"While Roe v. Wade is a household name in America, few are aware of the impact of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court's 1992 ruling that preserved but redefined and substantially limited abortion rights, especially for the most marginalized women. Casey rather than Roe has established the constitutional standards that today govern abortion in the U.S. When pundits talk about the reversal of Roe, they really mean the reversal of Casey. Within the next two years and likely far sooner, we are going to lose the protections of Roe and Casey. Through state legislation, the appointment of hundreds of anti-abortion federal judges, and the rapidly changing makeup of the Supreme Court, reproductive freedom has never been in more dire straits. Legal titans Kathryn Kolbert and Julie F. Kay share the story of one of the most divisive issues in American politics through behind-the-scenes personal narratives of the stunning losses and hard-earned victories in landmark abortion rights cases. They chronicle how a convergence of Supreme Court appointments and the strategies of political movements on both sides of this contentious debate have led us to a make-or-break moment for legal abortion in the United States. Most urgently, they propose a bold new strategy for engaging a fresh generation and broadening the scope of abortion rights supporters"--

Biographical Note:

Kathryn Kolbert has had a long and distinguished career advancing women's rights. In 1992, she made her second appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the landmark case that has been widely credited with saving Roe v. Wade. A co-founder of the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Athena Film Festival, she also created NPR's Justice Talking and the Athena Center for Leadership at Barnard College.

Julie F. Kay began her legal career at the Center for Reproductive Rights and has spent the ensuing decades developing innovative legal and policy initiatives to advance gender equality and religious freedom in the U.S. and internationally. She helped lay the groundwork for the legalization of abortion in Ireland through the first direct challenge to the country's absolute ban before the European Court of Human Rights and has fought for legal reform to protect the parenting rights of people leaving ultra-religious communities.