McCaffrey

Brenna McCaffrey

Assistant Professor of Anthropology & Sociomedical Sciences, SUNY College at Geneseo
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About Brenna

Dr. McCaffrey is a cultural and medical anthropologist whose research focuses on reproductive politics in the United States and Ireland. Her work has focused on the impact of abortion pills on abortion access and activism. She has consulted on projects for public health entities and pharmaceutical companies using ethnographic methods to address questions about health and culture. She is a Case Manager with the New York Abortion Access Fund, and is active in organizations like Plan C Pills, the Online Abortion Research Squad (OARS), and the Miscarriage & Abortion Hotline.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | Member Spotlight | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Keep New York a Safe Haven for Reproductive Rights

Commentary,

In the News

Guest on The Thought Project.
Opinion: "CAR Statement on the Reversal of Roe v. Wade," Brenna McCaffrey (with Eliza Williamson, Ashish Premkumar, Joanna Mishtal, Megan Cogburn, Becca Howes-Mischel, and Lucy Lowe), Society for Medical Anthropology , August 28, 2022.
Opinion: "We Should Talk More About the Abortion Pill," Brenna McCaffrey, Sapiens, May 12, 2022.
Opinion: "The Future of Abortion Pill Activism," Brenna McCaffrey, Medium, February 22, 2022.

Publications

"Technologies of Protest in Irish Abortion Activism" Feminist Anthropology 4, no. 1 (2023): 115-131.

Examines how Irish abortion-rights activists used abortion pills not only to help people access abortions when they were illegal, but also as powerful symbols in protests and public campaigns. Argues that these strategies helped shift public opinion, challenged stigma around abortion, and contributed to the eventual legalization of abortion in Ireland in 2018.