Gender and Sexuality Studies

Abstract

This paper examines zero-tolerance as a twin edict of immigration policy and anti-abortion law post Row. How does the necessary exclusion of pregnant refugee teens, position the fetus as more of rights bearing subject than the mother, considering Dobbs and state-by-state near abortion bans. As a Latinx feminist scholar, I trace the zero-tolerance policy about refuge (being a refugee and being an abortion refuge/refugee) post Dobbs to rethink the role of new Latinx Jane Doe(s). With the Supreme court’s institutionalization of white Christian nationalism’s pro-life, anti-abortion, I reveal how racist exclusion of living Central American humanity is legal. Post Dobbs, pregnant, unaccompanied Central Americans and Latin Americans must go to U.S. states that have not banned abortion, an arduous task after undocumented migration itself. Dobbs legitimates fear and anger embodied in white supremacy and US empire in the moral battle of the righteous vs. unrighteous. Given the apocalyptic feel and consequences of the Dobbs decision, this scholarly piece on the intersections of immigration, abortion access, and race seems most appropriate.

Biography

Dr. Nicole M. Guidotti-Hernández earned a bachelor’s degree in literature from the University of California Santa Cruz and master’s and doctoral degrees in English from Cornell University.

Previously, she was an associate professor of gender studies at the University of Arizona and was the inaugural chair of the Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She was the founding director of the Mellon Mays Program at UT.

During her tenure as the Inaugural Executive Director of the Mills Institute, Guidotti-Hernández worked closely with alumnae and was instrumental in creating a strategic plan, a plan of research, and graduate certificates that focused on Gender and Racial Justice, DEI, and Disability advocacy.

Promoting BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) and queer access to higher education, leadership positions, and DEI best practices rounds out her experience as a public-facing intellectual and industry leader. She writes for and has served on the Ms. magazine editorial board for two decades and provides media expertise on Latinx and Feminist issues with regularity.

In May of 2024, she will direct the Dialogues in Civilization course, “Mexico City: Gender and Migration.”