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Espanta Cigüeñas

Race and Abortion in the US-Mexico Borderlands

Bibliographic Data

ID2229420
AuthorsLina-Maria Murillo (University of Iowa, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume48
Issue4
Pages795-823
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSigns: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0097-9740 • E-ISSN: 1545-6943
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/724439
OpenAlexW4381487278
LanguageES
Citations received6
References cited11

In this essay, I draw from reproductive justice theory, arguing for greater analyses of reproductive health histories through an intersectional feminist lens. Decentering US-centric reproductive rights histories and paying special attention to race, class, and gender helps unravel the intricate narrative that tied abortion providers in northern Mexico to a racialist logic of danger, dirt, and death in the years before Roe v. Wade. These logics were deployed by doctors, attorneys, and activists in the United States as justification for the legalization of abortion. By tackling the history of anti-Mexican racism and racialist images of the borderlands region itself, using oral histories as well as patient and doctor testimonials, this article is a counternarrative to the myths about Mexican abortions before 1973. Using feminist, antiracist analysis, this article also adds to abortion travel scholarship, opening new pathways for research about reproductive health-care migrants and providers in the global South

Abortion · Criminology · Economic Justice · Feminism · Legalization · Mythology · Narrative · Political science · Race (biology) · Racism · Reproductive health · Reproductive justice · Scholarship · Sociology · American History and Culture · Demography · Gender Studies · History · Latin American and Latino Studies · Law · Race, History, and American Society

  • ‘Desbordering’ abortion

    Open Access•Madeleine Belfrage, Cordélia Freeman et al.•Gender Place & Culture•2026

  • The Business of Abortion

    Open Access•Sarah Elvins, Katherine Parkin•Enterprise & Society•2024

  • Decolonial reproductive geopolitics after Dobbs

    Celina Doria, Celina M Doria•Gender Place & Culture•2026

  • Beyond trucks and tariffs

    Open Access•Theresa O’keefe, Niall Gilmartin et al.•Irish Journal of Sociology•2026

  • Place‐based reproductive justice and resistance

    Open Access•Elizabeth Mills, Debra Delaet et al.•Feminist Anthropology•2024

  • Strategic (Non)Disclosure

    Open Access•Kathleen Broussard•Journal of Health and Social…•2024

  • The Pro-Choice Movement

    Suzanne Staggenborg•The pro-choice movement•1991

  • Border Contraband

    George T Díaz•Border Contraband•2015

  • How Race Is Made in America

    Natalia Molina•How Race Is Made in America•2019

  • Abortion and the Politics of Mother hood

    Susan Walters•Family & Community Health•1986

  • Abortion travels

    Open Access•Leslie J Reagan•Journal of Modern European History•2019

  • Desert Immigrants

    Ralph H Vigil, Mario T García•International Migration Review•1982

  • Smeltertown

    J Mcdonald•Journal of American History•2011

  • Doctors of conscience

    Ortiz Ortega Adriana•Reproductive Health Matters•1996

  • Crossing the Border for Abortions

    Leslie J Reagan•Feminist Studies•2000

  • Beyond the Borders of the Law

    Open Access•Lucas Volkman, Lucas P Volkman•Journal of American History•2020

Unique citing works6
Citations per year3
Citation span2024 - 2026 (3)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 6

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