jrobles76's review against another edition
5.0
This is seriously an important book and should be read by anyone who considers themselves Pro-choice and a feminist. Author Katha Pollitt writes with equal amounts humor and passion. The book aims to help us argue the debate on our terms not their's and to remind us that while we sit on the sidelines, they are making progress at diluting Roe v. Wade.
jonathonjones's review against another edition
4.0
It’s refreshing to read a book that is not merely defending abortion as a right to do something unfortunate but necessary, but instead presenting a positive case for abortion and its role in a larger theme of reproductive justice. Centering the role it plays in actual lives, to help those lives have children when they are ready (rather than randomly).
It eventually gets a bit repetitive, and the picture she paints of abortion opponents doesn’t seem very fair or nuanced (they are presented as not actually caring about the fetuses, but are REALLY concerned about controlling women). But as a positive case for abortion, it succeeds very well.
It eventually gets a bit repetitive, and the picture she paints of abortion opponents doesn’t seem very fair or nuanced (they are presented as not actually caring about the fetuses, but are REALLY concerned about controlling women). But as a positive case for abortion, it succeeds very well.
sura_reads_books's review against another edition
1.0
1.5/5
Picked this up from the library because it was the only book about abortion rights available at the time. Besides making one or two good points, and giving some (not much really) information, this book wasn’t very informative at all. I think some information here is out of date (which isn’t the fault of the author at all) and the writing was very hard to get through. The author repeats points or phrases constantly, to the point where after a while it just felt like she was trying to meet a word count. This book could be cut down to a fourth of the size of all of the repetitive phrases were removed. It also looks like the author is trying for a more conversational tone, which doesn’t work well here.
Picked this up from the library because it was the only book about abortion rights available at the time. Besides making one or two good points, and giving some (not much really) information, this book wasn’t very informative at all. I think some information here is out of date (which isn’t the fault of the author at all) and the writing was very hard to get through. The author repeats points or phrases constantly, to the point where after a while it just felt like she was trying to meet a word count. This book could be cut down to a fourth of the size of all of the repetitive phrases were removed. It also looks like the author is trying for a more conversational tone, which doesn’t work well here.
beatsbybeard's review against another edition
5.0
Katha Pollitt does an excellent job of affirming why abortion is a necessary and empowering facet of women's reproductive rights. She covers anti-abortion movements, the "muddled middle" who disapprove of abortion but think it should be legal, and the pro-choicers who still shy away from citing women's sexual freedom as a valid reason for keeping abortion available. Fetal personhood is revealed as a bogus notion, and the efforts of Republicans to both ban abortion and gut social support for single mothers are shown to belie the true root of their cause – women having sex. The physical, social, and financial costs of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare are unevenly saddled to women, and yet, in the name of duty and domestic norms, no thought is given to what other aspirations she might have had. What abortion really offers women is the chance to have at least the same degree of control over their lives as men do; the same freedom to enjoy sex, to have a career, and to start a family when (if ever) they feel ready to do so. It is for that reason that it should be low-cost, free of stigma, legal, accessible, and safe.
cstefko's review against another edition
5.0
Took me forever and a day to read cuz it was my secondary read and it was too cumbersome to take on either of my trips the last two months, BUT this book is well worth your time, trust me. Pollitt does a great job of focusing on reproductive justice rather than merely abortion rights, and emphasizes that poor and/or non-white people have historically had more trouble accessing abortion than affluent white people. (I say people because I want to be inclusive of all gender identities, but Pollitt doesn't use that language, so just a disclaimer there...). I think she also treats the subject of religion as it pertains to abortion very respectfully. For that reason I think this could definitely be a book to recommend to someone who is either lukewarm about their pro-choice position or someone who is personally against abortion but could be persuaded to support abortion rights as a legal matter. I can see how some readers might be put off by her oftentimes blunt tone, but I found it refreshing. I appreciate serious scholarship, but a little candor goes a long way...