Vol. 10 No. 10 (October 2000) p. 532-533.

MAKING WOMEN PAY: THE HIDDEN COSTS OF FETAL RIGHTS by Rachel Roth. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2000. 246 pp. Cloth $29.95. ISBN 0-8014-3607-9.

Reviewed by Kate Greene, Department of Political Science, The University of Southern Mississippi.

Last week I responded to a letter to the editor in the University of Southern Mississippi student newspaper that criticized the paper for running a Planned Parenthood advertisement which indicated that the organization provided abortion services. My response to that letter resulted in another student writing a letter that took me to task for only referring to fetuses, never babies, when discussing abortion. The student was concerned with my rhetoric because she believed that a fetus is a person and that my refusal to refer to fetuses as babies indicated that I do not view fetuses as having a right to life. Interestingly enough, this goes to the heart of Rachel Roth's argument in MAKING WOMEN PAY. According to Roth, by positing fetuses as right bearing persons, the fetal rights movement has created a "maternal- fetal conflict" which pits women against their fetuses in a struggle over rights that the woman will inevitably lose. The implications of this claim can be frightening for women. Roth's book shines a bright light on this manufactured conflict and exposes its dangers for women.

Roth examines how fetal rights claims have arisen in the context of fetal protection policies, forced medical interventions on pregnant women, and punishing women for conduct during pregnancy (e.g., drug and alcohol abuse). In each of the chapters devoted to these issues, she presents real life stories of women affected by these policies and judicial interventions. We learn about women who "chose" to undergo sterilization in order to keep a well-paying, though toxic jobs, women forced to undergo cesarean sections or blood transfusions, some despite their religious objections, and women charged with a variety of crimes (child neglect, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, delivery of a controlled substance) for drug or alcohol abuse during pregnancy. Roth also provides a comprehensive look at the legislative and judicial policies, which have arisen in each of these areas, showing how these policies almost always place too much responsibility and unnecessary constraints on women without actually serving the ends of the fetal rights advocates.

According to Roth, those who argue for fetal rights usually justify their claims on the grounds that they are protecting fetuses from potential harm and enhancing their chances of a healthy birth and survival. Roth argues, however, that "the strategy of creating fetal rights is not necessary to achieve those goals, is often counterproductive to achieving those goals, and always undermines women's equal standing as citizens" (p. 2). In each chapter, Roth shows how the responsibility for a healthy fetus belongs to the pregnant woman rather than society. Rather than cleaning up toxic workplaces, corporations chose to exclude women from the workplace to avoid potential lawsuits. Until the Supreme Court struck down these policies, women had to

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forgo these higher paying jobs or be sterilized. Although non-pregnant competent adults have the right to refuse medical treatment, pregnant women often lose that right when a doctor perceives a risk to the fetus, thus denying pregnant women the status of competent adult. When women use drugs or alcohol during pregnancy, states have attempted (largely unsuccessfully so far) to prosecute them for child abuse or other crimes rather than providing drug and alcohol treatment services for the women. In each case, pregnant women are held responsible and denied a right or the equal status granted to others.

This book continually brought to mind Judith Baer's OUR LIVES BEFORE THE LAW (1999). Baer argued that, while men in our society get rights, women tend to get responsibilities. Roth's book is illustrates this claim in detail. Yet, unlike some who identify the problem but not the answer, Roth concludes each chapter with policy alternatives, which would actually serve the stated goals of fetal rights advocates without restricting the rights and equality of women. Unfortunately, these alternatives may involve societal investment in pre-natal health programs, drug and alcohol treatment programs or may require corporate responsibility.

MAKING WOMEN PAY is an outstanding book in many ways. The writing is excellent. Roth tells compelling stories while also providing a clear and comprehensive description and analysis of the issues, the legislative and judicial policies, and social, political and individual implications of the policies that she examines. Unlike many political science texts, this is an easy read. Roth also gets to the point quickly and succinctly. In the first sixteen pages, she presents her thesis, lays out the ideological claims and rhetorical constructions of the fetal rights advocates, establishes the political questions at stake (i.e., the distribution of social costs), and critiques the treatment of the debate in the scholarly literature. Roth's aim is to improve on the previous research by providing a broader and more empirical analysis of the way that institutions have allocated the burdens of fetal health and the consequences of fetal rights policies and practices on women. She does just that in this well-research and documented project. The notes are complete and informative and the whole project is well-organized. The bibliography is extremely comprehensive and valuable. One cannot ask for more.

MAKING WOMEN PAY will be an excellent text in both women and politics and policy analysis courses. In addition to expanding discussions of reproductive rights, this book also raises issues of interest to the study of criminal justice and sex discrimination. However, I can see one problem that may arise when using it. Roth deliberately avoids the question of whether a fetus is a person in order to concentrate on the costs of fetal rights to women. Although I suspect faculty and even graduate students will be able to approach her argument without addressing that question, I suspect it may be harder for many undergraduate students to do that. It is difficult to get students who believe a fetus is a person from the moment of conception to ignore the fetus in order to see the costs imposed on women. Yet, asking them to do so would be a valuable educational exercise.

REFERENCE:

Baer, Judith A. 1999. OUR LIVES BEFORE THE LAW: CONSTRUCTING A FEMINIST JURISPRUDENCE Princeton: Princeton University Press.