Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service

Written in the mid 90s about events in the late 60s/early 70s, so note that both the language and framing of the issues being addressed at the time, and some of the language of the text itself (i.e., not quotes from the time the group was active) feel outdated today. However, these were still important events worth learning about. I'll keep my rating & review focused on the book, rather than on the historical events/statements/mindsets it reports on.

That being said, some of the language is jarring and unexpected even for a text written in the 90s. For ex., use of the r-slur (not as part of a quote) in chapter 14 as part of discussion of potential cognitive disabilities of premature infants who survived induced miscarriages later in a pregnancy.

Overall, the editing could be better: quotes, phrasing, or stories will at times be repeated verbatim in separate spots, including sometimes flipping around in the timeline (and not as an intentional narrative device). There are other times where a thought seems fairly tossed in or part of a story included but not finished-- like these were thoughts that were mentioned in interviews, so the author felt they should be included, even if they didn't add to the account. There's also the author's choice to give herself a pseudonym (as well as all the others mentioned or interviewed), which is fine except that inserting herself as one of many third-person characters makes it difficult to understand what perspective and bias she may bring to the story, especially when discussing intra-group dynamics, power structures, and conflicts, for instance. The pseudonym is revealed in the epilogue, but it's not like I'm about to go back and re-read it now with that context.

Summary version: this is good history to learn about, and this is likely the most comprehensive coverage of it (as it includes inside perspective from numerous participants). However, go into it expecting to cringe at some perspectives/language and occasionally find the level of writing and editing somewhat distracting.

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rachbake's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

4.25

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isabellarob73's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative inspiring tense fast-paced

4.0

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