Amy Littlefield, "Killers of Roe: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights" (Legacy Lit, 2026)

Mar 6, 2026

Amy Littlefield, investigative journalist who probes abortion policy, tells a whodunit-style investigation into the people who dismantled abortion rights. She tracks unexpected architects, behind-the-scenes fundraising and rhetoric, and tragic cases that reveal human costs. The reporting jumps from courtrooms to small towns and ends with cautious hope about quiet organizers and local resistance.

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INSIGHT

Whodunit Frame Reveals Hidden Architects

Amy Littlefield frames the fall of Roe as a whodunit that reveals unexpected behind-the-scenes actors.
She traces long-term erosion through hidden figures like an IRS attorney and a disgraced congressman who shaped enduring policies.

ANECDOTE

Rosie Jimenez's Death Anchors The History

Littlefield tells Rosie Jimenez's story to anchor the book: a low-income Latina denied Medicaid-funded abortion who died after an unsafe procedure.
Jimenez's death links directly to the Hyde Amendment and illustrates why the policy persisted despite fatal consequences.

INSIGHT

Taxpayer Rhetoric Masked Racial Harm

The Hyde Amendment became common-ground politics by targeting low-income women, making repeal politically palatable to many lawmakers.
That strategy weaponized 'taxpayer' rhetoric to mask racial and classed harm.

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In Killers of Roe: My Investigation Into the Mysterious Death of Abortion Rights (Legacy Lit, 2026) reporter Amy Littlefield investigates the secret killers and hidden motives behind the death of abortion rights. They are going to kill people, investigative reporter for The Nation Littlefield knew, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. As a journalist covering abortion for more than a decade, she had already chronicled many near-death experiences caused by anti-abortion policy. After the anti-abortion movement's staggering defeat of Roe, she became fascinated with their victory and why they seemed so much better organized than the pro-choice movement. She set out to investigate the murderers of Roe. Killers of Roe chronicles Littlefield's journey into the unexplored corners of the most successful social movement of our time. As in every good murder mystery, the killers turn out to be the people you least suspect, like a disgraced former Congressman obsessed with offshore tax evasion and an unknown suburban bureaucrat who wrote America's most diabolical anti-abortion policy. She reports from a sweaty presidential tour bus in DC, a chaotic Michigan courtroom where a former fetus thief is on trial, and a Texas town that rejects an abortion travel ban. She encounters surprising characters who shed light on how we got to this moment of authoritarian rule: from the pro-choice superfans she meets at the Reagan library to the Senator who couldn't stop kissing every woman he met. Along the way, Amy draws upon the stories of women who have died from anti-abortion policies and on her own experience as a mother to reveal the life-and-death stakes of America's abortion wars. At once clever and poignant reportage, this abortion whodunnit uncovers the deeper story of how we lost Roe--and how we can win back so much more.

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