Chronicling the years between Roe v. Wade (1973) and William L. Weaver v. Reproductive Health Service (which brought the issue before an anti-Wade court in 1989), Cynthia Gorney draws on 500 interviews, as well as previously unexplored archival material, to present an intimate look at the passions, commitment, and political savvy that propel individuals on both sides. She traces, in particular, the paths of a nurse who runs an abortion clinic in St. Louis, and a member of the right-to-life movement, who came face to face in the Supreme Court during the Weaver decision.