Abortion Politics - a collection of articles from Cambridge
In the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overruled long-term precedents securing the right to choose abortion Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, we present a special collection of political science research drawn from APSA and Cambridge journals addressing the politics of abortion and abortion rights. The decision has already changed abortion policy dramatically in several US states and has opened a new era of contentious politics over both abortion and reproductive freedom. Political science has much to offer in understanding the roots and likely implications of these developments.
The collection is organized into loose categories to facilitate more in-depth consideration of different facets of the law, politics, and human impact of abortion and abortion rights.
We also highly encourage interested readers to review the collection developed by the editors of Politics & Gender.
Pre-Roe policy & politics
Four articles discuss abortion policy and politics prior to the 1973 ruling in Roe that secured the right to choose abortion.
Post-Roe policy & politics
Several additional pieces address the politics of abortion under the Roe-Casey regime, considering mobilization for and against abortion rights and practical policy questions about access.
SCOTUS & abortion
The Supreme Court has been a major player in abortion politics. Several articles have looked directly at the development of abortion jurisprudence and at how the Court has grappled with precedent in this area.
SCOTUS, elections, political norms
Three articles address the role of abortion as an issue in Supreme Court nomination and how the Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence may affect when and whether the Court itself becomes an issue in national electoral campaigns.
Abortion, political debate, partisanship & public opinion
In an era of hyper-partisanship, political scientists have considered abortion’s connection to partisan alignment, identification, and mobilization strategies.
Abortion, religion & politics
Abortion bears an important connection to religion and politics that several scholars have explored from a variety of angles.
Pregnancy, women’s health & politics
Work in political science has also addressed several aspects of pregnancy and its connection to women’s health and issues, as well as the tensions embodied in the person of the detained pregnant migrant who may ultimately give birth to a citizen.
Abortion & state legislative developments
Finally, as the Court places the responsibility for defining abortion rights and wrongs to the US states, several articles analyze how abortion politics works on the state level, providing important guidance for those seeking to anticipate where politics and policy are likely to evolve in the near-term future.
Articles from the American Political Science Review
Articles from Perspectives on Politics
Articles from PS: Political Science and Politics
Articles from Politics and Religion
Articles from Politics & Gender
From Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Articles from the Journal of Policy History
Articles from the Journal of American Studies
Articles from State Politics & Policy Quarterly
Articles from Political Science Research and Methods
Articles from Studies in American Political Development
From Political Analysis
From the British Journal of Political Science
Working papers from APSA Preprints
Access the working papers below or search APSA Preprints here for more papers relevant to this collection.