Part 1: The Politics of Flesh

In Part 1 of My Body, Their Battlefield, I trace the long and complex history of bodily autonomy — from the first laws that criminalised women’s choices to the modern-day battles waged in courts, clinics, and laboratories.

This opening chapter investigates how law, religion, and medicine have each sought to control the female body, shaping it into a site of political power, moral anxiety, and cultural symbolism. From the early abortion statutes of the nineteenth century to Foucault’s theory of biopower, and from France’s constitutional protection of abortion to the Alabama IVF ruling, we explore how the politics of flesh still dictate who owns their body — and who never truly has.

Through a blend of research, reflection, and reportage, this episode lays the groundwork for understanding the global reproductive rights backlash, the rise of biopolitical governance, and the enduring fight for sexual and reproductive freedom in the twenty-first century.