POSTPONED: This event has been postponed due to the library closing early. We will reschedule for a future date.

Since the Supreme Court overturned constitutional abortion rights in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, abortion pills have become a lifeline for people living in states restricting abortion. Eighteen states now ban first trimester abortions, yet the official number of abortions in the U.S. has actually increased significantly since Dobbs, even in states banning abortion. This is due in large part to the development of telehealth abortion and providers in states like Massachusetts serving people in ban states via telehealth and mailing pills. The real number of abortions, however, is much higher because of the development of a robust underground abortion pill system in the U.S.

Smith College professor Carrie N. Baker, author of Abortion Pills: US History and Politics (Amherst College Press, 2024), will explain these developments, their backstory and what’s likely to happen next now that Trump is back in the White House.