Just Pills

The Extraordinary Story of a Revolution in Abortion Care

De: Rebecca Kelliher

Imagine a medical breakthrough so powerful it could change the landscape of reproductive rights with just two pills. Just Pills unveils the extraordinary, untold story of mifepristone and misoprostol - the abortion medications that have quietly revolutionized women's healthcare across the globe.

Spanning decades and continents with a tenacious cast of doctors, activists, politicians, drug suppliers, and everyday women, Just Pills tells the gripping, little-known history of mifepristone and misoprostol, better known as the abortion pills.

The abortion pills are a safe, cheap, clinic-less means of ending a pregnancy, and these drugs have been quietly—yet steadily—spreading around the world. These pills are already changing the fight for abortion access as we understand it. Rebecca Kelliher dives into the history of the pills’ invention in the 1970’s and 80’s, unpacks government battles around their approval in the 1990’s, and deftly weaves together several perspectives to move beyond the pills’ origin story.

As women’s rights are increasingly infringed upon in the US, this history of radical invention and persistent distribution of a life-saving drug will remind us of the work we’ve already done and inspire us to continue to pursue a world where women are free.

If you've ever wondered how real change happens—how a simple pill can become a powerful instrument of liberation—this is the book you need to hear.

©2025 Rebecca Kelliher (P)2025 Beacon Press Audio