Event Details
When:
-
Location:
Online: Zoom
In-Person at WWU:
Fraser Hall 101
Price:
Free
Brought to you by:
Political Science Department, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
Description
Decades before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, pregnant people faced arrest and prosecution for supposed crimes against the fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses they gestated. The Pregnancy Police investigates the legal arguments undergirding these prosecutions and sheds much-needed light on the networks of healthcare providers, social workers, and legal personnel participating in this ongoing surveillance and punishment of pregnant people. Drawing on detailed analyses of legislation, statements from prosecutors and law enforcement, and records from over a thousand arrest cases, Professor Howard traces the long history of state attempts to regulate and control people with the capacity for pregnancy—from the early twentieth century's white supremacist eugenics to the end of Roe and the ever-increasing criminalization of abortion across the United States.
Featuring:
Grace Howard, Speaker
Grace Howard is an Associate Professor of Justice Studies at San José State University. She earned her PhD in Political Science at Rutgers University, with concentrations in Women and Politics and Public Law. Her new book, The Pregnancy Police: Conceiving Crime, Arresting Personhood is set to be published by University of California Press in June 2024. Dr. Howard is a Public Voices Fellow for the 2023-2024 academic year. She was an American Fellow with the American Association for University Women in 2016-2017 and is Co-Director of the Rutgers University Informed Consent Project. Dr. Howard has authored several published works, including "The Pregnancy Police: Surveillance, Regulation, and Control" in Harvard Law and Policy Review, The Gender of Crime (2nd edition), "The Limits of Pure White: Raced Reproduction in the Methamphetamine Crisis," in the Women's Rights Law Reporter, and "Informed or Misinformed Consent?: Abortion Policy in the United States," published in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law. Her body of work explores reproductive law and policy, and the dimensions of legal personhood for people with the capacity for pregnancy.
Accommodations and Other Details
Contact Erica Steele if you have questions or need disability accommodations by emailing steelee@wwu.edu.
Advance notice for disability accommodations and special needs is greatly appreciated. Please indicate your special needs on the registration form.
There will be auto-captions available for the Zoom webinar.
Limited paid parking is available in the C lots at the south end of campus and in lots 6V and 7G at the north end of campus. Western provides comprehensive parking details—including lot locations, applicable fees, and campus map.
The views expressed by our speakers do not necessarily reflect those of Western Washington University.