Description

When Abortion Was a Crime is the mustlisten book on abortion history Originally published ahead of the thirtieth anniversary of Roe v Wade this awardwinning study was the first to examine the entire period during which abortion was illegal in the United States beginning in the midnineteenth century and ending with that monumental case in 1973 When Abortion Was a Crime is filled with intimate stories and nuanced analysis demonstrating how abortion was criminalized and policedand how millions of women sought abortions regardless of the law With this edition Leslie J Reagan provides a new preface that addresses the dangerous and ongoing threats to abortion access across the country and the precarity of our current moment

While abortions have typically been portrayed as grim back alley operations this deeply researched history confirms that many abortion providersincluding physicianspracticed openly and safely despite prohibitions by the state and the American Medical Association With the right to abortion increasingly under attack this book remains the definitive history of abortion in the United States offering vital lessons for every American concerned with health care civil liberties and personal and sexual freedom