Mary Ziegler
@maryrziegler.bsky.social
Historian, Law Professor, Guggenheim Fellow, 7 books, including Personhood and Roe: The History of a National Obsession. Bylines in the NYT, Atlantic, CNN, MSNBC, and Slate.
Writing a piece on the history and current use of the idea of "biological sex" with Reva Siegel now--check out what it's doing below. The idea is playing a major role in these cases--and in the Court's potential rethinking of sex discrimination writ large. Stay tuned for more on that!
NEW: On the shadow docket, the Supreme Court lets Trump resume misgendering trans Americans on their passports, claiming "the government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment." All three liberals dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
![This case concerns an Executive Branch policy requiring
all new passports to display an individual’s biological sex at
birth. The United States District Court for the District of
Massachusetts preliminarily enjoined the Government
from enforcing the policy, and the First Circuit declined to
stay the injunction pending appeal. The Government then
filed this stay application. Applying our familiar stay fac-
tors at this preliminary stage, we grant the application.
Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends
equal protection principles than displaying their country of
birth—in both cases, the Government is merely attesting to
a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential
treatment. And on this record, respondents have failed to
establish that the Government’s choice to display biological
sex “lack[s] any purpose other than a bare . . . desire to
harm a politically unpopular group.” Trump v. Hawaii, 585
U. S. 667, 705 (2018) (internal quotation marks omitted).
Nor are respondents likely to prevail in arguing that the
State Department acted arbitrarily and capriciously by de-
clining to depart from Presidential rules that Congress ex-
pressly required it to follow. See 22 U. S. C. §211a.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6h7b2i6ttw3l4t7pvbvxdith/bafkreiacrtgoecxjy5y7ojz7xzbun4c4nwutjcvqn4qb4p25ldpt6va5lu@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Writing a piece on the history and current use of the idea of "biological sex" with Reva Siegel now--check out what it's doing below. The idea is playing a major role in these cases--and in the Court's potential rethinking of sex discrimination writ large. Stay tuned for more on that!
This will also delay resolution of the issue, which may suit the Trump Administration, while leaving open the possibility that the judge to whom the case is transferred will buy the arguments about the Comstock Act and FDA authority.
NEW: Judge Matt Kacsmaryk transferred ongoing lawsuit against the FDA over abortion drug mifepristone to the Eastern District of Missouri. (Trump DOJ said AGs of Missouri, Kansas, Idaho couldn't sue in TX.) Denies motions to intervene from AGs of TX, FL, LA
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
October 1, 2025 at 1:18 PM
This will also delay resolution of the issue, which may suit the Trump Administration, while leaving open the possibility that the judge to whom the case is transferred will buy the arguments about the Comstock Act and FDA authority.
Two more important things: 1) this suit is meant to get a federal court to finally interpret the Comstock Act as a ban/ force a response from SCOTUS and Trump; 2) it reinforces arguments for fetal personhood (note that is a class action on behalf of all "fathers of unborn children")
We were long promised that cross-border wars over abortion would center on wrongful death suits brought by men. This may be the start, in a suit filed by Jonathan Mitchell. Why is this a big deal?
It may feel like it's not because the TX state suit and Louisiana prosecution didn't go anywhere. /1
It may feel like it's not because the TX state suit and Louisiana prosecution didn't go anywhere. /1
Breaking, at the newsletter right now: jessica.substack.com/p/california...
July 23, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Two more important things: 1) this suit is meant to get a federal court to finally interpret the Comstock Act as a ban/ force a response from SCOTUS and Trump; 2) it reinforces arguments for fetal personhood (note that is a class action on behalf of all "fathers of unborn children")
We were long promised that cross-border wars over abortion would center on wrongful death suits brought by men. This may be the start, in a suit filed by Jonathan Mitchell. Why is this a big deal?
It may feel like it's not because the TX state suit and Louisiana prosecution didn't go anywhere. /1
It may feel like it's not because the TX state suit and Louisiana prosecution didn't go anywhere. /1
Breaking, at the newsletter right now: jessica.substack.com/p/california...
July 23, 2025 at 3:02 PM
We were long promised that cross-border wars over abortion would center on wrongful death suits brought by men. This may be the start, in a suit filed by Jonathan Mitchell. Why is this a big deal?
It may feel like it's not because the TX state suit and Louisiana prosecution didn't go anywhere. /1
It may feel like it's not because the TX state suit and Louisiana prosecution didn't go anywhere. /1
Medina on its own will likely harder for plaintiffs to enforce other civil rights in federal court. And as far as reproductive health is concerned, this case could be part of a one-two punch if Trump's Big Beautiful Bill passes.
