Abortion & the Reformation: Women, Witchcraft, & Repression
A Talk with Professor Mary Fissell
Wednesday, March 1, 2023 · 4 - 5:30 PM
Human Context of Science and Technology presents:
Abortion & the Reformation: Women, Witchcraft, & Repression
Mary Fissell, Professor, Department of the History of Medicine, with appointments in the History of Science and the History Departments, Johns Hopkins University
The Protestant and Catholic Reformations of the sixteenth century prompted increased restrictions on abortion. While we associate anti-abortion politics with the Catholic Church today, Protestant reformers were eager to reform gender relations, including abortion access. They created legislation that criminalized abortion in new ways. At the same time, witchcraft prosecutions sometimes linked abortion and sorcery.
Organized by the Human Context of Science and Technology Program
Co-sponsored by American Studies; Gender, Women's, + Sexuality Studies; History; Sociology, Anthropology, & Public Health; & the Dresher Center for the Humanities
