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. Hildegard von Bingen, a medieval nun who preserved recipes for abortifacients that were used in routine healthcare with the support of the Church; Hannah Woolley, an iconic 17th century Martha Stewart whose cookbooks containing home “remedies” sold out of multiple printings; and Teresia Constantia Phillips, the British courtesan behind the first major internationally serviced condom store in London. Cale’s painstaking research into historical theory, practice, and efficacy covers the surprising history and broader social impact of contraceptive methods such as ancient pessaries, herbal "menstrual regulators," douching, and coitus interruptus, as well as modern methods like the IUD, the Pill, and condoms. Following the story of fertility control from the first civilizations in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia to today, she presents a stunning new perspective—that women in past eras had access to contraception and abortion with fewer restrictions and less social stigma than they face in the United States today.

A fascinating history and a timely rallying cry, Forbidden Fruit stresses that, with the future of birth control uncertain, it is more important than ever to understand its past.