Abstract

The US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson is an exercise in biopolitics that facilitates institutionalized white supremacy by subjugating pregnant people’s bodies to government regulation to control reproduction. The population most likely to be controlled via this exercise of biopower is people of color because prohibitions on abortion exacerbate existing structural inequities and racism and guarantee that the poor and pregnant people of color will be forced to resort to more dangerous and desperate measures to end their pregnancies or find that they have no options at all while predominantly white and well-off pregnant people will continue to find ways to access safe abortions. As such, the justices in the Dobbs majority, to include their references to safe haven laws, are engaged in a racist exercise of biopower that puts the emotional, mental, physical and financial wellbeing of pregnant people of color and their families at risk.

Keywords: US Supreme Court; abortion; Roe v. Wade; Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization; biopolitics; white supremacy

From: New Political Science 2022 44 (3)

Editor: Wang Yi