Just Pills Paperback by Rebecca Kelliher

Product Details

• Publisher: Beacon Press (2026-09-15)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 280 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780807026144
• Item Weight: 323.19 grams
• Dimensions: 22.3 x 14.53 x 1.98 cm

As women's rights are increasingly under attack, journalist Rebecca Kelliher dives into the gripping history of abortion pills, weaving together the many people who, across decades and continents, have sought to ensure access to these medications.

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.

About the Author

Rebecca Kelliher is a journalist and writer. She was a Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Post-Graduate Fellow and studied at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism as well as Barnard College. Her book project was shortlisted for the 2023 J. Anthony Lukas Work-In-Progress Awards from Columbia University and Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Before journalism, she worked in higher education. She lives in New York with her partner and cat.