Research Guides: Reproductive Rights: Introduction

Background

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences: Reproductive Rights
Reference article published in 2008 that defines reproductive rights, provides a brief history of related political movements, and links to other relevant articles in the Journal of International Women's Studies, the Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, and more.

Historical and Multicultural Encyclopedia of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States
E-book published in 2022 with reference articles regarding a variety of reproductive rights topics.

American Governance: Abortion Rights
Legal and political perspectives about abortion published in 2016 by the American Governance Encyclopedia.

Opposing Viewpoints: Abortion
Overview of abortion debate perspectives published in 2022 by Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints.

Roe vs. Wade
Civil Rights in America article published in 1999 that contains an overview and excerpts of the 1973 Supreme Court decision regarding abortion law in the United States.

History

Reproductive Rights in History
1820 to 1989 timeline with historical artifact images by Duke University.

Reproductive Rights: Law & History
Topical history of reproductive rights law below by FindLaw.com, a Thomson Reuters website established in 1996.

PBS Newshour: Exploring the Complicated History of Abortion in the United States
2022 news segment video by the Public Broadcasting Service including history and legal expert interviews.

Historical Abortion Law Timeline: 1850 to Today
Timeline of abortion law and public opinion by Planned Parenthood, a reproductive healthcare provider established in 1916.

Resources

Books

Birth Control
Call Number: eBook 2020
Birth control offers women the opportunity to prevent pregnancy, plan and space their births, or have no births at all. And yet, in the United States, half of all pregnancies remain unintended, and access to birth control is beset by inequities in education, access, and coverage.
Global Viewpoints: Reproductive Rights
Call Number: eBook 2020
This thought-provoking resource offers global perspectives on the need to expand reproductive health services to ensure the safety and agency of women around the world.
New Handbook for a Post-Roe America
Call Number: eBook 2021
The New Handbook for a Post-Roe America is a comprehensive and user-friendly manual for understanding and preparing for the looming changes to reproductive rights law and getting the health care you need.
Reproductive Politics
Call Number: HQ766.5 .U5 S673 2013 (also available as eBook)
Tracing the historical roots of reproductive politics up through the present, Solinger considers a range of topics from abortion and contraception to health care reform and assisted reproductive technologies.
Reproductive Rights as Human Rights: Women of Color and the Fight for Reproductive Justice
Call Number: eBook 2020
Zakiya Luna highlights the often-forgotten activism of women of color who are largely responsible for creating what we now know as the modern-day reproductive justice movement.
Roe V. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History
Call Number: KF228 .R59 H85 2021
N. E. H. Hull and Peter Charles Hoffer have taken stock of the abortion debates, controversies, and cases that have emerged in recent years in order to update their bestselling book on this landmark case.
The Turnaway Study: Ten Years, A Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having--or Being Denied--an Abortion
Call Number: HQ767.5.U5 F67 2020
A groundbreaking and illuminating look at the state of abortion access in America and the first long-term study of the consequences--emotional, physical, financial, professional, personal, and psychological--of receiving versus being denied an abortion on women's lives.
Understanding Abortion
Call Number: HQ767.15 .S383 2012 (also available as an eBook)
This book provides objective perspective from both sides of the abortion debate. It gets to the core of each position and allows the reader to make up their own mind.