Abortion Study Resources

Among the following resources listed in Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now, some are out-of-print and hard to find.  We are making full text available here, in some cases for the first time online. All links will take you to full-text resources.

Those marked with a single asterisk are being made available by National Women’s Liberation, womensliberation.org. Those marked with a double asterisk are available through the Redstockings Women’s Liberation Archives for Action catalog collection. Besides these resources, much more is available from the Redstockings Archives—get a free library card and explore!

The full Redstockings collection, The Redstockings’ Organizational Collection: Women’s Liberation Archives for Action, 1940s–1991 (Boston: Cengage, 2011), is available on microfilm. If it is not yet available in your library, ask them to order it.

Books

Baehr, Ninia. Abortion Without Apology: A Radical History for the 1990s. Boston: South End, 1990.*

Barnett, Ruth, and Doug Baker. They Weep on My Doorstep. Beaverton, OR: Halo, 1969.*

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Reprint. Translated by Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier. New York: Vintage, (1949) 2011.

Bonow, Amelia, and Emily Nokes, eds. Shout Your Abortion. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2018.

Brown, Jenny. Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight over Women’s Work. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2019.

Chalker, Rebecca, and Carol Downer. A Woman’s Book of Choices: Abortion, Menstrual Extraction, RU-486. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1992.

Cisler, Lucinda. “Abortion Law Repeal (Sort of): A Warning to Women (1970).” In Radical Feminism, edited by Anne Koedt, Ellen Levine, and Anita Rapone. New York: Quadrangle, 1973.*

Cisler, Lucinda. “Unfinished Business: Birth Control and Women’s Liberation.” In Sisterhood Is Powerful, ed. Robin Morgan. New York: Vintage, 1970, 245–89.

Giardina, Carol. Freedom for Women: Forging the Women’s Liberation Movement, 1953–1970. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2010.

Hartmann, Betsy. Reproductive Rights and Wrongs: The Global Politics of Population Control. Boston: South End Press, 1995.

Hole, Judith, and Ellen Levine. Rebirth of Feminism. New York: Quadrangle, 1971. See, in particular, chapter 7, “Abortion,” 278–302.*

Kaplan, Laura. The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service. New York: Pantheon, 1995.

Lader, Lawrence. Abortion. New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966.*

Lader, Lawrence. Abortion II: Making the Revolution. Boston: Beacon, 1973.

Mohr, James C. Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Parker, Willie. Life’s Work: A Moral Argument for Choice. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017.

Phelan, Lana Clark, and Patricia Therese Maginnis. The Abortion Handbook for Responsible Women. North Hollywood: Contact, 1969.*

Pollitt, Katha. Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights. New York: Picador, 2014.

Ramírez de Arellano, Annette B., and Conrad Seipp. Colonialism, Catholicism, and Contraception: A History of Birth Control in Puerto Rico. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1983.

Redstockings. The Censored Section of Feminist Revolution. New York: Redstockings, 1975, redstockings.org.**

Redstockings. Feminist Revolution. New York: Redstockings, 1975.

Roberts, Dorothy. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. New York: Pantheon, 1997.

Roberts, Dorothy. Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare. New York: Civitas Books, 2009.

Ross, Loretta. “Understanding Reproductive Justice: Transforming the Pro-Choice Movement,” Off Our Backs, Vol. 36, #4, 2007. LorettaRoss-UnderstandingReproductiveJustice-2007

Ross, Loretta, and Rickie Solinger. Reproductive Justice: An Introduction. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2017.

Ross, Loretta J., Lynn Roberts, Erika Derkas, Whitney Peoples, and Pamela Bridgewater Toure, eds. Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practice, Critique. New York: Feminist Press, 2017.

Sanger, Margaret. Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography. New York: Norton, 1938.

Schulder, Diane, and Florynce Kennedy. Abortion Rap. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971.*

Articles and Archival Materials

Beal, Frances. “Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female.” New York: Redstockings Women’s Liberation Archives for Action, 1969.*

Boston Women’s Health Collective. Women and Their Bodies: A Course. Boston: Boston Women’s Health Collective, 1970.*

Brown, Judith. It’s a Lifetime’s Work, This Movement. Gainesville, FL.: Gainesville Women’s Liberation, 1987.*

Cisler, Lucinda, and James Clapp. “Abortion Ruling: Some Good News … and Some Bad News.” In Majority Report. Redstockings Archives, February 1973.*

Firestone, Shulamith. “The Women’s Rights Movement in the U.S.: A New View.” In Notes from the First Year. New York: New York Radical Women, 1968. Redstockings Archives.**

Gainesville Women’s Liberation. A Call to Speak Out Organizing Packet. Gainesville, FL.: Gainesville Women’s Liberation, n.d., circa 2002.*

Gainesville Women’s Liberation. “Women Are the Experts Speakout Kit.” Gainesville, FL.: Gainesville Women’s Liberation, 2016.

Hanisch, Carol. “The Personal Is Political.” In Notes from the Second Year, edited by Shulamith Firestone and Anne Koedt. New York: Radical Feminism, 1970.** See also Carol Hanisch, “The Personal Is Political: The Women’s Liberation Movement Classic with a New Explanatory Introduction,” Women of the World Unite! Writings by Carol Hanisch. January 2006, carolhanisch.org.

Jones, Beverly, and Judith Brown. Toward a Female Liberation Movement. Gainesville, FL: Gainesville Women’s Liberation, June 1968.**

Redstockings Women’s Liberation Archives. Some Media and Other Responses to Two Redstockings Abortion Speakouts, 1969 and 1989. New York: Archives Distribution Project, N.D., circa 1989.**

Ross, Loretta, SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective “Understanding Reproductive Justice.” #Trust Black Women. Last updated March 2011. trustblackwomen.org.

Sarachild, Kathie. “Myth of Abortion Law Repeal.” Woman’s World, April 15, 1971, 1. redstockings.org.**

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. “Genocide in Mississippi.” N.D., circa March 1964. Redstockings Women’s Liberation Archives.*

Audio Recordings

Redstockings Abortion Speakout, “Abortion: Women Tell It Like It Is,” New York City, March 21, 1969, archive.org.

Redstockings 20th Anniversary Abortion Speakout, “Women Tell It Like It Is, Was, and Ought to Be,” New York City, March 3, 1989, archive.org

Films (in chronological order)

La operación, (watch here) DVD. Directed by Ana María García. New York: Cinema Guild (distributor), 1982.

With a Vengeance: The Fight for Reproductive Freedom, VHS video. Directed by Lori Hiris. New York: Women Make Movies, 1989. wmm.com.

She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, DVD. Directed by Mary Dore. New York: Cinema Guild, 2014. shesbeautifulwhenshesangry.com.

Vessel, widescreen ed., DVD. Directed by Diana Whitten. United States: Kino Lorber, 2014. vesselthefilm.com.

No más bebés, DVD. Directed by Renee Tajima-Peña. Los Angeles: Moon Canyon Films, 2015. nomasbebesmovie.com.

Jackson, DVD. Directed by Maisie Crow. Portland: Collective Eye Films, 2016. jacksonthefilm.com.

Trapped, DVD. Directed by Dawn Porter. Trilogy Films, 2016. trappeddocumentary.com.

Birthright: A War Story, DVD. Directed by Civia Tamarkin. New York: Women Make Movies, 2017. birthrightfilm.com.