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jenmangler's review against another edition
4.0
"It is important for our opinions to be grounded in an accurate understanding of reality." This line appears towards the end of the book, and it's why you should read it.
mstrouse's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
threegoodrats's review against another edition
4.0
Books about abortion necessarily cover all the restrictions to access and faulty arguments of those who are anti-abortion, so every time I read a book on the topic I end up feeling enraged. This was no exception. It was also very validating though, because the study clearly shows positive outcomes for women who are able to get abortions versus women who are turned away (not to mention the children they already have who fare better when their mothers don't end up with another child they didn't plan on having.) If only policies in this country were based on sound research rather than religious moralizing.
A few interesting facts I learned from this book: risk of death is 14 times higher for childbirth than for abortion; abortion is safer than having a wisdom tooth removed; 60% of women seeking abortion already have children; approximately 1 in 5 women seeking abortion in this study thought abortion was morally wrong or should be illegal (and 95% of women who received abortions stood by their decisions later and said they made the right choice); the current maternal mortality rate in the US is twice as high as it was in 1987. I also learned the legal definition of privacy, which clarifies why that is the right under which Roe v. Wade was decided: the legal definition refers to decisions reserved for private citizens without government intrusion. This makes more sense, but I still agree with RBG that the right to abortion should be based on equality and sex discrimination.
This is a book about a study, but that doesn't mean that it is dry or boring. I found it quite readable. Between the chapters focusing on various aspects of the study were stories from individual women who were involved in the study. The author wants us to think less about things that could happen in theory and more about the experiences of real women who seek abortions. She quotes a sign in Dr. George Tiller's office that says "Trust women." (You may recall that he was the abortion providing doctor assassinated by an anti-abortion activist in 2009.) Many of our abortion restrictions and attitudes are based on a patronizing view of women as people who can't make good decisions for themselves, and it's frankly pretty infuriating. Foster dispels many myths about abortion through her study: that only certain types of women have abortions, that it's always a difficult decision, that making abortion illegal doesn't stop it but only makes it unsafe, that it's physically risky, that women having abortions regret their decisions (or experience PTSD, are depressed, etc), that having an abortion is selfish, etc.
Thorough, interesting, and definitely research that we needed. I'd love to think our lawmakers will consult this research when creating policy, but I know the US as a nation doesn't consider facts or data important anymore. Here's hoping that will change.
A few interesting facts I learned from this book: risk of death is 14 times higher for childbirth than for abortion; abortion is safer than having a wisdom tooth removed; 60% of women seeking abortion already have children; approximately 1 in 5 women seeking abortion in this study thought abortion was morally wrong or should be illegal (and 95% of women who received abortions stood by their decisions later and said they made the right choice); the current maternal mortality rate in the US is twice as high as it was in 1987. I also learned the legal definition of privacy, which clarifies why that is the right under which Roe v. Wade was decided: the legal definition refers to decisions reserved for private citizens without government intrusion. This makes more sense, but I still agree with RBG that the right to abortion should be based on equality and sex discrimination.
This is a book about a study, but that doesn't mean that it is dry or boring. I found it quite readable. Between the chapters focusing on various aspects of the study were stories from individual women who were involved in the study. The author wants us to think less about things that could happen in theory and more about the experiences of real women who seek abortions. She quotes a sign in Dr. George Tiller's office that says "Trust women." (You may recall that he was the abortion providing doctor assassinated by an anti-abortion activist in 2009.) Many of our abortion restrictions and attitudes are based on a patronizing view of women as people who can't make good decisions for themselves, and it's frankly pretty infuriating. Foster dispels many myths about abortion through her study: that only certain types of women have abortions, that it's always a difficult decision, that making abortion illegal doesn't stop it but only makes it unsafe, that it's physically risky, that women having abortions regret their decisions (or experience PTSD, are depressed, etc), that having an abortion is selfish, etc.
Thorough, interesting, and definitely research that we needed. I'd love to think our lawmakers will consult this research when creating policy, but I know the US as a nation doesn't consider facts or data important anymore. Here's hoping that will change.
storytold's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic. Gold standard for research-based nonfiction. Systematically tackles every common objection to abortion and disproves nearly all of them with both quantitative data and qualitative testimony. Apart from that, it was excellently written: declarative, unambiguous, political, often moving. If you often find yourself debating abortion rights, this book has the talking points to help destigmatize.
lew3999's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
A must read for those who want to have a well informed opinion on Abortion and woman rights