Introduction
1. The Past Is Never Dead ... : Reproductive Governance in Modern
Mexico
2. The Right to Sin: Abortion Rights in the Shadow of the
Church
3. Being (a) Patient: The Making of Public Abortion
4. Abortion as Social Labor: Protection and Responsibility in
Public Abortion Care
5. At the Limit of Rights: Abortion in the Extralegal Sphere
Conclusion
Elyse Ona Singer is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma.
"This engrossing ethnography shows legal abortion in Mexico City to
be a much-needed expansion of healthcare—and a site where norms of
'good' and 'responsible' womanhood are perpetuated rather than
challenged. By sharing patients, staff, and activist experiences of
this conundrum with nuance and care, Singer enables readers to
think in new ways about what reproductive justice might truly
mean."—Emily Wentzell, Associate Professor of Anthropology, The
University of Iowa
"Elyse Ona Singer's beautiful, riveting account takes us inside
Mexico's reckoning with reproductive rights. Her moving, honest
stories from Mexico City abortion clinics show staff and patients
acting with humility, humanity, and a healthy dose of ethical
ambivalence. Lawful Sins is a brilliant, timely ethnography,
offering insights into the tangled relations between Church and
state as each strives to control reproductive lives and
bodies."—Lynn M. Morgan, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Mount
Holyoke College
"In lucid and lively prose, Elyse Ona Singer tells a surprising
story about abortion in Mexico. Yes, in Mexico City abortion is now
legal. But the women who seek it refuse to live as autonomous
rights bearers. Instead, they reckon with abortion only in relation
to others: their families and God. Crucial reading for anyone
engaged in debates about contemporary personhood, autonomy and
reproductive governance."—Elizabeth F.S. Roberts, Professor of
Anthropology, University of Michigan
"Elyse Ona Singer provides an antidote to rigid U.S. abortion
discourse by inviting the reader to delve into Mexico's abortion
climate—characterized as it is by its endless shades of gray and
nuance. ... despite being an 'outsider' in her research, Singer
paints a vivid and moving account that indicates a deep respect for
and desire to understand both Mexico and its people."—Andréa
Becker, Gender & Society
"An incredibly timely book,Lawful Sinsis an important intervention
in hemispheric and indeed global debates about women and
reproduction. Highly recommended."—B. A. Lucero, CHOICE
"At such a turbulent time for abortion access in the Americas,
Singer's book offers a chance for reflection and deeper
understanding of the many issues at stake....Lawful Sins invites
the reader to think beyond rights and engage instead with
justice-oriented frameworks."—Lucía Guerra Reyes, American
Ethnologist
"A central contribution of Singer's book is the clear window it
provides into the everyday goings-on inside Mexico City's ILE
clinics. The reader gets a vivid sense of clinicians' and patients'
experiences at clinics, as well as the infrastructural problems
that make abortion difficult to provide and to access, including
resource shortages, long wait times, limited appointments, and
challenging commutes."—Natalie L. Kimball, Hispanic American
Historical Review
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