The Pro-Choice Movement

In this highly-praised analysis of the controversial pro-choice movement Suzanne Staggenborg traces the development of the movement from its origins through the 1980s. She shows how a small group of activists were able to build on the momentum created by other social movements of the 1960s to win their cause--the legalization of abortion in 1973--and argues that professional leadership and formal organizational structures together with threats from the anti-abortion movement and grass-roots support enabled the pro-choice movement to remain an active force even after their primary goal had been achieved.