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Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve
“A gift to future generations.”—Cecile Richards, author of Make Trouble
“Our storytellers meet the moment with powerful insight and testimonials.”—Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
A galvanizing history of abortion recentering people of color to put forth a timely argument that we must liberate abortion for all.
People of color have been having abortions since the dawn of time, yet our access is continuously under attack. In Liberating Abortion, award-winning abortion activist Renee Bracey Sherman and journalist Regina Mahone illustrate the long racist history that brought us to this moment, uncover the hidden figures who set the foundation that activists and storytellers are building on today, and explain how abortion has been and remains essential to the health of our communities.
Liberating Abortion will take you back to the basics of sex education, detailing the traditions of abortion over centuries while examining how society makes us feel about our experiences. You’ll find rigorous research, never-before-heard stories, and eye-opening interviews with more than fifty people of color who’ve had abortions, including activists, actresses, television writers, politicians, and two Black members of Jane, the Chicago feminist service that provided abortions before Roe.
With poignant storytelling and precise analysis, Liberating Abortion will change how you think about abortion forever.
“Our storytellers meet the moment with powerful insight and testimonials.”—Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
A galvanizing history of abortion recentering people of color to put forth a timely argument that we must liberate abortion for all.
People of color have been having abortions since the dawn of time, yet our access is continuously under attack. In Liberating Abortion, award-winning abortion activist Renee Bracey Sherman and journalist Regina Mahone illustrate the long racist history that brought us to this moment, uncover the hidden figures who set the foundation that activists and storytellers are building on today, and explain how abortion has been and remains essential to the health of our communities.
Liberating Abortion will take you back to the basics of sex education, detailing the traditions of abortion over centuries while examining how society makes us feel about our experiences. You’ll find rigorous research, never-before-heard stories, and eye-opening interviews with more than fifty people of color who’ve had abortions, including activists, actresses, television writers, politicians, and two Black members of Jane, the Chicago feminist service that provided abortions before Roe.
With poignant storytelling and precise analysis, Liberating Abortion will change how you think about abortion forever.
1 pages, Audio CD
Published October 1, 2024
62 people are currently reading
828 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 19, 2025
5 BILLION STARS! BEST BOOK ABOUT ABORTION EVER!
September 18, 2024
Extraordinary. This is the book I wish I had when I first began learning about inequities in abortion access and their place in the larger web of reproductive injustice. There aren’t many books on abortion history and politics that are written by someone who has had an abortion and no others than I know of that were written by Black women who have had abortions. This book adds so much richness and depth to the dialogue about how we build a future that includes reproductive justice for all and how abortion access fits into that — while also being incredibly accessible.
January 18, 2025
Y'all! THIS BOOK. This is the abortion book I've wanted. Anytime people ask me what to read to get a good picture of abortion justice issues? I have had a list because nothing quite did what I needed. THIS IS THE BOOK THAT DOES IT ALL. Centers those who have had abortions and their stories when talking about the process itself, explains the reproductive justice framework and how it's different than class repro rights approach all while centering the Black women who created repro justice, even goes into the messiness within nonprofit movement and why I often tell people not to donate advocacy dollars to planned parenthood. Renee is one of the realest people I worked with in the DC repro movement and I'm so so glad she wrote this book. Please read it.
May 10, 2025
I stumbled across this book at my local library and was thoroughly impressed with this read. It contained thoughtful insight, perspective, and useful information. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, regardless of gender and sex, should read this book. It has truly shifted my perspective around abortion, intimacy, and womanhood.
November 22, 2024
This was the best, most educational book in women’s rights and women’s reproductive rights I have ever read. Must read for anyone who is pro-choice/pro-abortion to understand the systems that impact our movement.
January 7, 2026
Excellent material that clearly comes from a very loving place. Took me forever bc I kept getting mad about current affairs 😅, but eventually I realized the way to get through smarter books than my usual fare is to just do 10 pages or a chapter each day. I bought this bc I wanted to hear about community and how people care for each other when the government and society do not. It fulfilled those expectations and then some.
April 3, 2025
This was a beautiful and comprehensive account of the history of abortion, the reproductive justice framework, and the political landscape of abortion access. It included meaningful storytelling from people who have had abortions and practical advice for people seeking abortions or people who support those having abortions.
