After Morgentaler

Rachael Johnstone is an assistant professor at the Bader International Study Centre (Queen’s University, Canada) in the United Kingdom, where she instructs courses in both political studies and gender studies. She has written extensively on the politics of abortion in Canada.

"After Morgentaler provides a nuanced examination of the legislative and judicial actions that shaped access to abortion in Canada in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries."

"After Morgentaler is an important and compelling contribution to Canadian abortion scholarship."

Jocelyn Downie, professor, Faculties of Law and Medicine, Dalhousie University:
After Morgentaler makes an important contribution to our understanding of how we got to where we are on abortion now in Canada and where we might go in the future. This is an engaging and enlightening read.

Lois Harder, professor of Political Science, University of Alberta:
Rachael Johnstone has written a highly accessible and engaging account of abortion rights in Canada, arguing persuasively that the right to abortion is both precarious and partial, despite widespread public support and a legal regime that, at least nominally, grants women the right to terminate a pregnancy if they so choose. She powerfully demonstrates the limits of rights-based struggles and the nuances of the courts-versus-legislatures sideshow that can interrupt arguments for women’s reproductive choice.

Melissa Haussman, professor, Department of Political Science, Carleton University:
After Morgentaler will quickly occupy benchmark status in the comparative health care and reproductive-rights policy literatures. Through case studies, Rachael Johnstone illuminates the strategies of pro- and anti-choice groups, and health-professional organizations, by situating them in Canadian institutional, legal, and political history. The result is a clear argument for why shifting to a positive-rights understanding of the Charter is needed to safeguard women’s constitutionally protected access to reproductive health care.

Francesca Scala, associate professor of Political Science, Concordia University:
In addition to making a strong case for reconceptualising abortion as a right of citizenship for women, this book offers a useful study of comparative provincial politics and health care more generally.