And, predictably, in Medina, Justice Thomas isn't content to axe Planned Parenthood from Medicaid.
He would go further ... "to reexamine more broadly this Court’s §1983 jurisprudence . . . ."
This is an invitation to undermine a major foundation of civil rights litigation.
He would go further ... "to reexamine more broadly this Court’s §1983 jurisprudence . . . ."
This is an invitation to undermine a major foundation of civil rights litigation.
June 26, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Medina on its own will likely harder for plaintiffs to enforce other civil rights in federal court. And as far as reproductive health is concerned, this case could be part of a one-two punch if Trump's Big Beautiful Bill passes.
Skrmetti caps off decades of movement work to rethink sex discrimination jurisprudence across the board. The goal was to ensure law could regulate based on biological difference, broadly defined --as one ADF attorney explained, to show that “one cannot deny the reality of biological sex.”
Look at how much work the Court's abortion cases do here. The majority cites Dobbs to say that regulating a medical condition/procedure isn't sex discrimination, and another abortion case, Gonzales v. Carhart, to suggest that legislatures deserve discretion when there is scientific uncertainty.
BREAKING: Supreme Court upholds Tennessee ban on transgender youth medical care
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
June 18, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Skrmetti caps off decades of movement work to rethink sex discrimination jurisprudence across the board. The goal was to ensure law could regulate based on biological difference, broadly defined --as one ADF attorney explained, to show that “one cannot deny the reality of biological sex.”
Look at how much work the Court's abortion cases do here. The majority cites Dobbs to say that regulating a medical condition/procedure isn't sex discrimination, and another abortion case, Gonzales v. Carhart, to suggest that legislatures deserve discretion when there is scientific uncertainty.
BREAKING: Supreme Court upholds Tennessee ban on transgender youth medical care
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
Supreme Court upholds Tennessee ban on transgender youth medical care
The ruling is a major setback for transgender rights, with more than 20 states enacting laws similar to Tennessee’s.
www.nbcnews.com
June 18, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Look at how much work the Court's abortion cases do here. The majority cites Dobbs to say that regulating a medical condition/procedure isn't sex discrimination, and another abortion case, Gonzales v. Carhart, to suggest that legislatures deserve discretion when there is scientific uncertainty.
Striking story: a man accused of putting abortion pills into his girlfriend's drink without her consent is being charged not with criminal abortion or reproductive coercion but with capital murder in Texas. A test for personhood politics in the state.
www.star-telegram.com/news/local/c...
www.star-telegram.com/news/local/c...
North Texas man accused of slipping abortion drug in pregnant girlfriend’s drink
A U.S. Department of Justice employee faces charges including capital murder after investigators say he forced an abortion by sneaking medication into a woman’s coffee.
www.star-telegram.com
June 9, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Striking story: a man accused of putting abortion pills into his girlfriend's drink without her consent is being charged not with criminal abortion or reproductive coercion but with capital murder in Texas. A test for personhood politics in the state.
www.star-telegram.com/news/local/c...
www.star-telegram.com/news/local/c...
The strategy in this case, involving what movement members call a guardian for the unborn, has been a defining strategy for fetal personhood since the 1960s. There are more federal personhood cases in the pipeline like this one in MN: www.mprnews.org/story/2024/1...
June 4, 2025 at 1:39 PM
The strategy in this case, involving what movement members call a guardian for the unborn, has been a defining strategy for fetal personhood since the 1960s. There are more federal personhood cases in the pipeline like this one in MN: www.mprnews.org/story/2024/1...
Today, the Trump Admin issued this on EMTALA. What does it mean?
www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...
www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...
CMS Statement on Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) | CMS
The Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) are rescinding July 2022 guidance from CMS with the subject “Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligations specif...
www.cms.gov
June 3, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Today, the Trump Admin issued this on EMTALA. What does it mean?
www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...
www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...
The study designed to give Trump a chance to revisit the rules governing mifepristone wasn't isolated. Here's the sequel; we'll see if it prompts HHS to end telehealth access. lozierinstitute.org/the-origins-...
The Origins and Proliferation of Unfounded Comparisons Regarding the Safety of Mifepristone - Lozier Institute
Abstract As part of the substantial public discourse surrounding the distribution and use of mifepristone, which is used with misoprostol to facilitate drug-induced abortions, claims comparing the saf...
lozierinstitute.org
May 28, 2025 at 7:55 PM
The study designed to give Trump a chance to revisit the rules governing mifepristone wasn't isolated. Here's the sequel; we'll see if it prompts HHS to end telehealth access. lozierinstitute.org/the-origins-...
