Our Bodies, Ourselves - Reproductive Rights Summary and Analysis

With the onset of the sexual revolution—free love—women came face to face with the prospect and reality of unwanted pregnancies. Privileged women had the options of both contraceptives and abortions which poor women often did not. Women who clamored for abortions in the late 1960's and early 1970's had witnessed the botched abortions and unhappy, forced marriages that unwanted pregnancies brought about.

White women of privilege were more likely to have access to safe abortions, while poor and black women often sought dangerous, illegal abortions. Although abortion received the most attention by the media and conservatives, it was not the most pressing reproductive issue facing women. Rather, the most sought after reproductive safeguard was the development of safe birth control pills. This method of contraceptive was safe...