My Uterus, My Choice: Abortion Bans and Property Interests in the Female Body

For fifty years, people who can become pregnant have relied on the ability to access abortions as a part of ordinary, safe, and quality medical care. Abortions are low-risk medical procedures that provide people who can become pregnant with the ability to control their health and well-being. The Supreme Court stripped women of their reproductive freedom in holding that the constitutional right to privacy does not extend to abortion. This means that legislatures can subject women to the host of physical and fiscal consequences of pregnancy. Alternative legal strategies are needed to secure women’s ability to participate equally in society. Property rights protect property owners from undue interference at the hands of both private and public actors. This Note argues that providing women with a legally recognized property interest in their uteruses comports with a modern understanding of bodily autonomy, accords with present day uses of women’s reproductive capacities, and protects their personhood from undue governmental interference.