For the most part, I found this book both informative and interesting. I guess a fair bit of politics is inevitable with this topic, but it was only really painful for me when Prager went into detail about all the restrictions put on abortion since Roe v. Wade. This book was published before the overturning of Roe v. Wade (the infuriating Supreme Court decision that shall not be named), but Prager could see where things were going, and it was depressing reading about it.
Prager details how Roe v. Wade came about as well as the lives of the people involved with the case. Being fairly ignorant of all these details, I learned a lot. In addition, Prager focuses on two people involved with the abortion rights struggle--one doctor adamantly crusading against abortions, and one who has performed countless abortions, beginning before they were legal. I did not think this book was trying to change anyone's mind. I imagine that people who already have their opinions will not be swayed in either direction by its contents.
The majority of the book focuses on the plaintiff of one of the most famous cases in America: Jane Roe. Jane Roe is actually Norma McCorvey. She was born in Louisiana and moved to Texas. She was the third generation in her family to deal with unwanted, teenage pregnancy; the inability to take care of her children; or grandparents/aunts pretending to be parents. Norma Rae had two children before she became pregnant with the child that would give us Roe v. Wade. She asked the lawyer who had helped to adopt out her second child if she could get an abortion in Texas (where it wasn't legal), and he hooked her up with Linda Coffee. Coffee was a brilliant attorney who was interested in challenging Texas's abortion ban. She was working with Sarah Weddington, a more charismatic attorney who would argue the case in front of the Supreme Court. Coffee and Weddington apparently told Norma that the court process was too slow to help her get a legal abortion, but there is some question of whether they could have helped her get an abortion out of state. However, that would make their court case moot. In any case, by the time Roe v. Wade was decided, Norma had already given birth on June 2, 1970 to the baby who would become Shelley Thornton.
Norma was a very difficult person with some definite mental health issues. She would tell a lot of stories about herself, many of which weren't true. Sarah Weddington later said, "I wish I had picked someone else." Reading the book, it was sometimes hard to keep track of Norma's relationships--as well as the lives of her three children and their subsequent relationships. It was clear that Norma was used for political points--first by the liberal, pro-choice faction. But when she was about 48, Norma became a born-again Christian, and the right went along and did the same thing. Even more problematic was that Norma was a lesbian and in a serious relationship with a woman--something that the extreme right-wing hated almost as much as abortions.
Two other prominent characters in the book were Mildred Fay Jefferson and Curtis Boyd--both doctors. Curtis saw a high school crush of his get pregnant in high school, and it ruined her life. Since then, he was always willing to help women end unwanted pregnancies--even before they were legal in Texas. Eventually, he expanded his practice to include abortions in any term of pregnancy--although the vast majority were still in the first twelve weeks.
Mildred Fay Jefferson was an idealistic young Black woman. She was very impressive and the first Black woman to go to Harvard Medical School. Unfortunately, the combination of racism and sexism stalled her career. She turned to focusing on pro-life causes. Mildred Jefferson was a very useful and pithy mouthpiece for pro-life causes. It was Mildred's television discussion that made Ronald Reagan pro-life. Sadly, the older she got, the more off-kilter and extreme she became. She was a hoarder who couldn't pay her bills. When her husband left her she told him that "filing for divorce 'violated the rights of the children we might have had.'"
This book gave me interesting insight into the people and events surrounding Roe v. Wade. Definitely recommended for anyone with an interest in the topic.
Below are some interesting things I read that don't quite fit in the review, but I didn't want to leave out:
-Linda Coffee tried to get a job at the DA's office after law school, but women lawyers faced severe discrimination at the time. "The DA then interviewed Coffee and told her that she'd impressed him, too. But the only job he had for a woman, he said, was collecting child support from delinquent dads." (71)
-Wade--the Dallas DA named in Roe v. Wade was actually a closet, moderate liberal who was pro-choice.
-Hyde Amendment - 1 in 4 women who would have had abortions funded by Medicaid gave birth instead. (149)
-Gloria Allred used Norma McCorvey for her own interests. I did not realize that Lisa Bloom is Gloria Allred's daughter. Lisa Bloom represented Weinstein, attacking his victims, so I consider that worse.
-"Enforced motherhood is the most complete denial of a woman's right to life and liberty." Margaret Sanger 1914 (323)
-Norma talking about being on the pro-life side. "It's really a lot harder on this side because you gotta act like you care." (422)
-2/3 of abortions occur by the eighth week of pregnancy. (480)
-1/2 of the women in America who have abortions live below the federal poverty level (451) and 60% are already mothers
-Nearly all women who have abortions are glad they did.
-Single-issue politics can "lead to the election of a moron who holds the right view on abortion." (459)
Finally, I wanted to link to my favorite Youtube ObGyn discussing the overturning of Roe v. Wade because I think she is thoughtful and informative.
No comments:
Post a Comment