Access - by Rebecca Grant (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the award-winning author of Birth, a journey into the underground activist networks that have been working to protect women's autonomy over their bodies amidst legal, political, religious, and cultural oppression over the past sixty years.

In this definitive, eye-opening history, award-winning author Rebecca Grant charts the reproductive freedom movement from the days before Roe through the seismic impact of Dobbs. The stories in Access span four continents, tracing strategies across generations and borders. Grant centers those activists who have been engaged in direct action to help people get the abortions they need. Their efforts involve no small measure of daring-do, spy craft, sea adventures, close calls, undercover operations, smuggling, sequins, legal dramas, victories, defeats, and above all, a deeply held conviction that all the risks are worth it for the cause.

In Access, we meet a cast of brave, bold, and unforgettable women: the founders of the Jane Collective, a group of anonymous providers working clandestinely between Chicago apartments to perform abortions in the pre-Roe years; the originators and leaders of the abortion fund movement; Verónica Cruz Sánchez, a Mexican activist who works to support self-managed abortion with pills and fights to free women targeted by the criminalization of abortion; and Rebecca Gomperts, a Dutch doctor who realizes that there is one place abortion bans cannot reach: international waters.

Post-Dobbs, activist groups have once again stepped up and put themselves on the line to resist. Building on the work of their feminist forebearers and international allies, they are charting new pathways for access in the face of unprecedented acts to subjugate and control half of America's population. Working above ground, underground, and in legal gray areas, they've helped people travel across state lines for care, established telehealth practices, and formed community networks to distribute pills for free to people who needed them.

Drawing on expert research and investigative reporting, told with deep compassion and humanity by a journalist who has spent her career on the frontlines of the fight, Access celebrates the bravery, ingenuity, and determination of women across decades who have fought for a fundamental human right--and serves as an inspiring rallying cry for the work that lies ahead.

Review Quotes

2026 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Longlist

"[A] clear and compelling blend of history and journalism . . . [Grant's] interest lies firmly in the above- and underground efforts to provide access to abortion rather than the slower, less reliable march towards enshrining reproductive rights in law. . . .Those seeking a well-researched, galvanizing narrative about abortion access should look no further than this engrossing account." --Booklist (starred review)

"A defiant history . . . With an inspiring focus on ordinary people who risk their livelihoods, freedom, and safety to help others, this rivets. . . . A roving, keenly reported account." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A richly detailed account of the long struggle for women's right to choose. . . . A capable history that foresees a hard fight yet to come in the war for reproductive freedom." --Kirkus Reviews

"Based on a decade of work as a reporter, Grant offers an immensely readable and deeply researched history, equal parts enraging and moving. Access interweaves profiles of activists around the world with deftly narrated context on science, politics, and history. We move from antebellum New York to 1960s Chicago, from Mexico in the 2000s to pharmacies in India, from the internet to an 'undisclosed location in the American South' just before and after the Supreme Court drastically changed the legal landscape with its decision in Dobbs. . . . Grant's book should be required reading for every American." --New Republic

"Journalist Rebecca Grant, in her riveting, sweeping new book, tells the epic tale of women's struggle to obtain their bodily sovereignty. Through her daring reporting and copious research, Grant has written a monumental masterpiece of feminist outrage, ingenuity, and perseverance. . . . Regardless of geography, class, religion, or political system, the theme of men seeking to dominate women's bodies is hauntingly universal. Yet women, Grant proves, will find a way to control their reproductive lives. They always have and they always will." --Air Mail

Praise for Birth

"An important book . . . Grant is a good storyteller, subtle and compassionate." --The New York Times Book Review

"An auspicious debut . . . Throughout, Grant maintains a sense of intimacy while contextualizing each woman's experiences with analysis of medical, legal, and cultural matters. . . . An enlightening and accessible portrait of maternal healthcare in America." --Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

"A much-needed perspective on childbirth." --Porchlight, Editor's Choice

"The author skillfully interweaves the personal stories of her subjects and their families with a clear and engaging history of American childbirth practices over the years. . . . A significant and compelling sociological investigation." --Kirkus Reviews

"As we navigate an endless number of crises, Rebecca Grant's thorough reporting about one such issue--reproductive health in all its facets--is lighting a pathway forward. Birth is a testament to Grant's impeccable reporting and storytelling skills, pulling back the curtain on pregnancy in America while also pushing us to understand what the stakes are and what it will take to move forward." --Evette Dionne, author of Weightless

"A true feat of intimate, illuminating reporting, Birth is a profound examination of the deeply personal and structural forces that shape life-defining choices, experiences, dreams, and futures." --Rainesford Stauffer, author of An Ordinary Age and All the Gold Stars

2026 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Longlist

About the Author

Rebecca Grant is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Oregon, who covers reproductive rights, health, and justice. Her work has appeared in NPR, New York magazine, The Atlantic, VICE, The Nation, The Washington Post, Mother Jones, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, HuffPost, and The Guardian, among other publications. She has received grants and fellowships from the International Women's Media Foundation, the International Reporting Project, The Fund for Investigative Journalists, and Type Investigations, reporting stories around the US and the world. Rebecca studied English and art history at Cornell University and served in the Peace Corps in Thailand. Before full-time freelancing, she worked at Washingtonian Magazine and wrote about startups in San Francisco. She is the author of Birth and Access.