“This critical reading offers insight into Canadian histories of reproductive health access and the manifold violence of Canada’s carceral system, while communicating the vital hope embedded in politics and action at the intersection of reproductive justice and abolition.”
— Dr. Catherine Bryan, Dalhousie University

“In Abortion to Abolition, Martha Paynter unflinchingly names the carceral state as the foremost threat to reproductive justice in so-called Canada. Paynter takes great care to expose prisoners’ experiences of carceral maternity, demonstrating that incarceration (particularly of Indigenous women) enables the continued separation of parents from their children, a fundamental design element in any colonial project. After decades of frontline nursing and advocacy, Paynter deftly illuminates that fight for reproductive justice doesn’t end with abortion access and must include the fight to abolish the violence of prisons.”
— Meenakshi Mannoe, Vancouver Prison Justice Day Committee, Pivot Legal Society

“This book sews together all of the various threads of reproductive justice work in the medical professions, academia, and advocacy into one comprehensive and accessible collection. The stories that are told throughout remind us of our shared humanity and demonstrate clearly the impact that interlocking systems of oppression have on our society. This book is a comprehensive, powerful, and essential resource for all of us working toward liberation.”
— Emilie Coyle, Executive Director CAEFS

“Abortion to Abolition by Martha Paynter is a powerful, passionate argument for respecting the autonomy of reproductive choice and centering the needs of mothers and children, even within the judicial and carceral systems. Paynter brings years of experience and an incredible depth of compassion to this account of the history and current state of reproductive politics in Canada; the fine balance of clearly expressed ideas and real people’s stories makes it highly readable, information-rich, timely, and hopeful. This book expanded this jury’s view of the world.
— Jury of the Nova Scotia Book Award: the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award (Nonfiction)

Martha Paynter is a registered nurse providing abortion and postpartum care in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The founder and chair of Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice, and a doctoral candidate at the Dalhousie University School of Nursing, Martha has 20 years of experience working to advance gender health equity. Her practice, teaching and research focus on the intersection of reproductive health and the justice system. A frequent contributor to Briarpatch, CBC, the Coast, the Conversation, the Halifax Examiner, and Saltwire, Martha writes about publicly-funded health care, prison abolition, and gender equity.

: Bodily Autonomy (Heidi Rathjen, Justice Claire L’Heureux-Dube, Synthia Kavanaugh, Terri-Jean Bedford and Santina Rao)
: To Not Have Children (Emily Stowe, Dorothea Palmer, Chantal Daigle, Clinic 554, iamkarats)
: To Have Children (Leilani Muir, Leia Picard (Swanberg), Kirsti Mathers McHenry)
: To Parent in Safety (Motherisk, Donna George Baby H, Fatuma Alyaan, Water Protectors)
: Parents in Prison (Emily Boyle, Renee Acoby, Lisa Whitford, Amanda Inglis, Julie Bilotta)
: Conclusion (Martha Paynter)