The Rhetoric of Reproduction: Panel 3

April 17, 2015

This symposium explores the ways in which courts, commentators, and advocates have framed reproductive rights, rhetorically and doctrinally. Are reproductive rights best conceptualized as an aspect of privacy, liberty, or equality? How has the framing of abortion restrictions as protecting women’s health led to greater success for the anti-abortion movement? Is the Obamacare contraception mandate best understood as a threat to religious freedom, a vindication of women’s equality, or a straightforward health care coverage requirement? How have sex- and race-selective abortion bans worked to affiliate abortion with eugenics and deny the agency of women of color? These and other issues are considered as panelists discuss the doctrinal, political, and rhetorical construction of reproductive rights.