January 30, 2025
Sososo good!!! Favorite chapters: “The Black Women of Jane,” “Abortion Methods Throughout History,” “Abortionsplaining,” and “Our Right to Parent”
September 16, 2025
renee ate this
October 1, 2024
This is an excellent book for anyone who is organizing in the field of reproductive justice, abortion rights, or just wants to better understand the history of abortion in the US.
This book is framed as abortion storytelling, however rather than being just interviews with folks sharing their abortion stories, the stories (including ones from Renee and Regina) are interspersed with the chapters which outline a range of topics from how abortions are actually performed, who came up with the concept of reproductive justice and what does it mean, to practical tips for folks who are supporting someone through an abortion, and more.
The entire book is indispensable as a history and a resource, however I particularly appreciated the chapter telling the stories of two women who were Black women in the Jane Collective in Chicago. The Jane Collective was primarily white women and as Renee and Regina (who are Black women) state throughout the book, both the history of BIPOC women as well as the lived experiences of BIPOC people currently, are frequently erased, ignored, and dismissed, so it is critical that white folks and anyone involved in this organizing be aware of the history of BIPOC folks in the abortion struggle and hear their experiences now. As a note, this book is LQBTQ+ friendly and affirms the ranges of abortion experiences from folks of different genders.
I appreciated the chapter on depictions in media of BIPOC folks seeking abortion care and the wide variety of stories, both perfect and imperfect told. They make the case that media representation is critical to educating the general public on all ranges of abortion experiences and who gets them and is especially critical for BIPOC folks to see themselves represented. My only criticism of this chapter is I wish that there were a way to organize this in a way that didn't seem like a long laundry list of various TV episodes although I understand and agree with the overall point they were making about representation.
My only other criticism of this book is it frequently mentions the irony of right wing politicians pursuing policies that seem counterintuitive to the idea of getting people to have more children (such as not voting for or enacting policies such as free or subsidized health care, child care, etc.), however the book does not take it to the next step of analyzing WHY this is actually a deliberate policy choice to force labor onto women (saving money for the state) rather than some nonsensical idea they have.
This book would be excellent to read as a companion to books on both reproductive justice and the abortion fight such as Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta Ross and Rickie Solinger, Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts (anything by her), and both Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women's Work and Without Apology: the Abortion Struggle Now by Jenny Brown.
Many thanks to Amistad Publishing and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.
This book is framed as abortion storytelling, however rather than being just interviews with folks sharing their abortion stories, the stories (including ones from Renee and Regina) are interspersed with the chapters which outline a range of topics from how abortions are actually performed, who came up with the concept of reproductive justice and what does it mean, to practical tips for folks who are supporting someone through an abortion, and more.
The entire book is indispensable as a history and a resource, however I particularly appreciated the chapter telling the stories of two women who were Black women in the Jane Collective in Chicago. The Jane Collective was primarily white women and as Renee and Regina (who are Black women) state throughout the book, both the history of BIPOC women as well as the lived experiences of BIPOC people currently, are frequently erased, ignored, and dismissed, so it is critical that white folks and anyone involved in this organizing be aware of the history of BIPOC folks in the abortion struggle and hear their experiences now. As a note, this book is LQBTQ+ friendly and affirms the ranges of abortion experiences from folks of different genders.
I appreciated the chapter on depictions in media of BIPOC folks seeking abortion care and the wide variety of stories, both perfect and imperfect told. They make the case that media representation is critical to educating the general public on all ranges of abortion experiences and who gets them and is especially critical for BIPOC folks to see themselves represented. My only criticism of this chapter is I wish that there were a way to organize this in a way that didn't seem like a long laundry list of various TV episodes although I understand and agree with the overall point they were making about representation.
My only other criticism of this book is it frequently mentions the irony of right wing politicians pursuing policies that seem counterintuitive to the idea of getting people to have more children (such as not voting for or enacting policies such as free or subsidized health care, child care, etc.), however the book does not take it to the next step of analyzing WHY this is actually a deliberate policy choice to force labor onto women (saving money for the state) rather than some nonsensical idea they have.
