Queering Reproductive Justice and Liberating Abortion are not books of theory. I want to make this clear from the start because the work of “queering” a topic can sometimes be followed by paragraphs filled with words like deontological, epistemic, and discursive (not that there’s anything wrong with those words). The work that the author of Queering Reproductive Justice, Professor Candice Bond-Theriault, urges her readers to do begins with accepting and honoring certain realities, including how marriage equality has been a boon to many queer folks but has also rightly been critiqued as a capitulation to heteronormativity (a word that fits quite nicely into many a theoretical discussion but also does work in the real world).1 She writes of the reality of queer people as abortion seekers and birth parents. And she writes of the reality of sex work as a legitimate form of labor and of sex workers as people who deserve to be protected like all workers. She is well aware that a country that broadly embraces all of these realities is far different from the one that we presently inhabit.
In a similar vein, Liberating Abortion by Renee Bracey Sherman and Regina Mahone challenges its readers to imagine a different world in which abortion is not just a medical procedure, but a form of healthcare that people require to be able to lead self-actualized lives. The authors envision a world without abortion stigma where people can freely choose when they wish to become parents and can find support, financially and otherwise, to pursue their life plans. It is a world in which abortion is understood and protected as a natural phenomenon with deep historical roots around the world, including in the United States, not an aberration. A world in which abortion is a normal part of the lives of people with the capacity for pregnancy. And a world in which money to support families is more important than money to wage war.
Both books are impactful in their own ways and have a particularly heightened resonance in a country where our politics are deeply divisive and seemingly irreconcilable, especially around the issues discussed in these books — abortion, contraception, marriage equality, racial equity, trans rights, prisoners’ rights, and more. But the message of each book resonates no matter who sits in Congress, in the White House, or on the Supreme Court, because an America that lives the promises of its founding documents remains elusive for many of us. The question that these books ask and seek to answer is how we get to that America from here.
This review considers the intersections and diversions in these two books, one applying the reproductive justice (RJ) frame to LGBTQIA+ movements and the other applying the same frame to abortion movements. Each book raises issues about what it means to queer a topic, the role of law in liberation movements, the tug of assimilation versus liberation, and the power and necessity of storytelling — all of which will be considered in turn. More specifically, this review makes three primary arguments: First, Queering Reproductive Justice grounds itself in the advocacy and activism of mainstream movements while failing to rigorously confront some of the scathing critiques of the nonprofit industrial complex whose work and place in the LGBTQIA+ movement the author centers. This is a missed opportunity to highlight the lessons of RJ, a movement steeped in a bold critique of mainstream reproductive rights organizing and the ways in which that organizing has left so many behind. By contrast, while Liberating Abortion makes explicit the authors’ frustration with mainstream advocacy organizations, it does not offer a blueprint for liberation that eschews any role for nonprofits. Second, the two books take substantially different approaches to narrative, in part because Liberating Abortion is less interested in mainstream activism and finds its foundation in grassroots activism. Consequently, the emotional punch, the groundedness, and the visceral nature of the calls to action in each book land quite differently, with Liberating Abortion seemingly more steeped in the roots of RJ. Finally, as the more law-focused book, Queering Reproductive Justice contains elements of analysis that miss the mark or that provide incomplete explanations for legal phenomena that are even more crucial to understand and get right as we experience Trump 2.0 and Project 2025.
Despite their differences, these works are compelling bookends that inform, and, if the authors are lucky, move people to act on the principles of RJ in their work and lives.
Continue Reading in the Full PDF
* Professor of Law and Co-Dean Emeritus, Rutgers Law School in Camden. Many thanks to the editors of the Harvard Law Review for a wonderful editing experience and so much flexibility in constructing this review, including allowing me to review two books! Thanks also to my research assistant, Zoé Bertrand, for making sure all of my citations were completed.