2004/10/08 by R. Roth, Roswith Roth · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis #Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies #Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes
paper · doi:10.1093/sp/jxh043
crossref issued 2004/10/08 · crossref published 2004/10/08 · crossref published-online 2004/10/08 · openalex publication_date 2004/10/08 · crossref created 2004/10/08 · crossref published-print 2004/12/01 · crossref deposited 2017/08/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/25 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
This article investigates the nature of “the state” that governs the reproductive rights of women imprisoned in the United States. Rather than being transparent, the state in the prison context is instead opaque, multifaceted, increasingly privatized, and characterized by high levels of decentralization, delegation, and discretion that render ambiguous the locus of official state authority. This particular configuration of state power creates distinctive challenges and vulnerabilities for women seeking to safeguard their reproductive health and rights and raises serious questions about accountability for how governments regulate women's lives.