Tracy S. (mickeycat) -
This book does not politicize abortion, it just tells stories like mine. The truth - in their own words, unvarnished and without an agenda. Making something illegal does not stop it at all, it creates a flourishing underground. The anti-abortion movement has forgotten about Prohibition! This should be required reading for every politician who aspires to be a lawmaker. Everyone who does not have a uterus should read this book; if women began attempting to regulate testicles - this entire debate would vanish.
No one wants to have an abortion.
If the pill is 99% effective and you have 30 years of active fertility (lets say from ages 15 to 45) and you cycle 13 times a year (every 28 days) and you NEVER miss a pill (married or not), then you have 390 chances in your life when it is possible to become pregnant - if you use the pill faithfully - you will face 3.9 unintended pregnancies during your life. About a third of all American women will have an abortion before they are 45 years old. This book reminds us what it would be like if this critical health service is not available. It also demonstrates that each story is different but each is filled with desperation. Uniquely, this book also interviews adult children whose mothers died after illegal abortions and shows us how it affected their lives. We also hear from police and District Attorneys and coroners who arrested people and saw them after they died of injuries sustained a the hands of unskilled lay people doing what many doctors would have done, had they not feared the legal ramifications. It is fascinating - these people are from all walks of life and backgrounds and religious beliefs. I do not believe anyone would be offended by the contents of the book. Pro-Choice or Life, both, will benefit from this reading. It does not take a stand either way, it is as if the author simply put a recorded in front of the interviewees and asked them to tell their stories. The book shows both gratitude and regret.
If you love your daughter you will tell her your stories and share this book. Most of the tragedy the book portrays was due to the secrecy surrounding abortion. Well, that and men's control over a woman's access to birth control..Ever read the Handmaid's tale?
No one wants to have an abortion.
If the pill is 99% effective and you have 30 years of active fertility (lets say from ages 15 to 45) and you cycle 13 times a year (every 28 days) and you NEVER miss a pill (married or not), then you have 390 chances in your life when it is possible to become pregnant - if you use the pill faithfully - you will face 3.9 unintended pregnancies during your life. About a third of all American women will have an abortion before they are 45 years old. This book reminds us what it would be like if this critical health service is not available. It also demonstrates that each story is different but each is filled with desperation. Uniquely, this book also interviews adult children whose mothers died after illegal abortions and shows us how it affected their lives. We also hear from police and District Attorneys and coroners who arrested people and saw them after they died of injuries sustained a the hands of unskilled lay people doing what many doctors would have done, had they not feared the legal ramifications. It is fascinating - these people are from all walks of life and backgrounds and religious beliefs. I do not believe anyone would be offended by the contents of the book. Pro-Choice or Life, both, will benefit from this reading. It does not take a stand either way, it is as if the author simply put a recorded in front of the interviewees and asked them to tell their stories. The book shows both gratitude and regret.
If you love your daughter you will tell her your stories and share this book. Most of the tragedy the book portrays was due to the secrecy surrounding abortion. Well, that and men's control over a woman's access to birth control..Ever read the Handmaid's tale?
