Our top 10 Reproductive Justice reads for World Book Day
It’s world book day! And while we may not be attending work dressed as our favourite character from a story book, we did want to pay homage to such a significant calendar event – we asked our team to share their top recommendations for reproductive justice reading, and chose a top ten to share with you!
Whether you’re looking for a novel, essays or a non-fiction we’ve got a wide variety of ‘abortion books’ for you to read alone, or read together at your ASN Fundraiser book club to start some pro-abortion conversations!
1. A Necessary Kindness, Juno Carey
Juno worked as a midwife practitioner in abortion clinics for years – and in her frank book talks about the realities of abortion provision in the UK: from the people you meet to the barriers people face to accessing care.
2. The Rachel Incident, Caroline O’Donoghue
Set in Cork in 2008, against the backdrop of a looming recession, The Rachel Incident is a story of love, friendship and the pressures of trying to figure out who you are in your early 20s. Chaotic and funny, it conveys the realities of unplanned pregnancy in Ireland including the need to travel for an abortion and its financial implications.
3. Feminism, Interrupted, Lola Olufemi
A reclamation of feminism from the ‘Girlboss’, Olufemi explores feminism today through a truly intersectional lens: trans rights, Islamophobia, abolition, sex work, VAWG – the chapter on reproductive justice is the most comprehensive view on the UK landscape we have found.
4. Abortion Beyond the Law, Naomi Braine
Braine has spent years researching the strategies, networks and direct action of abortion activists around the world. We see how Latin American, African, and European feminists are making self-managed abortion available to all–and the strong transnational feminist movement they have built along the way
5. Aborcja Jest, Katarzyna Wężyk
Aborcja Jest by Katarzyna Wężyk is an ode to Poles who had abortions, including those who travelled for an abortion with the support of Abortion Without Borders. It includes insights into the history of abortion and laws surrounding it and how Poles have had to cope and fight throughout the years.
Available in Polish – the rest of us can’t wait for a translation!
6. After Sex, Ed. Edna Bonhomme and Alice Sprawls
A collection of writings from an orchestra of incredible voices on everything reproductive justice – from Ireland’s repeal movement to the reproductive crisis in the U.S.
Includes writing from Audre Lorde, Ursula le Guin, Anne Enright, SisterSong, Adrienne Rich, and so many more we can’t fit them here!
7. Deep Care, Angela Hume
The Radical Activists Who Provided Abortions, Defied the Law, and Fought to Keep Clinics Open.
A look back at the activists who fought for abortion access from 1970s America – up to 2010.
More pertinent than ever to learn from our foremothers now the US is facing similar restrictions one again.
8. Evenings and Weekends, Oisín McKenna
A Sally-Rooney esque novel from Oisín McKenna following the challenges and joys of the lives of young Londoners.
Featuring an abortion side-story, but also just a lovely book to immerse yourself in – especially now summer is just around the corner so we won’t be too jealous!
9. Abortion Pills go Global, Sidney Calkin
A look at on-the-ground global feminist movements ensuring reproductive freedom knows no borders and self-managed abortion is accessible to all.
Sidney’s far reaching book shows the power of reproductive movement and imagines a future with reproductive justice for all.
10. Bodies Under Siege, Sian Norris
How the far right attack on reproductive rights went global.
Investigative journalist Sian Norris goes undercover in anti-choice organising to shed light on who is funding the attack on our rights, how it’s spreading so far and the wider rise of fascism across the global North.
Bonus free download: We Organize to Change Everything: Fighting for Abortion Access and Reproductive Justice
An urgent collection on losing Roe v. Wade, struggling to provide abortion across the Americas, and how we can rebuild a fighting movement for reproductive justice