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Group of doctors in lab coats holding pro-choice signs outside the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Abortion Is More Than Health Care

Across the history of the U.S. abortion-rights movement, it has also been a matter of equality.
by Christen Hammock Jones via Made By History on December 9, 2024
Women march for free abortion on demand.

Abortion On Demand

The surprising history of a politically charged phrase.
by Gillian Frank via The Revealer on April 4, 2024
Ohio abortion rights activists.
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The Problem With the Abortion-Rights Move That Worked in Ohio

History shows that activists can win statewide fights—but that the strategy might be unsustainable long-term.
by Felicia Kornbluh via Made By History on November 8, 2023
Picture of two warring sides of the abortion debate in a heated exchange.

The Myth That Roe Broke America

The debate over abortion is an important part of the story of polarization in American politics, but it is not its genesis.
by Adam Serwer via The Atlantic on May 18, 2022
U.S. Supreme Court building, Washington, D.C.

"A Man of His Time": From Patrick Henry to Samuel Alito in U.S. History

The struggle for progress is always two steps forward and at least one step back.
by Thomas Lecaque via Age of Revolutions on May 5, 2022
Photo of Samuel Alito

Why There Are No Women in the Constitution

There is little mention of abortion in a four-thousand-word document crafted by fifty-five men in 1787. This seems to be a surprise to Samuel Alito.
by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on May 4, 2022
Pro-choice protest outside Supreme Court
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The Reconstruction Amendments Matter When Considering Abortion Rights

The cruelty of enslavers when it came to reproduction and families shaped the 13th and 14th Amendments.
by Peggy Cooper Davis via Made By History on May 3, 2022
Third World Women's Alliance member demonstrating in crowd

How Black Feminists Defined Abortion Rights

As liberation movements bloomed, they offered a vision of reproductive justice that was about equality, not just “choice.”
by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor via The New Yorker on February 22, 2022
Brett Kavanaugh
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What Justice Kavanaugh Gets Wrong About Abortion and Neutrality

Calls for the court to remain neutral have long been tools for denying Americans rights.
by David Cohen, Maya Manian via Made By History on December 13, 2021
Sandra Day O'Connor

How the Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Helped Preserve Abortion Rights

When Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor to be the first woman on the Supreme Court, her views on abortion became a source of intense speculation.
by Evan Thomas via The New Yorker on March 27, 2019

Susan B. Anthony, Pro-Life Heroine?

Behind a quiet house museum are anti-abortion activists with a mission: to claim America’s most famous historical feminist as their own.
by Ruth Graham via Slate on May 8, 2017
Baby sleeping in a woman's arms.
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What’s the Definition of “Person”?

Two court cases that defined and changed the nature of personhood.
via BackStory on May 10, 2013
A mouse hovers over a screen filled with buttons for purchase choices that all look the same.

Americans Are Tired of Choice

How did freedom become synonymous with having lots of options?
by Gal Beckerman via The Atlantic on June 23, 2025

My Freedom, My Choice

A new book illuminates how freedom became associated with choice and questions whether that has been a good thing—for women in particular.
by David A. Bell via New York Review of Books on June 5, 2025
Left: Anthony Comstock. Right: Victoria Claflin Woodhull.
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The Comstock Act's Threat to Abortion Rights If Harris Loses

Anthony Comstock, Victoria Woodhull, and what a battle from the 1870s means for 2024 and reproductive rights.
by Rebecca DeWolf via Made By History on September 12, 2024
Percy Sutton, Flo Kennedy, and another Black reproduction activist.

How Black Leaders Formed the Reproductive Justice Movement

Before the end of Black History Month, we should remember some of the leaders who shaped the movement in the years before Roe v. Wade.
by Felicia Kornbluh via Ms. Magazine on February 6, 2024
Women at National Organization for Women demonstration

Betty Friedan and the Movement That Outgrew Her

Friedan was indispensable to second-wave feminism. And yet she was difficult to like.
by Moira Donegan via The New Yorker on September 11, 2023
John Hart Ely.

The Liberal Giant Who Doomed Roe

His works underpins the Dobbs decision. His legacy matters enormously to what's next for constitutional law.
by Caitlin B. Tully via Slate on June 25, 2023
A women's liberation group marches in Boston on April 17, 1971.

The Reproductive Rights Movement Has Radical Roots

Abortion rights in the US were won in the 1970s thanks to militant feminist groups. As those rights are repealed, the fight must return to the streets.
by Nancy Rosenstock, Anne Rumberger via Jacobin on May 11, 2023
Demonstrators with signs supporting the legalization of abortion.

What Are the Lessons of “Roe”?

A new book chronicles the decades-long fight to legalize abortion in the United States.
by Moira Donegan via The Nation on April 4, 2023
Margaret Sanger in 1928.

The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Ghost of Margaret Sanger

Religious conservatives see “anti-eugenic” laws as the most promising path to establish a federal ban on abortion.
by Melinda Cooper via Dissent on January 17, 2023
Cover of Ms. Magazine titled "Rage + Women = Power"

Ms. Magazine Turns 50

Looking back at half a century of truth-telling and rebelling.
via The Cut on January 3, 2023
A protest sign raised in front of the Supreme Court, reading, "Keep abortion safe, legal, & accessible!"

The History of Abortion Law in the United States

The right to abortion has been both supported and contested throughout history.  When banned, abortions still occur, but legal restrictions make them less safe.
by Carrie N. Baker via Our Bodies Ourselves Today on August 12, 2022
Person typing on keyboard at computer decorated with pro-choice pins.

A Forgotten 1990s Law Could Make It Illegal to Discuss Abortion Online

The provision, which makes it a felony to talk about abortion online, has been on hold since the Clinton administration. Could it be enforced in the future?
by Melissa Gira Grant via The New Republic on August 1, 2022
Billboard saying "Welcome to California Where Abortion is Safe and Still Legal"
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What Pre-Civil War History Tells Us About the Coming Abortion Battle

Fights over fugitive slave laws pitted states against each other and showcased the risks of the federal government not supporting liberty.
by Kate Masur via Made By History on July 14, 2022
Demonstrators hold signs that read "Keep abortion legal" and "The Lord is pro-choice."

Abortion Is About Freedom, Not Just Privacy

The right to abortion is an affirmation that women and girls have the right to control their own destiny.
by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor via The New Yorker on July 6, 2022
Abortion rights advocates protest near the Supreme Court building in Washington on June 24.
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The 1960s Provide a Path For Securing Legal Abortion in 2022

How activists can secure legal abortion with a diverse all-of-the-above movement.
by Felicia Kornbluh via Made By History on June 25, 2022
Pro choice protestor with "My Mind My Body My Choice" poster

The Supreme Court Decision That Defined Abortion Rights for Thirty Years

The centrist, compromising view of reproductive rights in Planned Parenthood v. Casey helped clear the path to overturn Roe v. Wade.
by Jessica Winter via The New Yorker on June 25, 2022
Attendees pray during a worship service at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Anaheim, California, on June 14, 2022.

The History of Southern Baptists Shows They Have Not Always Opposed Abortion

How the Southern Baptist Convention’s views on abortion changed during the 1980s, when a more conservative wing seized control of the denomination.
by Susan M. Shaw via The Conversation on June 17, 2022
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony with backdrop of abortion protest posters

What Did the Suffragists Really Think About Abortion?

Contrary to contemporary claims, Susan B. Anthony and her peers rarely discussed abortion, which only emerged as a key political issue in the 1960s.
by Treva B. Lindsey via Smithsonian on May 26, 2022
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