The passing of the 1967 Abortion Act was a pivotal moment for women’s health and women’s lives. The culmination of decades of campaigning, it finally ended the horror of deaths from self-induced and backstreet abortions. It precipitated the public funding of contraception for all and meant that, finally, women were able to choose when and whether to have children.

In this moving documentary, women who survived illegal abortion, the nurses who picked up the pieces when things went wrong, campaigning doctors and abortion rights advocates share vivid memories of the time, bringing to life the story of this ground breaking legislation and of a historic turning point for women’s rights.