In this episode, Mary Ziegler of the UC Davis School of Law and Stephen Gilles of the Quinnipiac University School of Law join to discuss Ziegler’s new book Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction, which explores the history and goals of the anti-abortion movement in the United States.
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Today’s episode was produced by Bill Pollock and Griffin Richie. It was engineered by Bill Pollock. Research was provided by Gyuha Lee, Griffin Richie, Trey Sullivan and Tristan Worsham.
Participants
Mary Ziegler is the Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Law at the UC Davis School of Law. She has written several critically acclaimed books on the law, history, and politics of reproduction in the United States.
Stephen Gilles is a Professor of Law Emeritus at the Quinnipiac University School of Law. He has written several law review articles on parental and reproductive rights.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)
- Mary Ziegler, Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction (2025)
- Mary Ziegler, Abortion and Law in America: Roe v. Wade to the Present (2020)
- Stephen Gilles, “What Does Dobbs Mean for the Constitutional Right to a Life-or-Health-Preserving Abortion,” Mississippi Law Journal (2023)
- Stephen Gilles, “Why Fourteenth Amendment Personhood Requires Live Birth,” Notre Dame Journal of Ethics and Public Policy (2025)
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