Forbidden Fruit: The Secret, Scandalous History of Contraception and Abortion

From acclaimed historian and host of the Dirty Sexy History podcast Jessica Cale comes the gripping and untold history of contraception and abortion pre-Roe v. Wade that finally puts the intelligent, overlooked women who exercised unimaginable control over their fertility at the forefront. Anti-abortion groups have long used incorrect history to argue against reproductive care, promoting a false nostalgia for a past where women were only housewives and abortion was unthinkable. In truth, says acclaimed historian Jessica Cale, history is filled with courageous women who were not passive pawns, but active agents of change and masters of their sexual destinies—and it’s time their stories were told. In Forbidden Fruit, Cale sheds light on the state of contraception and abortion pre-Roe v. Wade, unearthing the stories and practices of the real women who lived it—like St.