Looking for books that give in depth descriptions of (realistic) illegal abortions.

The cider house rules by John Irving

Looking for Jane, by Heather Marshall

“Deep Care: The Radical Activists Who Provided Abortions, Defied the Law, and Fought to Keep Clinics Open” by Angela Hume is a history of abortion activism with a particular focus on the self-care branch of the movement. Hume includes accounts of women’s experiences with doctors providing illegal abortions and with self-care communities developing and implementing systems of community care that facilitated abortions and menstrual extractions using [del em](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_extraction) equipment. This is a VERY good resource for someone looking to understand the ins and outs of how groups like the Jane Collective operated. It’s also so fascinating to see how these kits were pretty much designed to be as accessible as possible- at one point, a mechanic points out that the brake-bleed kits she uses at work can be used to improve the suction, for instance, and it works!

“Handbook for a Post-Roe America” by Robin Marty covers pretty much every form of abortion, with a primary focus on medical (aka pill-based) abortions. It can explain what each drug used in a safe abortion does, and reviews several international sources for medication. It ALSO walks the reader through common, but incredibly unsafe and ineffective, abortion strategies people have used, why they don’t work, and the medical consequences. Also includes a lot of information on herbal abortions, emphasizing the unreliability of the process. “Cunt: A Declaration of Independence” by Inga Muscio is a much more positive depiction of a self-managed herbal abortion if you’re really looking for a bright side, but I would REALLY advise people to treat “Cunt” as more of a piece of personal expression by Musico’s life, rather than a reliable guide to medical care (like, don’t read “Cunt” until you’ve ALREADY read “Handbook’s” description of the risks of herbal abortions)

“Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist” by Jennifer Wright is more of a popular history, but includes some descriptions of turn-of-the-century abortion practices. They’re not the sort of practices anyone would want to try out, this is civil-war-era medicine we’re talking. But if you’re interested in the mechanics of early modern abortion, it’s interesting. There’s one recipe for an abortion treatment that’s something like “mix a few sprigs of these herbs with abortifacent properties into a fucking gallon of gin, chug.” Like yeah, that’ll do it but I don’t think the herbs are the active ingredient.

Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates