Dr. Johnstone is a Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. Bessma Momani on issues of gender and public policy. Her research explores intersections of politics, public policy, law, and healthcare as they relate to gendered bodies. To date, her research has focused predominately on the regulation of abortion politics in Canada in the context of the federal policy vacuum left in the wake of R. v. Morgentaler (1988), the Supreme Court case that decriminalized abortion in Canada. This work includes projects on Canadian public policy, Charter jurisprudence, and the role of federalism in shaping the regulation of women’s bodies and their relationship to the state.

Prior to joining the Balsillie School, Rachael was an Assistant Professor at the Bader International Study Centre (Queen’s University, Canada) in the United Kingdom.