This book would be excellent to read as a companion to books on both reproductive justice and the abortion fight such as Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Loretta Ross and Rickie Solinger, Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts (anything by her), and both Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women's Work and Without Apology: the Abortion Struggle Now by Jenny Brown.
Many thanks to Amistad Publishing and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.
July 19, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! This book was released in the US on October 1st, 2024.
Early into Liberating Abortion, I knew this book would hold a permanent spot on my shelf—not just as a reference, but as a reminder. Renee Bracey Sherman and Regina Mahone have crafted a text that is part history, part manifesto, and part collective offering. It refuses the sanitized, whitewashed narratives surrounding abortion in the U.S. and instead centers the lived experiences, ancestral knowledge, and organizing work of Black and brown people—especially those who’ve had abortions themselves.
The authors open with their own stories, and from there, unravel the interconnected systems—white supremacy, capitalism, Christian nationalism—that have long dictated who gets to parent, who gets to terminate, and who is punished for either. The book names the violence of Roe v. Wade’s limitations, traces the criminalization of abortion back to colonial labor control, and reclaims abortion as care, tradition, and resistance. I learned so much—from the legacy of the Jane Collective to how herbal emmenagogues were once part of standard reproductive care, to how laws like the Hyde Amendment and the Comstock Act weaponize class and race to block abortion access.
But what makes this book unforgettable is its insistence that reproductive justice is about more than the right to not have a child—it’s about the right to parent in safety, to have pleasurable sex, to access affirming healthcare, and to build families outside white, patriarchal norms. It reminds us that abortion isn’t new, shameful, or rare. It’s a normal part of many people’s lives. And it’s worth protecting with everything we’ve got.
My only critique is that the book’s length made it tough to stay focused toward the end—especially during the chapter on media portrayals. Still, I closed the final page with a deeper understanding of abortion history and a renewed commitment to fighting for a future that doesn’t just legalize abortion—but liberates it.
If you’ve ever felt alone in your abortion story, or unsure where you stand in this movement, let this book hold you. Let it push you, too. We deserve a reproductive future rooted in care, not control.
📖 Read this if you love: unapologetic reproductive justice frameworks, Black feminist thought, and books that blend memoir, history, and manifesto.
🔑 Key Themes: Reproductive Justice and Bodily Autonomy, Abortion Stigma and Storytelling, Racial Criminalization and Medical Violence, Liberation through Care and Community.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Abortion (severe), Medical Content (severe), Self Harm (minor), Alcohol (minor), Sexual Assault (minor), Child Abuse (minor), Racism (severe), Enslavement (minor), Ableism (moderate), Incest (minor), Classism (minor), Mental Illness (minor), Miscarriage (minor), Genocide (minor), Medical Trauma (moderate), Suicide Attempt (minor), Pandemic (minor), Domestic Abuse (minor), Police Violence (minor).
Early into Liberating Abortion, I knew this book would hold a permanent spot on my shelf—not just as a reference, but as a reminder. Renee Bracey Sherman and Regina Mahone have crafted a text that is part history, part manifesto, and part collective offering. It refuses the sanitized, whitewashed narratives surrounding abortion in the U.S. and instead centers the lived experiences, ancestral knowledge, and organizing work of Black and brown people—especially those who’ve had abortions themselves.
The authors open with their own stories, and from there, unravel the interconnected systems—white supremacy, capitalism, Christian nationalism—that have long dictated who gets to parent, who gets to terminate, and who is punished for either. The book names the violence of Roe v. Wade’s limitations, traces the criminalization of abortion back to colonial labor control, and reclaims abortion as care, tradition, and resistance. I learned so much—from the legacy of the Jane Collective to how herbal emmenagogues were once part of standard reproductive care, to how laws like the Hyde Amendment and the Comstock Act weaponize class and race to block abortion access.
But what makes this book unforgettable is its insistence that reproductive justice is about more than the right to not have a child—it’s about the right to parent in safety, to have pleasurable sex, to access affirming healthcare, and to build families outside white, patriarchal norms. It reminds us that abortion isn’t new, shameful, or rare. It’s a normal part of many people’s lives. And it’s worth protecting with everything we’ve got.
My only critique is that the book’s length made it tough to stay focused toward the end—especially during the chapter on media portrayals. Still, I closed the final page with a deeper understanding of abortion history and a renewed commitment to fighting for a future that doesn’t just legalize abortion—but liberates it.
