What Abortion Rights Activists Are Reading
Abortion-rights demonstrators rally outside the State House during a pro-choice rally in Boston, Massachusetts on May 8, 2022. [Joseph Prezioso/AFP]
If you care about the future of legal abortion access in the United States, the recently leaked Supreme Court draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade might make you feel like the sky is falling. But reproductive justice volunteers and advocates have long anticipated and planned for the end of Roe. These are the people to listen to if you want to get involved in the fight to keep abortion accessible – even when it may not be legal.
Last week, I straight up asked people involved in reproductive justice work: What educational materials do you recommend for people looking to get into abortion and reproductive rights activism for the first time? I’ve included many of their responses below. You can find the full list on Twitter.
BOOKS
Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America by Lauren Rankin (Penguin Random House, 2022)
A Complicated Choice: Making Space for Grief and Healing in the Pro-Choice Movement by Katey Zeh (Broadleaf Books, 2022)
The End of Roe v. Wade: Inside the Right's Plan to Destroy Legal Abortion by Robin Marty and Jessica Mason Pieklo (Ig Publishing, 2019)
The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler (Penguin Random House, 2007)
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts (Penguin Random House, 1998)
The New Handbook for a Post-Roe America: The Complete Guide to Abortion Legality, Access, and Practical Support by Robin Marty (Seven Stories, 2021)
No Real Choice: How Culture and Politics Matter for Reproductive Autonomy by Katrina Kimport (Rutgers University Press, 2021)
Obstacle Course: The Everyday Struggle to Get an Abortion in America by David S. Cohen and Carole Joffe (University of California Press, 2021)
Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood by Michele Goodwin (Cambridge University Press, 2020)
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta Ross and Rickie Solinger (University of California Press, 2017)
Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions by Daniel C. Maguire (Fortress Press, 2001)
The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service by Laura Kaplan (Chicago, 1995)
To Offer Compassion: A History of the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion by Doris Andrea Dirks and Patricia A. Relf (University of Wisconsin Press, 2019)
The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having – or Being Denied – an Abortion by Diana Greene Foster (Scribner, 2021)
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba (Haymarket Books, 2021)
You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion by Meera Shah (Chicago Review Press, 2020)
VIDEO
12th & Delaware: a 2009 documentary about an abortion clinic and an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center both located at an intersection in Fort Pierce, Florida. Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.
Abortion: Stories Women Tell: a 2016 documentary about abortion providers, activists and people navigating unplanned pregnancies. Directed by Tracy Droz Tragos.
After Tiller: a 2013 documentary about the only doctors willing to perform third-trimester abortions in the U.S. following the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009 by an anti-abortion activist. Directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson.
EXPLAINED: Abortion Research & Policy: a lecture series on abortion restrictions in the U.S. Created by the Innovating Education in Reproductive Health project at the University of California, San Francisco’s Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health.
Reproductive Justice is Disability Justice: a four-part YouTube series on the history of the reproductive justice movement. By Patty Berne, director of the disability justice project Sins Invalid, and sexologist Bianca Laureano.
Jackson: a 2016 documentary on the fight for abortion access in Mississippi. Directed by Maisie Crow.
Trans Bodies, Trans Choices: a three-part short film series on abortion access for transgender and gender non-conforming people by TransLash Media, including a resource guide to gender-inclusive abortion access.
Trapped: a 2016 documentary about clinic workers and lawyers working to keep abortion legal in the U.S. Directed by Dawn Porter.
AUDIO
ACCESS: a podcast about abortion hosted by Garnet Henderson.
Boom! Lawyered: a podcast about the legal battles in reproductive justice, hosted by Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo of Rewire News Group.
Mujeres de COLOR: an award-winning Spanish radio show on reproductive justice by Colorado reproductive rights organization COLOR Latina.
Nosotras decidimos: a podcast episode from 2019 on the fight for legal abortion in Ecuador, from the Spanish-language NPR show Radio Ambulante.
rePROs Fight Back: a podcast on reproductive justice hosted by Jennie Wetter.
OTHER MEDIA
Roe v. Wade: What You Can Do: May edition of a newsletter by @RHAVote that offers resources for understanding late-pregnancy abortions.
Sam’s Medication Abortion Zine: a zine about one person’s experience of a medication abortion, by the Reproductive Health Access Project.
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