court repro jurisprudence pretty closely. Will say it is very much written like a history book and feels dry at times (in contrast to something like The Family Roe). I can also appreciate that she has carefully cultivated sources on both sides of the “abortion debate” and so needs to present things in a relatively neutral way, but there were times I felt like she should have explained the problems with some claims by anti-abortion activists and groups rather than simply presenting them.

[Ashley Sette]

Made me absolutely livid. If I could give this 10 stars I would.

[Sarah Jurinsky]

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.

[Nora]

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.

[Jon W.]

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.

[b]

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.