If you’ve ever felt alone in your abortion story, or unsure where you stand in this movement, let this book hold you. Let it push you, too. We deserve a reproductive future rooted in care, not control.
📖 Read this if you love: unapologetic reproductive justice frameworks, Black feminist thought, and books that blend memoir, history, and manifesto.
🔑 Key Themes: Reproductive Justice and Bodily Autonomy, Abortion Stigma and Storytelling, Racial Criminalization and Medical Violence, Liberation through Care and Community.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Abortion (severe), Medical Content (severe), Self Harm (minor), Alcohol (minor), Sexual Assault (minor), Child Abuse (minor), Racism (severe), Enslavement (minor), Ableism (moderate), Incest (minor), Classism (minor), Mental Illness (minor), Miscarriage (minor), Genocide (minor), Medical Trauma (moderate), Suicide Attempt (minor), Pandemic (minor), Domestic Abuse (minor), Police Violence (minor).
January 14, 2025
Incredibly informative book on an important and relevant topic. The authors do a great job of making the information digestible by pulling in their "reactions" to pieces of information as well as including media from within the last 10 years. Although most of the book talks about the awful history of abortion and the current setbacks, the authors remain hopeful and stress not giving up!
Quotes:
“Change happens when ordinary people work together, which is why it’s important not to make them into heroes.”
Our country is not new to abortions. “What has changed over time is how abortions have been used by people in power as a tool for reproductive oppression rather than continuing to be seen as a critical part of family planning.”
"...enslaved Black people throughout the American [who] chose abortion or infanticide rather than turn their children over to a lifetime of slavery and violence"
"Sir Hans Sloane chronicled the brutality Black enslaved people experienced...yet refused to treat women he suspected were pregnant and were making themselves sick to cause miscarriages."
"According to a World Health Organization official in 2014, 80 percent of health care in the world is provided by women in their homes through traditional remedies."
"...government officials blamed abortions for Native Americans' loss of their land while actively stealing the land and causing unhealthy pregnancies that led to a need for abortions."
Quotes:
“Change happens when ordinary people work together, which is why it’s important not to make them into heroes.”
Our country is not new to abortions. “What has changed over time is how abortions have been used by people in power as a tool for reproductive oppression rather than continuing to be seen as a critical part of family planning.”
"...enslaved Black people throughout the American [who] chose abortion or infanticide rather than turn their children over to a lifetime of slavery and violence"
"Sir Hans Sloane chronicled the brutality Black enslaved people experienced...yet refused to treat women he suspected were pregnant and were making themselves sick to cause miscarriages."
"According to a World Health Organization official in 2014, 80 percent of health care in the world is provided by women in their homes through traditional remedies."
"...government officials blamed abortions for Native Americans' loss of their land while actively stealing the land and causing unhealthy pregnancies that led to a need for abortions."
July 10, 2025
This book is well reviewed so I'll be brief this book is quality and is a well crafted modern reproductive justice+abortion reader. Most research with some notable exceptions is done through interviews so you get a lot of different perspectives. You get thorough overviews of many topics related to the issue at hand and there's something here for everybody. Because each chapter focuses on a different topic you can skip around if you get bored in any particular section. For me there are some gold nuggets in here and I learned a good deal, but some chapters become a slog to get through. For example hearing about the wacky pro-life agenda (ch. 6) and reading never before seen interviews with the Black Janes (ch.2) I could've read about that stuff for a whole book but there's only so much interest I can muster for pages of celebrity abortion stories (ch. 10). Overall it's pretty good and I can see how if this was someone's first book on abortion and reproductive justice it would be a total life changer. I certainly will be coming back to this book.
August 4, 2025
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It is very intersectional and considers abortion through an anti-racist and reproductive rights lens. There is brilliant advice and disinformation debunking. I found the authors views on the abhorrent claims that abortion is ‘Black genocide’ particularly powerful and compelling.
“The rape and forced breeding of enslaved Black people was always part of slavery but picked up significantly after 1807, when slave owners were no longer allowed to import kidnapped Africans for their labor. Enslaved Black women in particular bore the brunt of chattel slavery, as they were bred to create more slaves while also laboring on the plantation.”