Anyone have a copy of the MO Supreme Court order from yesterday, and Judge Zhang's February ruling? The MO courts page seems to be down?
May 28, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Anyone have a copy of the MO Supreme Court order from yesterday, and Judge Zhang's February ruling? The MO courts page seems to be down?
Huge news. This bill was heralded as a model for other states. My guess is that it was taken down by its language blocking state courts from ruling on its constitutionality. Don't be surprised if many of these proposals are back, in TX and elsewhere, minus that idea.
A TX bill to let private citizens sue people who mail abortion pills into the state WON'T pass after missing a key deadline.
It's a loss for the state's anti-abortion movement. The bill had been cited as a possible model for other ban states.
I spoke to anti-abortion activists about what's next.
It's a loss for the state's anti-abortion movement. The bill had been cited as a possible model for other ban states.
I spoke to anti-abortion activists about what's next.
A Texas bill to block abortion pills has died for now
Senate Bill 2880, which supporters hoped could halt a key source of abortion, will likely not get a vote before the end of the session.
19thnews.org
May 27, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Huge news. This bill was heralded as a model for other states. My guess is that it was taken down by its language blocking state courts from ruling on its constitutionality. Don't be surprised if many of these proposals are back, in TX and elsewhere, minus that idea.
Reposted by Mary Ziegler
worth the wait - this week's #WTHealth podcast! With @alicemiranda.bsky.social, @annaedney.bsky.social, and @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social, plus @maryrziegler.bsky.social on her new personhood book!
kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...
kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...
Bill With Billions in Health Program Cuts Passes House - KFF Health News
The House narrowly passed a budget reconciliation bill, including billions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy along with billions of dollars in cuts to health program spending. But the Senate is e...
kffhealthnews.org
May 23, 2025 at 6:37 PM
worth the wait - this week's #WTHealth podcast! With @alicemiranda.bsky.social, @annaedney.bsky.social, and @sarahkarlin-smith.bsky.social, plus @maryrziegler.bsky.social on her new personhood book!
kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...
kffhealthnews.org/news/podcast...
The GA AG claims that Adriana Smith doesn't have to be kept on life support because taking her off wouldn't qualify as a "direct abortion" and violate the state's ban. But that's wrong because GA's law is a *fetal personhood* law. Want to learn more? I have a book!
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
May 19, 2025 at 8:32 PM
The GA AG claims that Adriana Smith doesn't have to be kept on life support because taking her off wouldn't qualify as a "direct abortion" and violate the state's ban. But that's wrong because GA's law is a *fetal personhood* law. Want to learn more? I have a book!
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
AP's reporting on GA may confuse readers. It says pro-lifers are divided on personhood bills. That's true of bills authorizing punishment of women but NOT of the idea of personhood, which is what is driving events in Georgia. This isn't an outlier.
apnews.com/article/preg...
apnews.com/article/preg...
Case of brain-dead pregnant woman kept on life support in Georgia raises tricky questions
The case of a pregnant woman in Georgia who was declared brain dead and has been on life support for three months has given rise to complicated questions about abortion law and whether a fetus is a pe...
apnews.com
May 19, 2025 at 2:09 PM
AP's reporting on GA may confuse readers. It says pro-lifers are divided on personhood bills. That's true of bills authorizing punishment of women but NOT of the idea of personhood, which is what is driving events in Georgia. This isn't an outlier.
apnews.com/article/preg...
apnews.com/article/preg...
Reposted by Mary Ziegler
To be clear, it’s not that there are five votes to *uphold* Trump’s patently unlawful and unconstitutional limits on birthright citizenship; it’s that there seem to be five votes to hold that district courts can grant relief only to plaintiffs—so the policy would go into effect against all others.
May 15, 2025 at 3:16 PM
To be clear, it’s not that there are five votes to *uphold* Trump’s patently unlawful and unconstitutional limits on birthright citizenship; it’s that there seem to be five votes to hold that district courts can grant relief only to plaintiffs—so the policy would go into effect against all others.
"Investigation" into mifepristone has been a defining policy. At first, this was a way to buy time, given that the abortion issue hurts Republicans. Now it looks like political cover. Trump's past talk of state's rights will be portrayed as sincere; he will say that new data have changed his mind.
During today's HHS budget hearing, Hawley brought up that junk science report & asked RFK if he believes this is reason enough to restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
RFK: “The new data... it’s alarming & clearly it indicates that at very least that the label should be changed."
RFK: “The new data... it’s alarming & clearly it indicates that at very least that the label should be changed."
