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4.41 AVERAGE
4.41 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
A well-written timeline of the falling of the Roe vs Wade decision, and the subsequent tightening, or removal, of access to abortion in the US. Starting with Texas, the author moves through the timeline, but intersperses the personal stories of women seeking an abortion, and the action of abortion providers.
Reading this, I feel like it's folly to at this could never happen in Canada - but the strengthening of the conservative movement, and the growing number of right-wing/Christian organizations lobbying for the abolishment of codes, and the coverage through healthcare is worrisome.
Reading this, I feel like it's folly to at this could never happen in Canada - but the strengthening of the conservative movement, and the growing number of right-wing/Christian organizations lobbying for the abolishment of codes, and the coverage through healthcare is worrisome.
I have such mixed feelings about this book. On the plus side, this is a fairly exhaustive look at the world of reproductive healthcare after the fall of Roe v. Wade. It is incredibly hard to read times. My main complaint is that the stories blur together. I think would have been so much more impactful if each person was followed from start to finish instead of jumping around. There were so many personal stories which is definitely the way to tell this story, but the lack of continuity was a real miss IMO.
This book is filled with hard facts and research; a few points I found most compelling:
* Data collected over the first year after Roe's fall show that the number of abortions across the country held steady. What HAS happened is that those using health centers for things like contraception, general reproductive health, etc. are having trouble accessing care. And patients who seek an abortion in states where it remains legal are running into bottlenecks receiving care in their home states and reproductive refugees seek care in other states.
* Even before Roe fell, the nation's pregnancy-related death rate had been on the rise. The US ranks the worst of all wealthy nations on this metric, and states with abortion bans have even higher death rates. As much as one side of the aisle wants to make this a women's issue that affects a small portion of the population, the fact remains that pregnancy and childbirth carry real risks to all women.
* Like birth control, abortion in the mid-1960s was an open secret and underground church support systems were fairly common. In the years leading up to Roe, a network known as the Clergy Consultation Service united liberal Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faith leaders. They viewed their work as an extension of their pastoral responsibilities - their directive from God was to care for their congregants, without judgment. That work meant helping them get the healthcare they needed, including abortions.
* Years of data show that around 6 in 10 people who terminate a pregnancy in the US are already parents - people who intimately know what it means to take on the responsibility of having a child. 1 in 10 has three kids already and 25% are done for those with one child at home. Around 6 in 10 are in their 20s.
* Most Americans of faith support abortion rights and p0st-Roe numerous Jewish-led organizations filed lawsuits arguing that bans on the procedure violated their religious beliefs. In fact, research has consistently shown that white evangelicals are the only religious group where a minority believe abortion should generally be legal. When Kansas put abortion on the ballot, nuns came out in support of protecting abortion.
* Even before the Dobbs ruling, medical residents, and in particular those studying to become ob-gyns, were required at the very least to have access to abortion training. Per data collected in 2020, only 12% of ob-gyn residents across the country refused abortion training. This simply underscored that, as far as most physicians were concerned - and especially those who cared about providing pregnancy-related care - abortion was considered a standard, core health care service. After the Dobbs decision, the council that accredited medical residency programs reaffirmed that commitment. Whether or not states had banned abortions, the council declared, residency programs training ob-gyns were required to make abortion education available, even if that meant offering to temporarily relocate residents to another state where they could legally provide care.
* Preliminary data in Texas showed that by 2022, a year after the state's abortion ban had taken effect, the state's infant mortality rate had increased an entire 11.5%, likely the result, doctors believed, of Texans being forced to carry to term pregnancies that medical professionals knew were not viable. National data showed a 3% increase in infant mortality across the country between 2021 and 2022, the first time in ~20 years that infant deaths had risen. Much of this growth was from states such as TX, MO, and GA where abortion was almost completely outlawed or severely restricted. Said another way, women were being forced to give birth - to endure the physical burden of pregnancy and labor - only to have babies they knew would die, in some cases after just hours of life.
This book is filled with hard facts and research; a few points I found most compelling:
* Data collected over the first year after Roe's fall show that the number of abortions across the country held steady. What HAS happened is that those using health centers for things like contraception, general reproductive health, etc. are having trouble accessing care. And patients who seek an abortion in states where it remains legal are running into bottlenecks receiving care in their home states and reproductive refugees seek care in other states.
* Even before Roe fell, the nation's pregnancy-related death rate had been on the rise. The US ranks the worst of all wealthy nations on this metric, and states with abortion bans have even higher death rates. As much as one side of the aisle wants to make this a women's issue that affects a small portion of the population, the fact remains that pregnancy and childbirth carry real risks to all women.
* Like birth control, abortion in the mid-1960s was an open secret and underground church support systems were fairly common. In the years leading up to Roe, a network known as the Clergy Consultation Service united liberal Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faith leaders. They viewed their work as an extension of their pastoral responsibilities - their directive from God was to care for their congregants, without judgment. That work meant helping them get the healthcare they needed, including abortions.
* Years of data show that around 6 in 10 people who terminate a pregnancy in the US are already parents - people who intimately know what it means to take on the responsibility of having a child. 1 in 10 has three kids already and 25% are done for those with one child at home. Around 6 in 10 are in their 20s.
* Most Americans of faith support abortion rights and p0st-Roe numerous Jewish-led organizations filed lawsuits arguing that bans on the procedure violated their religious beliefs. In fact, research has consistently shown that white evangelicals are the only religious group where a minority believe abortion should generally be legal. When Kansas put abortion on the ballot, nuns came out in support of protecting abortion.
* Even before the Dobbs ruling, medical residents, and in particular those studying to become ob-gyns, were required at the very least to have access to abortion training. Per data collected in 2020, only 12% of ob-gyn residents across the country refused abortion training. This simply underscored that, as far as most physicians were concerned - and especially those who cared about providing pregnancy-related care - abortion was considered a standard, core health care service. After the Dobbs decision, the council that accredited medical residency programs reaffirmed that commitment. Whether or not states had banned abortions, the council declared, residency programs training ob-gyns were required to make abortion education available, even if that meant offering to temporarily relocate residents to another state where they could legally provide care.
* Preliminary data in Texas showed that by 2022, a year after the state's abortion ban had taken effect, the state's infant mortality rate had increased an entire 11.5%, likely the result, doctors believed, of Texans being forced to carry to term pregnancies that medical professionals knew were not viable. National data showed a 3% increase in infant mortality across the country between 2021 and 2022, the first time in ~20 years that infant deaths had risen. Much of this growth was from states such as TX, MO, and GA where abortion was almost completely outlawed or severely restricted. Said another way, women were being forced to give birth - to endure the physical burden of pregnancy and labor - only to have babies they knew would die, in some cases after just hours of life.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Informative, poignant.
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
The author did her research, it’s very informative. I found it very difficult to finish, I took multiple breaks to read other books while reading this one.
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
emotional
informative
medium-paced