Just Pills, Rebecca Kelliher
Just Pills, Rebecca Kelliher
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Just Pills
The Extraordinary Story of a Revolution in Abortion Care

Author: Rebecca Kelliher

Narrator: Stina Nielsen

Unabridged: 10 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/30/2025


Synopsis

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 Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Post-Graduate Fellow. She is a staff writer at Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, where she covers national public policy on higher education inequities. She was educated at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and Barnard College, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Before journalism, she worked at universities in the United States and United Arab Emirates as a writer and teacher. She lives in New York City with her partner and their cat.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sarah on June 01, 2025

Book Review: Just Pills: The Extraordinary Story of a Revolution in Abortion Care by Rebecca Kelliher - A Feminist Public Health Practitioner’s Perspective Rebecca Kelliher’s Just Pills is a powerful and timely exploration of how medication abortion has reshaped reproductive rights, offering both a h......more

Goodreads review by Steve on May 26, 2025

The book is about pills, but even more so it is about people and their stories. Yes, the explanations of how the pills work are excellent, but the strength of the book comes from the interviews and the stories. The writing is compelling and I enjoyed the author’s journey. At times, however, I felt t......more


Quotes

“An important and clarifying look at two crucial medications in the wake of the US Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, endangering reproductive rights and women’s health.”
Booklist

Just Pills is essential reading for anyone who cares about the attacks on our bodies and freedoms. An exacting history of abortion medication doesn’t just give us the information and context we need to fight back but also reminds readers that the courage behind this struggle is nothing new.”
—Jessica Valenti

Just Pills is a revelatory work of cultural history, deeply researched and gracefully written. With the battle raging over women’s rights to control their own bodies, this important story could not come at a better time.”
—Jonathan Eig, author of The Birth of the Pill and winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Just Pills is an incredible and meticulous account of abortion pills around the world and in the United States. Rebecca Kelliher’s research and journalism shine bright as she details the long history of abortion pills and tells the stories of the women who made it possible along the way.”
—Renee Bracey Sherman, author of Liberating Abortion: Claiming Our History, Sharing Our Stories, and Building the Reproductive Future We Deserve

“This beautifully written, meticulously researched book tells readers all they need to know about the crucial role abortion pills have come to occupy in today’s abortion landscape, both in the United States and globally . . . Just Pills is medical journalism at its best.”
—Carole Joffe, author of After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe but Not Abortion

“In this fascinating and well-written account, Rebecca Kelliher tells a global story of abortion pills up to the present day. It is a story that is as relevant today as it was half a century ago, as women are again fighting for the right to control their own bodies.”
—Elaine Tyler May, author of America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation

“At a time when reproductive rights are under severe threat in many parts of the world, Just Pills—through masterful storytelling and impressive research—is both a timely and astute reminder of the hurdles so many individuals have overcome to safeguard these collective rights and a fiery appeal for none of us to give up hope, however bleak things might seem.”
—Josie Cox, author of Women Money Power: The Rise and Fall of Economic Equality