The definitive history of abortion in the United States, with a new preface that equips readers for what’s to come. When Abortion Was a Crime is the must-read

This up-to-date history of Roe v. Wade covers the complete social and legal context of the case that remains the touchstone for America's culture wars.

Weaving together analyses of archival material, news coverage, and interviews conducted with journalists from mainstream and partisan outlets as well as with ac

Ziegler documents a shift to debates on policy costs and benefits that deepened polarization on abortion in this first legal history of the period.

The issue of abortion has sharply divided America. The bitter debate over Roe v. Wade - in the courts, legislatures, press and streets - has grown ever more fer