This essay is the second of a two-part series on fetal remains and cultural politics. Find the first part here . In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade and triggering abortion bans in a large swath of conservative states, national and local media have increasingly offered sensationalist coverage of women arrested for miscarrying at home and disposing of fetal remains in dumpsters. The implicit assumption behind these arrests, and the media attention to them, is that...

This essay is part one of a two-part series on fetal remains and cultural politics. “Abuse of a corpse.” “Abandonment of a dead body.” “Concealment of the death of another.” These are charges that prosecutors have recently used to criminalize women who miscarry at home. On their face, they seem to indicate that prosecutors think the essential problem – the reason they are threatening women with jail time – is that they have not handled fetal remains as deceased persons. Feminist legal...

A friend of mine, a Catholic priest, says that everyone cries at weddings, but each for their own reason. Some are thinking of their own happy marriage and feeling nostalgic for their own wedding day; some are remembering their beloved departed spouse with a mix of joy and grief; some feel regret, or hope, or longing for partnership. All these feelings, he says, are honored when we gather to bless and celebrate the new couple. The Museum of Art and Design’s exhibition “ Designing Motherhood :...