In 1967 a young woman came to Dr Bertram Wainer's Melbourne surgery seeking emergency medical treatment after a backyard abortion. She was desperately ill yet too afraid to go to hospital. For Wainer this was the start of a long, hard struggle to overturn laws that made abortion an offence punishable by up to 15 years in jail. In the process he uncovered a web of corruption involving highly paid doctors, backyard abortionists, high-ranking police and power-broking politicians. It would lead to attempts against his life and the first major public enquiry into a state police force, as he fought to make abortions accessible, affordable and safe.