Publications

"This is an essential, critical, powerful book that fills a gap in the field.”

— Cheryl van Daalen-Smith, RN, PhD, associate dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies; associate professor, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and School of Nursing, York University

“Glass Ceilings and Ivory Towers addresses the enduring and systemic challenges and unfortunate realities of navigating the complexities of gender inequality in higher education. It is a necessary read for everyone in a position to make a decision about who advances and who leads in our organizations – colleagues, leaders, community partners, and government.”

— Donna Kotsopoulos, president, Senior Women Academic Administrators of Canada

"After Morgentaler will quickly occupy benchmark status in the comparative health care and reproductive-rights policy literatures. Through case studies, Rachael Johnstone illuminates the strategies of pro- and anti-choice groups, and health-professional organizations, by situating them in Canadian institutional, legal, and political history. The result is a clear argument for why shifting to a positive-rights understanding of the Charter is needed to safeguard women’s constitutionally protected access to reproductive health care.”

— Melissa Haussman, professor, Department of Political Science, Carleton University

“After Morgentaler makes an important contribution to our understanding of how we got to where we are on abortion now in Canada and where we might go in the future. This is an engaging and enlightening read.”

— Jocelyn Downie, professor, Faculties of Law and Medicine, Dalhousie University

“Rachael Johnstone has written a highly accessible and engaging account of abortion rights in Canada, arguing persuasively that the right to abortion is both precarious and partial, despite widespread public support and a legal regime that, at least nominally, grants women the right to terminate a pregnancy if they so choose. She powerfully demonstrates the limits of rights-based struggles and the nuances of the courts-versus-legislatures sideshow that can interrupt arguments for women’s reproductive choice”

— Lois Harder, professor of Political Science, University of Alberta

Chapters

Johnstone, Rachael. 2020. “Is that really necessary?: The Regulation of Abortion in Canada and the Framework of Medical Necessity.” In No Place for the State: The Origins and Legacies of the 1969 Omnibus Bill, edited by Christopher Dummit and Christabelle Sethna, 259-280. Vancouver: UBC Press. 

Johnstone, Rachael. 2018. “Canadian Abortion Policy.” In Policy Change, Courts, and the Constitution, edited by Emmett Macfarlane, 336-355. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 

Johnstone, Rachael. 2017. “Between a Woman and Her Doctor?: The Medicalization of Abortion Politics in Canada.” In Abortion: History, Politics, and Reproductive Justice after Morgentaler, edited by Shannon Stettner, Kristin Burnett, and Travis Hay, 217-238. Vancouver: UBC Press.