pregnancy

‘Let It Be Unto Me’: Akin, Rape, and the Early Church

By

A pair of historians discuss Republican rep. Todd Akin’s remarks on “legitimate rape”: the female body carries a huge burden of representation: her ability to protect the boundaries of her body, and to maintain her purity, reflects the church’s ability to do the same.

Read More

“Pregnancy is Not a Disease”: Birth of an Anti-Contraception Rallying Cry

By

What makes the claim that “pregnancy is not a disease” compelling right now? Why does it have cultural traction? Where does it come from? I suggest that this idea is idiosyncratic and particular to our own day. Precisely because it’s such a timely notion, it’s predictable that this would be the anti-contraception rebuttal. At the same time, it’s a claim that’s full of tensions.

Read More