Lori Freedman

Four out of the ten largest U.S. health care systems follow the policies of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that forbid abortion, sterilization, and related treatments in their hospitals. Drawing on rich interviews with patients and providers, Bishops and Bodies shows how these opaque restrictions conflict with medical standards, producing unjust and unequal reproductive care.

In the aftermath of the fall of Roe, this volume offers readers the opportunity to reorient scholarship and understanding about abortion, recognizing what was already true before Roe was overturned and how losing the protections of Roe forced, enabled, and perhaps even facilitated a new era of abortion. Only by understanding the historical moment when Roe fell can we anticipate what might happen next in the ongoing social and political contention over reproductive autonomy and freedom.