May 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM
"Investigation" into mifepristone has been a defining policy. At first, this was a way to buy time, given that the abortion issue hurts Republicans. Now it looks like political cover. Trump's past talk of state's rights will be portrayed as sincere; he will say that new data have changed his mind.
Wow--honored that @npr picked Personhood as the book of the day.
www.npr.org/2025/05/08/1...
You can pick up a copy here: www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
www.npr.org/2025/05/08/1...
You can pick up a copy here: www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
'Personhood' argues fetal rights are the next frontier of the anti-abortion movement : NPR's Book of the Day
Mary Ziegler is a law professor at UC Davis and a leading scholar on the abortion debate. In her new book Personhood, she argues that the anti-abortion movement's ultimate goal is fetal personhood, wh...
www.npr.org
May 8, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Wow--honored that @npr picked Personhood as the book of the day.
www.npr.org/2025/05/08/1...
You can pick up a copy here: www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
www.npr.org/2025/05/08/1...
You can pick up a copy here: www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
Want to make sense of the Trump filing yesterday? Remember it says nothing about FDA approval of mifepristone or whether the Comstock Act is an abortion ban. Trump is giving himself room to do whatever he wants on mifepristone on his own timeline. And one more thing:
Column | Three years after Dobbs leak, abortion no longer dominates politics
In Trump 2.0, reproductive rights is not the most central issue galvanizing voters, leaving Democrats searching for a winning message.
www.washingtonpost.com
May 6, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Want to make sense of the Trump filing yesterday? Remember it says nothing about FDA approval of mifepristone or whether the Comstock Act is an abortion ban. Trump is giving himself room to do whatever he wants on mifepristone on his own timeline. And one more thing:
Today, in a huge case on mifepristone, the Trump Administration filed a brief arguing that the state plaintiffs couldn't satisfy venue requirements in Amarillo & don't have standing.
litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/u...
What does it mean?
litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/u...
What does it mean?
litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu
May 5, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Today, in a huge case on mifepristone, the Trump Administration filed a brief arguing that the state plaintiffs couldn't satisfy venue requirements in Amarillo & don't have standing.
litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/u...
What does it mean?
litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/u...
What does it mean?
Thanks to @velshimsnbc.bsky.social for the chance to talk about fetal personhood and my new book, Personhood.
Here's a link to the New Yorker review: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
You can pick up a copy here or at your bookstore:
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
Here's a link to the New Yorker review: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
You can pick up a copy here or at your bookstore:
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
May 4, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Thanks to @velshimsnbc.bsky.social for the chance to talk about fetal personhood and my new book, Personhood.
Here's a link to the New Yorker review: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
You can pick up a copy here or at your bookstore:
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
Here's a link to the New Yorker review: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
You can pick up a copy here or at your bookstore:
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
Looking forward to joining @velshi.com on @velshimsnbc.bsky.social to talk about Personhood. Hope you can listen!
In her new book “Personhood” @maryrziegler.bsky.social says that the next step of the anti-abortion movement is fetal personhood laws that claim a fetus should have constitutional protections. She joins @ 11aET on what this would mean for reproductive care & why this fight is far from over. #Velshi
May 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Looking forward to joining @velshi.com on @velshimsnbc.bsky.social to talk about Personhood. Hope you can listen!
Reposted by Mary Ziegler
NEW: The US anti-abortion movement's ultimate goal was never just overturning Roe v. Wade. Since its inception, it has always been a fetal-personhood movement. Check out an excerpt from @maryrziegler.bsky.social's new book, "Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction."
Book Excerpt: “Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction,” by Mary Ziegler
The fetal personhood movement already succeeded in eliminating what many viewed as a fundamental right. Its continued effects could be even further-reaching.
statecourtreport.org
April 24, 2025 at 9:04 PM
NEW: The US anti-abortion movement's ultimate goal was never just overturning Roe v. Wade. Since its inception, it has always been a fetal-personhood movement. Check out an excerpt from @maryrziegler.bsky.social's new book, "Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction."
Thanks to @hereandnow.bsky.social for featuring Personhood today, and to @tizianadearing.bsky.social for a wonderful conversation. Hope you enjoy reading!
www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
How 'personhood' has fueled a 'civil war over reproduction'
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, that was only the beginning for some anti-abortion activists.
www.wbur.org
April 25, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Thanks to @hereandnow.bsky.social for featuring Personhood today, and to @tizianadearing.bsky.social for a wonderful conversation. Hope you enjoy reading!
www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...
www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2...
www.amazon.com/Personhood-N...