The Novels that Taught Americans about Abortion
Twentieth-century novels helped readers to learn about the practicalities of abortion as well as the social and moral questions around the procedure.
When San Francisco Feminists Rated Mexican Abortions
The California activists played the role of a health agency to ensure women received safe and competent health care in Mexican clinics.
The Manifesto of the 343
In a dramatic act of civil disobedience, more than three hundred French women publicly confessed to having had an illegal abortion.
Medical Mutual Aid Before Roe v. Wade
In 1968, a group of Boston University students published a handbook about abortion and birth control for their peers. Over half a million copies were distributed.
See Jane Use a Speculum
In the pre-Roe era, a collective of women known as The Janes took reproductive health into their own hands.
Policing Abortion
A study on the criminalization of abortion in the late 1800s through the 1940s reveals that the law was often used against working-class women.
Jewish Law and Abortion
A practicing physician reviews contributions of Jewish ethics and rabbinic thought to the issue of abortion.
The History of Reproductive Rights: A Syllabus
A selection of stories on the history of reproductive rights and abortion to foster dialogue inside and outside of the classroom.
Abortion Remedies from a Medieval Catholic Nun(!)
Hildegard von Bingen wrote medical texts describing how to prepare abortifacients.
Evading Abortion Bans with Mutual Aid
One scholar chronicles how communities have banded together to help each other with abortion care even when it’s against the law.