Sadly no less relevant today than when it was first published, this prize-winning study is the definitive text on the politics of abortion and fertility. Drawing on a wealth of material, Petchesky provides overwhelming evidence against the anti-abortion forces and also takes up issues of teenage sexuality, the politics of eugenics, and women's relationship to medical technology. Petchesky deftly weaves together the history of the practice of abortion and state policies to contain it; the social, economic, and cultural conditions under which women utilize it; and the legal, moral, and political battles that surround it.