Thread by @CynthiaGreenlee

Today is the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I woke up and thanked the 1973 Supreme Court for making abortion legal, preventing women’s deaths, and making reproductive autonomy possible. Here’s to hoping the current and future Courts don’t take away that right.

Every Roe day, I see many Tweets about the anniversary or the Jane collective that helped women get abortions pre-Roe in Chicago. And I sigh because, y’all, there’s more to abortion history than Roe or Jane. #twitterstorians

That’s not to say that Roe and Jane aren’t important. But legalizing abortion was a long process with many actors. Change doesn’t just happen in courts. And (white) feminists weren’t the only people pushing it (and, yes, there were a few Black Janes). #twitterstorians

On this anniversary, I’m sharing some fave history readings about abortion (and many of them are mine, because this is my thread and #CiteBlackWomen!). And I’m going to be intentional about including academic and popular pieces and also those by writers of color. #twitterstorians

We need more historians writing about abortion. Yes, it can be hard to find sources about a once-illegal health care procedure. But we reinforce stigma when we don’t even try to find them. #twitterstorians

So here goes. Keep in mind these works are about history, but may not be by historians.

A reproductive justice must-read: the late and brilliant Pamela Bridgewater (Toure)’s “Breeding a Nation: Reproductive Slavery, the Thirteenth Amendment, and the Pursuit of Freedom.” It’s out of print, but get thee to a library and find it. #twitterstorians #CiteBlackWomen

Leslie Reagan’s “When Abortion Was a Crime” remains my go-to about the illegal era. My fave sections deal with Black Detroit physician Edgar Keemer, who was providing abortions starting before Roe and became a key player in the organization that is now @NARAL. #twitterstorians

If you think Black folks are anti-abortion, see my @Rewire_News piece about Percy Sutton, a NY lawyer-legislator who introduced an abortion reform bill BEFORE Roe. He also invested in the Apollo Theatre and represented SNCC and Malcolm X. bit.ly/2TcK9yJ. #twitterstorians

RJ founding mother @LorettaJRoss’ article about African-American women and abortion in “Abortion Wars,” edited by Rickie Solinger, is a beautiful summary and great for the classroom. #twitterstorians

.@DorothyERoberts’ “Killing the Black Body” is more than 20 years old, but so, so relevant. Prescient and powerful in its analysis of the (ongoing) criminalization of reproduction and poverty. I learned so much from this book. #twitterstorians

And can’t forget @carolejoffe, whose “Doctors of Conscience” questions the myth that all illegal abortions were unsafe — and made clear that some doctors fought to legalize abortion (though many earlier doctors campaigned for its ban. Thanks, AMA of yesteryear). #twitterstorians

My @Rewire_News colleague @AngryBlackLady breaks down other myths about race, abortion, Margaret Sanger, and Planned Parenthood in this: bit.ly/1U41Xsf. #twitterstorians

Happy to wear my editor hat today and present this brand-new @Rewire_News article by fellow historian @LinaMariaMuril6, about Mexican abortion providers who helped U.S. women pre-Roe: bit.ly/2FG2Nf1. #twitterstorians

During the German measles outbreak of the 1960s, Black women in Georgia bore more than half the children born affected by rubella. They couldn’t go abroad to seek abortions, like Sherri Finkbine did. I wrote about it for @scalawagmag: bit.ly/2UaYQlU. #twitterstorians

Civil rights and abortion history converge in the figure of Dr. T.R.M. Howard, of Mississippi and Chicago. Check out my oldie-but-goodie @DissentMag article and him on the cover of Jet magazine (supposedly doing prep for an abortion): bit.ly/2FG6Rfj. #twitterstorians

Richard Hughes has written about how abortion opponents use civil rights rhetoric in a 2006 Oral History Review article. Check out his “‘The Civil Rights Movement of the 1990s?’: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Struggle for Racial Justice.” #twitterstorians

I was so pleased when @sherandolph righted a wrong a few years ago: that there was no biography of amazing social-justice lawyer Flo Kennedy. Her book, "Florynce 'Flo' Kennedy: The Life of a Black Feminist Radical,” details Kennedy’s work for abortion rights and other causes.

But if you want to read Flo’s own words, find a copy of “Abortion Rap,” which details her involvement in the case that changed NY’s abortion law. #twitterstorians

Of course, @johanna_schoen. Her “Choice and Coercion” shows the intertwined history of abortion and sterilization, and her “Abortion After Roe” delves into post-1973 history, a really critical period that deserves more scholarly attention. #twitterstorians

See those anti-abortion, cute-baby billboards in your city? Maybe there’s an ultrasound image and talk of a heartbeat? Here’s a short history of them, from me @Rewire_News: bit.ly/2Dqrwl3 #twitterstorians

Speaking of the fetus, Sara Dubow’s 2011 book, “Ourselves Unborn: Fetal Meanings in Modern America,” gives vital and important context. #twitterstorians

In a slightly different vein — and for you medical-cultural history nerds out there — Shannon Withycombe’s “Lost: Miscarriage in Nineteenth-Century America.” And, yes, people, we can talk about miscarriage and abortion in the same breath/thread. #twitterstorians

Abortion funds emerged as a way to help people afford and access abortion care. It’s an area that needs historical study. My fellow Duke alum @haylessfarless wrote about how our alma mater once had its own abortion fund: bit.ly/2saJI9M. #twitterstorians @AbortionFunds

Momentary break so I can jump on a soapbox for a sec: We need more histories that take anti-abortion folks seriously and think about them as social movements, how they’ve swayed policy, or engaged or invoked communities of color. #twitterstorians

Karissa Haugeberg’s “Women Against Abortion” is among my favorites. More work like this, please. #twitterstorians

Historian @drmelissamadera has created the @AbortionDiary podcast and talked to hundreds of people worldwide about their abortions. And the stories come from all time periods and perspectives. Highly recommended as a teaching tool! #twitterstorians

On this Roe anniversary, some people will be talking about the right to privacy. Scholar Khiara Bridges has written an important book about “The Poverty of Privacy Rights.”

And disturbingly good in its writing and breadth: @LjbriggsLaura’s “How All Politics Became Reproductive Politics.”

Whew. There’s more out there, so add your favorites. Who are you reading? But there’s also so much more evidence-based, historical research that can be done. Excelsior!

And one of my newish favorites: "Radical Reproductive Justice" edited by the brain trust of Loretta Ross, Lynn Roberts, Pamela Bridgewater Toure, Erika Derkas, and Whitney Peoples.

The archive keeps growing, as more people come forward and tell their abortion stories past and present. People like @RBraceySherman and many others are creating a record. How do we, as historians, use this material now and in coming years? #twitterstorians

And shoutout to the writers of @EchoingIda, whose writer-members (I'm one) have been broadening conversations about abortion and extending conversations beyond it. Our anthology drops in 2020.

A book of pre-Roe interviews that gets lost in the shuffle of newer work: Patricia Miller's 1993 "The Worst of Times," on Pennsylvania. It talks with police, those who had abortions, coroners, and families of those who died from abortion during the illegal era. #twitterstorians

Also, Lynn Morgan's delightfully wonky, rigorous "Icons of Life: A Cultural History of Human Embryos" captivated me. #twitterstorians