“The rape and forced breeding of enslaved Black people was always part of slavery but picked up significantly after 1807, when slave owners were no longer allowed to import kidnapped Africans for their labor. Enslaved Black women in particular bore the brunt of chattel slavery, as they were bred to create more slaves while also laboring on the plantation.”
November 8, 2024
This book offers a powerful historical review of abortion in the United States, sharing real stories from those who have had abortions, debunking common myths, and exploring why abortion remains so stigmatized. For anyone who hasn’t experienced an abortion but wants to learn more or understand how to support others…READ THIS! It boldly argues, “Abortion itself is not the problem; white supremacy is. Liberating abortion is essential to achieving reproductive justice.”
December 11, 2024
Thank you, NetGalley and Amistad for this ARC for review. This was a phenomenal book about abortion. Women have been having abortions since the beginning of time and it has only been recently that men have started policing abortion to the detriment of women’s lives and bodies. It doesn’t matter why a women wants or needs an abortion. Abortion is health care and women deserve the right to chose for themselves, for their health, for their family.
July 30, 2025
All men—fathers, brothers, partners, husbands, fuck buddies, exes—should have to read this book. The right to choose when to have a child, and the right to parent children, are common sense. As this book explains, abortion has been practiced for thousands of years. It is only within the last 200 years or so that the antiabortion movement has grabbed hold of society’s morals to decry and denounce this sacred life practice.
Read this book and be a better person.
Read this book and be a better person.
November 3, 2024
Thank you to Amistad via NetGalley for providing me a copy of this ARC! This is a book that I have been looking for in the reproductive justice literature. I enjoyed the interweaving of research, history, and stories that were presented in the book. Its one I feel like I will come back to over the years as its so rich with information.
March 28, 2025
This book was thorough and information dense. I listened to it, and the narrator was very engaging. I think reading it would have possibly taken a while. I learned quite a bit, even when I thought I was pretty well educated on the topic. I also came out on the other side of this one a lot more curious as well.
March 30, 2025
I could not put this book down!!! The authors are brilliant and so engaging I forgot I was reading a nonfiction book. I’ve read hundreds of books and articles about abortion and the history of reproductive healthcare and I learned SO much new information. Highly recommend to beginners and “experts” alike interested in abortion liberation.
December 12, 2024
got this book for free when one of the authors spoke at my school! this literally was a life changing mind blowing book that completely changed my perception of abortions and the contextual circumstances of them. really really fascinating. i recommend to everyone!
May 4, 2025
VERY dense, so it took forever to get through. Incredibly detailed, so I could see it losing the average reader. BUT SUCH AN IMPORTANT book about abortion through the lens of women of color. History, truth, stories, advice...
February 8, 2025
The best book regarding abortion activism I’ve ever read. Highly recommend!
May 30, 2025
In depth look at the history AND current state of abortion care. Sometimes too long-winded, but still an important read with extensive examples, quote, citations, and details
August 22, 2025
Really great for book club discussion
March 29, 2025
Thanks Black Girls Read Book Club and Renee Bracey Sherman for the gifted book.
Truly an accessible and essential read, Liberating Abortion covers all aspects of abortion — a comprehensive history, its process, access inequalities, debunking myths — providing affirmation for people who’ve experienced abortion, education for people who’ve not, and a how-to guide on supporting people going through it.
I love many things about this book. Aside from providing a wonderfully comprehensive education and being LGBTQIA+ inclusive, it centers Black and people of color’s stories — stories that are often wrongly overlooked, disregarded, and erased.
Abortion is healthcare. Liberating Abortion is absolutely a must read for anyone concerned about reproductive justice.
Truly an accessible and essential read, Liberating Abortion covers all aspects of abortion — a comprehensive history, its process, access inequalities, debunking myths — providing affirmation for people who’ve experienced abortion, education for people who’ve not, and a how-to guide on supporting people going through it.
I love many things about this book. Aside from providing a wonderfully comprehensive education and being LGBTQIA+ inclusive, it centers Black and people of color’s stories — stories that are often wrongly overlooked, disregarded, and erased.
Abortion is healthcare. Liberating Abortion is absolutely a must read for anyone concerned about reproductive justice.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews