Access: Inside the Abortion Underground and the Sixty-Year Battle for Reproductive Freedom

From the award-winning author of Birth, a comprehensive, eye-opening history of the reproductive freedom movement—a journey into the underground activist networks that have been working to protect women’s autonomy over their bodies amidst legal, political, religious, and cultural oppression over the past sixty years.

When it comes to the fight for bodily autonomy and women’s rights in America, there are names and stories that we recognize—Gloria Steinem, Flo Kennedy, Norma McCorvey (a.k.a. Jane Roe), and the Janes. We are aware of the legislation, the victories, and the setbacks. But the people and stories that have defined the nearly sixty-year battle over abortion in America has largely been untold, hidden in the shadows and operating between and around changing laws, across digital and physical borders, and even in the liminal space of international waters.

Now, in Access, journalist and award-winning author Rebecca Grant reveals the full scope of the underground reproductive freedom movement in, around, and outside the United States, from the clandestine work of the Janes and referral networks like The List in the second wave women’s liberation movement to the modern practice of self-managed abortion with pills through “accompaniment” networks and online platforms like Women on Web and Aid Access. In the wake of the SCOTUS decision Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Access provides both a historical framework and up-to-date details and stories about how feminist activists have always fought to subvert, undermine, and resist abortion bans by keeping pathways open, beyond the scope of the law.

Told with Grant’s trademark blend of expert research and investigative reporting, with deep compassion and humanity, Access celebrates the bravery, ingenuity, and determination of women across decades who have fought for a fundamental human right—and is an inspiring rallying cry for the work that lies ahead.