Liberty and Sexuality is a definitive account of the legal and political struggles that created the right to privacy and won constitutional protection for a woman's right to choose abortion.
Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established that right, grew out of not only efforts to legalize abortion but also out of earlier battles against statutes that criminalized birth control. When the U.S. Supreme Court in 1965, in Griswold v. Connecticut, voided such a prohibition as an outrageous intrusion upon marital privacy, it opened a previously unimagined constitutional door: the opportunity to argue that a woman's access to a safe, legal abortion was also a fundamental constitutional right.
Garrow's essential history details both the unheralded contributions of the young lawyers who filed America's first abortion rights cases and also the inside-the-Supreme Court deliberations that produced Roe v. Wade.
In this updated and expanded paperback edition, Garrow also traces the post-Roe evolution of abortion rights battles and the wider struggle for sexual privacy up through the 25th anniversary of Roe in early 1998.

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While this book might be better suited for policy wonks and/or those with some legal training, the substantial read is definently worth it. Even if it is not as animated or lively as other histories of the historic 1973 Supreme Court decision, it is essential to understanding that case in the larger context of constitutional law and public policy. The right to privacy had gradually been building prior to the Roe case, and did not happen in a vaccum as some opponents would later claim.

The book concludes with an equally impressive account of the years following Roe and the combined impact of subsequent/rulings and legislation. Because this book does not rely on the "interest groups/grassroots" perspective, individuals in search of such information need to be prepared for further research.

12 of 13 found the following review helpful:

OutstandingJan 11, 2000

This book is a must read for anyone exploring the law surrounding reproductive rights in this country. I would highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the law, in the legal right to privacy, and who is willing and eager to learn. It is by far the most enlightening and simply outstanding book I have read on the subject.

Informative, but horribly editedApr 26, 2010
By A Customer
I bought this book not for its material on Roe but actually for research on Griswold. I have to say, it is full of well researched information dating back to about the 1920s debates on the 1879 Connecticut law banning contraceptives. You can't go much further back to the foundations of Roe than this book takes you, but it will be a difficult read. The editor of this book seriously failed at the job. It comes out to about 739 pages of material, minus notes, bibliography and whatnot, but there are only 9 chapters and an epilogue. To make things worse, there are NO HEADINGS ANYWHERE. Garrow jumps from character to character, year to year, and event to event with no clear breaks or organization. If you're looking for an interesting read about Roe, stay away from this book. If you're looking for information about Roe or the right to privacy, this book will probably have it, but be prepared to go through hell to find it.

6 of 33 found the following review helpful:

Ponderous and unreadableAug 23, 1998

Absolutely unreadable. Worse than a bad encyclopedia.

3 of 53 found the following review helpful:

what was he thinking?Dec 22, 1999

what was mr. garrow thinking when he wrote this book? obviously he wasn't thinking about the well being of the country. his book is one sided and uninformed. i think he should do some real research before writing a book. anyways, what can he say about abortion? he's a man! it's certainly something he'll never have to deal with.