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.

My only regret is that I didn't read this sooner. I've been doing activism work around abortion access for some time and this gave great foundational knowledge, but let the bulk of the work be around abortion storytelling. It was challenging, inspiring, and motivated me to continue in the work. I'm so grateful to have had access to this!

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.

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.