Books on the History of Reproductive Rights

This book, originally published in 1998, gives a comprehensive look at the history of abortion, examining the entire period in which abortion was illegal in the United States. It explores “how abortion was criminalized and policed” and how women sought care outside the law. A reissue in February 2022 includes a new preface looking at contemporary threats to abortion access. From what I can tell, this is a widely-regarded and comprehensive overview of the topic.

This book, also a bit on the older side, “exposed America’s systemic abuse of Black women’s bodies.” It begins all the way back with how slave owners exercised an economic stake in Black women’s fertility. It also covers forced (or coerced) sterilizations as recently as the 1970s, as well as how the reproductive needs of Black women have been excluded from mainstream political agendas. Again, this seems like a necessary and useful primer on this subject. 

Dr. Willie Parker grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household in the South. A practicing obstetrician, Parker eventually quit his practice to focus exclusively on providing safe abortions for women who needed his help the most in his community. In this memoir, he shares both his experiences and the complex stories of women seeking access to reproductive care. At the same time, he makes a Christian case in support of reproductive rights and pushes back against many of the rules and regulations being placed on abortion access. This seems like an extremely useful perspective. 

In this book, feminist Katha Pollitt argues against abortion being presented as bad or agonizing, and against turning it, a normal medical procedure, into “something shameful and secretive.” Instead, she makes the case that it’s “a moral right and a social good.” I added this one to my list because I think it provides an important reframe of abortion as just one piece of a larger need for women to have access to safe, effective, and personal reproductive care no matter their circumstances.