Women’s Health in Women’s Hands: Celebrating the Life of Carol Downer

One of the founders of the women’s health movement, Carol Downer died on Jan. 13, 2025 at 91. Before the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, she sparked the feminist self-help movement and helped to develop and popularize menstrual extraction.

(This article originally appears in the Spring 2025 issue of Ms. Join the Ms. community today and you’ll get issues delivered straight to your mailbox.)