From 2011 to 2017, as a PhD student I worked on various groups of the free abortion movement in France that performed illegal actions from 1972 to 1975 or, for some “dissident MLACs”, until the late 1970s or even 1984. Drawing on a wide array of biographical interviews and archival sources, this study aimed to exhume long-forgotten practices and claims that defended alternative comprehensions of reproductive autonomy and care experiences. To do so, I made sure to interview activists outside decision-making or expert circles, thus forging strong ties with women who held minority viewpoints and/or whose social properties did not predispose them to collective action.

Lucile Ruault is a sociologist at CNRS - Cermes3, her book "Le spéculum, la canule et le miroir. Avorter au MLAC, une histoire entre féminisme et médecine" was published in French by ENS editions in 2023.