Who Is Blake Whiting? - The American Scholar The most astonishingly productive historian in recent times is someone you’ll never meet

More AI piracy; take note, fellow scholars. 🗃️
"This is word-laundering on a truly industrial scale, aided and abetted by one of the world’s largest corporations. Using AI tools and a pseudonym, unknown culprits are now profiting from my work...."

theamericanscholar.org/who-is-blake...

CONGRATS!!!!!!

D is for Detective Novels D is for detective novels.

New post on A is for Abortion! maryfissell.substack.com/p/d-is-for-d.... Yes, abortion is a plot device in more detective novels than you might expect.

Pardons for women convicted of illegal abortions since Victorian era Those who have been prosecuted after 1861 will be exonerated and those investigated but not charged will have their police record wiped under a new law

This is what they are doing in the U.K. We should do it in New Mexico. Decriminalize women's reproductive medical care.

@debhaalandnm.bsky.social @nmpope.bsky.social @govmlg.bsky.social

www.thetimes.com/article/5b80...

C is for Landon Carter C is for Landon Carter, an eighteenth-century Virginia planter whose extensive diary includes details about reproductive knowledge.

New post on A is for Abortion today -- maryfissell.substack.com/p/c-is-for-l.... Landon Carter was a cranky 18th century Virginian plantation owner and enslaver who revealed reproductive knowledge in his diary.

B is for Leon Belous B is for Leon Belous, an unsung hero of the reproductive rights movement.

New post of A is for Abortion: Leon Belous, a courageous physician activist whose prosecution (when overturned) paved the way for Roe v. Wade. maryfissell.substack.com/p/b-is-for-l...

Cutting Through Rocks Both of us always mention in our master classes or panels with cinema students to choose a subject that you really like for your projects because you are not sure how long you are going to spend on th...

ICYMI I spoke with the filmmakers behind the brilliant Oscar nominated doc CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS for my first Reverse Shot piece

reverseshot.org/interviews/e...

Bookstore shelf full of books on abortion

It's been a year since Pushback bit.ly/4iwTsoL came out, and yesterday @literatibookstore.bsky.social in Ann Arbor did an event for it - thx so much, Literati! Thx to all for such great convos over the past year, books open doors for sure.

New Research Details 'Human and Economic Toll' of US Abortion Bans | Common Dreams A Monday report from the Center for Reproductive Rights features various profiles demonstrating "the human and economic toll" of US abortion bans.

"The Price of Safety: Stories of Abortions Denied, Careers Disrupted, and States Left Behind" details the human and economic toll of abortion bans. The anthology uses stories from patients, doctors, business leaders, and others to show the real-world consequences of abortion bans.

So wonderful to have the opportunity to host @maryfissell.bsky.social of @jhu.edu at @umichlaw.bsky.social to teach us actual U.S. common law history and about her new book PUSHBACK: www.amazon.com/Pushback-500...

Can't wait to bring her to the med school tomorrow! @umich.edu

A is for al-Razi A is for al-Razi, the tenth-century Persian doctor, philosopher, and astronomer.

New series of A is For Abortion: Snapshots From the Past starts today! Now with audio. A is for al-Razi, a tenth century doctor who both compiled and created abortion medicines. maryfissell.substack.com/p/a-is-for-a...

Delighted to have written a brief comment for this collection! Thx ‬‪@leilaeasa.bsky.social‬ and Jennifer Stager for putting it together and much else.

aw thank you! Like I said, I was really touched to be invited, such good memories of early days when the Society was just a twinkle in a few eyes! I learned a ton from so many people.

17th century manuscript with words Tansy and Parsely

Honored to be giving the #SSEMWG Plenary Lecture on Friday: "Hiding in Plain Sight: Abortion in Early-Modern England". If you are at #RenSA2026, it's at 4:30 tomorrow. See you there!

Today's talk!

I so hope you are wrong... but it would be completely in character at this point. Any historian can tell you how profoundly contraception has liberated women. Republicans want to roll all that back, we must fight on.

sigh. sending hugs. hang in there.

Letter Z from a sampler

It's Z for Paolo Zacchia on A is for Abortion: maryfissell.substack.com/p/z-is-for-p...
Z may be the last letter of the alphabet, but I'm starting another series that will include new features, like audio, in 2 weeks. Stay tuned.

Manuscript from 18th century Mexican Inquisition records listing a midwife by name.

New post to #FindTheMidwife! Gaby Baez talls with me about her research on 18th century Mexican midwives in Inquisition records. www.findthemidwife.com/eighteenth-c...

What Happens When Midwives Lead Abortion Care: Lessons from Sweden | International Confederation of Midwives In Sweden, abortion is recognised as essential healthcare—built on decades of research and early innovation. More recently, reforms have enabled midwives to play a central role, making care safer, tim...

Sweden’s experience with midwives providing abortion care offers lessons for other countries. Swedism midwives have long led care for healthy women during pregnancy and birth, with doctors supporting when complications arise. Applying the same model to abortion care is both logical and effective.

not to mention the privilege of multiple nannies for... 4 children. Heck, I singlehandedly babysat 4 or kids more when I was in my teens.

congrats!

Apply today for the H-15 Early Career Research Grant!

Deadline for Submission of applications: May 1, 2026

Date of Award: First week of July 2026

More information: aahn.memberclicks.net/research-gra...

#histnursing

Shryock Medal Shryock Medal Graduate students are invited to enter the Shryock Medal Essay Contest. The medal honors Richard Harrison Shryock (1893–1972), a pioneer among historians interested in the history of med...

Hey, do you know a grad student who's written a good history of medicine paper? Suggest that they submit it for the AAHM Shryock prize. histmed.org/shryock-medal/ Deadline extended to 15 Feb.

Nominations for the Shryock Medal are open through February 15! Visit our website for information about essay guidelines as well as our past winners!

Risk of maternal death during pregnancy greatly underestimated, study finds A new study comparing deaths of pregnant people and of those who have an abortion show that risk of death due to pregnancy is three times higher than previously estimated.

"Our new analysis shows that it is far more dangerous to be pregnant than to have an abortion, and this gap in mortality risk is even larger than previously recognized.” - lead study author Maria Steenland.
In fact, the mortality risk of pregnancy is 44 to 70 times higher than from abortion.

A hand stitched letter Y from a sampler

New post on A is for Abortion! The letter Y, as in youth. maryfissell.substack.com/p/y-is-for-y...

Oh so so sorry to hear. Her work was so generative, and she was so generous as a person.

portrait photo of a midwife

New post on #FindtheMidwife! Sally Pezaro interviews Maurina Barron about her career.

oh please oh please oh please