A Reproductive Justice Panel feat. Rebecca Kelliher & Renee Bracey Sherman

About the books:

JUST PILLS

Spanning more than a century and several continents, with a tenacious cast of feminist activists, scientists, politicians, doctors, and abortion seekers, Just Pills tells the fascinating history of mifepristone and misoprostol, better known as abortion pills. Millions of women around the world for more than two decades have been using one or both of these medications to safely end their own pregnancies, within or outside the law. These pills continue to hold a promise of expanding abortion access for all. Rebecca Kelliher dives into their invention, their legalization battles, and the ongoing proliferation of care models under bans, deftly introducing people who strive for better. As women's rights to control their own bodies are increasingly undermined in the US, this little-known history of the many people behind these life-saving medications will educate, enrage, and inspire.

LIBERATING ABORTION

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.

About the authors:

Rebecca Kelliher (she/her) is a science journalist and writer. Her debut book out this year, JUST PILLS: The Extraordinary Story of A Revolution in Abortion Care, was shortlisted for the J. Anthony Lukas Work-In-Progress Awards from Columbia University and Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism. She was a Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting fellow, and her writing has been featured in such publications as Slate and Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. She graduated from Columbia Journalism School and Barnard College. Prior to journalism, she worked in higher education. She lives in New York.

Renee Bracey Sherman (she/her) is the co-author of LIBERATING ABORTION: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve, co-host of the podcast The A Files: A Secret History of Abortion, and the founder of We Testify, an organization she led for ten years, dedicated to the leadership of people who have abortions. She has been hailed as the ‘Beyoncé of Abortion Storytelling.’ She’s a Chicago-born, midwest-raised activist, writer, and reproductive justice activist committed to the visibility and representation of people who have abortions in media and pop culture with a particular focus on the intersection of race, class, and gender identity. Her work is so influential that a right-wing website recognized her as “the queen of all abortions” and once wrote that Renee “never met an abortion she didn’t love.”

The event will be moderated by Kendra Carson, of the DC Abortion Fund.

Kendra Carson (they/them) leads the Caller Services team at the DC Abortion Fund (DCAF), which is a mix of staff and volunteer case managers that field requests from folks seeking abortion care in the DC metropolitan region. Kendra’s passion for bodily autonomy in the DMV stems from their experience growing up in Silver Spring as a Black multiracial queer person. They are honored to help DCAF’s callers—both locals and those traveling to their hometown—access essential care.

Accessibility note: This event is up two flights of stairs and Lost City Books does not have an elevator. Please contact ZXZlbnRzIHwgbG9zdGNpdHlib29rc3RvcmUgISBjb20= with questions.

Dato de accesibilidad: Este evento toma lugar en el segundo piso y Lost City Books no tiene ascensor. Favor de contactar ZXZlbnRzIHwgbG9zdGNpdHlib29rc3RvcmUgISBjb20= con cualquiera duda.

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