Carol Sanger, a Columbia Law professor, examines how law and culture have combined to suppress women's willingness to speak about their abortion experiences. Sanger shows that while abortion has been legal in most of the United States for decades, it remains surrounded by stigma and secrecy that distort both individual women's experiences and public policy debates. She traces how laws requiring waiting periods, ultrasound viewing, and counseling scripts treat women as incapable of making serious decisions, while confidentiality provisions that seem protective actually reinforce the message that abortion is shameful. Sanger examines how women navigate these constraints, from those who share their experiences publicly to those who tell no one, exploring the costs of silence and the risks of disclosure. She analyzes legal mechanisms of shame including judicial bypass procedures for minors, which require teenagers to justify their decision to strangers, and regulations that single out abortion providers for restrictions not applied to comparable medical procedures. The book argues that reproductive freedom requires not just legal access but the ability to make and discuss reproductive decisions without shame. Sanger writes as both legal scholar and feminist, providing detailed doctrinal analysis alongside passionate argument for recognizing abortion as a normal part of reproductive healthcare rather than a deviant choice requiring special justification.