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Summary
Summary
A riveting look at the tumultuous history of abortion rights in the United States leading up to the landmark case of Roe v. Wade, by award-winning author and journalist Karen Blumenthal.
Tracing the path to the 19th century to the pivotal decision in Roe v. Wade and the continuing battle for women's rights, Blumenthal examines, in a straightforward tone, the root causes of the current debate around abortion and its repercussions that have rippled through generations of American women.
This urgent book is the perfect tool to facilitate discussion and awareness of a topic that affects each and every person in the United States.
Author Notes
Karen Blumenthal (1959-2020) was a financial journalist and editor whose career included five years with The Dallas Morning News and twenty-five with The Wall Street Journal --where her work helped earn the paper a Pulitzer Prize for its breaking news coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks--before becoming an award-winning children's non-fiction book writer.
Three of her books, Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History , Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different , and Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition , were finalists for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award.
Karen was also the author of Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929 (named a Sibert Honor Book), Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX (winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award), Tommy: The Gun That Changed America , Bonnie and Clyde: The Making of a Legend , and Jane Against the World: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights .
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Blumenthal provides a forthright deep dive into the history of reproductive rights from the 1800s until modern times. She relays details about the legal cases that helped change the way women could make choices about their bodies. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the history of women's health and also obtain insight into the lives of the women who braved it all. The author discusses exactly how limiting reproductive rights impacted women of color and women living in poverty, including information about the horrors of forced sterilization. The more sordid histories of some reproductive rights advocates are also not glossed over, such as Margaret Sanger's support for eugenics. Short vignettes cover a fact, person, or short history previously mentioned in the chapter. The closer looks at statistics, time lines, and injustices flow with the overall narrative structure. Photographs put faces to the names of those mentioned. A glossary of legal and medical terms, a time line of events, a list of significant Supreme Court cases on abortion and reproductive rights, a bibliography, and an extensive list of source notes round out this methodically researched work. VERDICT An excellent purchase for public and high school nonfiction collections.--Molly Dettmann, Norman North High School, OK
Publisher's Weekly Review
In comprehensive detail, Blumenthal (Bonnie and Clyde) traces the complicated battle for reproductive rights in the U.S. from the late 1830s to today's continued challenges. The centerpiece of the book is a scene-by-scene exposition of both hearings by the Supreme Court of the landmark Roe v. Wade case, in which Blumenthal sensitively illuminates the Supreme Court Justices' struggles with the moral, medical, and legal aspects of abortion. The author also brings to life key figures in many arenas, including women faced with unwanted pregnancies who agreed (sometimes anonymously) to enter the legal fray, as well as doctors, clergy, and lawyers who actively helped or hindered either side. Closing chapters, entitled "Pushback: 1992--2000" and "Restrictions 2000-2016," and the epilogue note the many ways in which reproductive rights continue to be vigorously contested. Written in clear, accessible language, as lively as it is thorough, the book presents the issue as far more nuanced and complex than the often sharply divided "pro-choice" and "pro-life" stances it is often boiled down to. Extensive back matter includes a glossary, timeline, wide-ranging bibliography, and notes. Ages 12--up. (Feb.)■
Horn Book Review
Multiple legal, social, religious, and medical strands comprise the history of reproductive rights in America. Blumenthal, in her trademark straightforward journalistic style (Tommy: The Gun That Changed America, rev. 7/15; Bonnie and Clyde, rev. 1/19), creates a narrative that not only presents a comprehensible overview of the facts but also establishes the historical culture in which those facts existed. Blumenthal incorporates well-chosen case studies and numerous sidebars (each unfortunately titled a Pregnant Pause)such as charts reporting the historic trend of deaths related to abortion or the changing positions of major religious groups. These reveal the misogyny (until the midpoint of the twentieth century, unmarried women could not legally buy contraceptives); racism (women of color were often sterilized without their knowledge); and classism (overwhelmingly white, financially stable women were, and are, able to get abortions) that influenced the issue of unwanted pregnancies for a century and a half. In addition, she outlines the unexpected consequences, including social pressures, mass media coverage, and death, that some women faced when trying to obtain abortions before the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade, as well as the limits that have been imposed on the law since the 1973 decision. Blumenthals impeccable research is revealed in the extensive back matter (including documentation, a subject bibliography, a timeline, and a glossary) that completes this compelling book. Betty Carter March/April 2020 p.98(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
An account of the tumultuous struggle for abortion rights in the United States. Blumenthal kicks off her narrative with a thrillerworthy scene: the 1972 raid by Chicago police on the eponymous "Jane," an underground abortion referral service. The book then pulls back to offer an engaging history of developments in reproductive rights that contributed to the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. Along the way there are brief biographies of key figures--some as famous (or infamous) as Anthony Comstock and Margaret Sanger, some virtually unknown but no less fascinating--placed within a nuanced context and punctuated by "Pregnant Pause[s]": occasionally humorous, sometimes infuriating, often poignant sketches detailing the history of biological knowledge, birth control techniques, legal issues, popular opinion, and religious proclamations. A deep dive into the circumstances, personalities, deliberations, and compromises involved in Roe v. Wade (along with the frequently overlooked companion cases) takes up a dozen chapters, followed by a brief consideration of the consequences, backlash, and steady succession of laws and court cases chipping away at the decision. An epilogue brings the discussion up to the appointment of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Blumenthal's bibliography demonstrates the depth of her research, including online, archival, and primary sources. This riveting book, enhanced by historical photographs, also addresses racial bias, the eugenics movement, and other critical related subjects. Gripping reading; necessary for every library serving teens. (glossary, timeline, significant Supreme Court cases, bibliography, notes) (Nonfiction. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Though it doesn't seem like a radical thought, a woman's right to decide what happens to her own body, her pregnancy, and her reproductive organs has been a centuries-long debate in the U.S. In her latest work of nonfiction for young adults, Sibert-nominated Blumenthal (Six Days in October, 2002) plunges headfirst into the murky waters surrounding not just the complex history of the Roe v. Wade landmark case, but of the century in American history that led to the ruling. In measured but powerful chapters, she lays out the facts, diving into the restrictions--and shady medical practices--surrounding not only abortion but birth control, sterilization, and sexual education. In highlighting key figures, Blumenthal is clear to distinguish important work from darker histories--she doesn't leave out Margaret Sanger's association with the eugenics movement--offering a full picture of a complicated issue. She lingers, too, on the uneasy future of Roe v. Wade, a decision that was once thought to be the final word on the subject. But what makes this book a cut above is her enduring recognition that reproductive rights restrictions have always been a way for people in power to further racist, classist agendas. Thoroughly sourced and accompanied by black-and-white photos and "Pregnant Pause" sidebars, this essential guide, which gives voices to vulnerable populations, demands to be heard.
Table of Contents
| Prologue Jane | p. 3 |
| Part I Restrictions | p. 8 |
| Madame Restell | p. 11 |
| Margaret Sanger | p. 29 |
| A Crime | p. 39 |
| Sherri Chessen | p. 53 |
| Estelle Griswold | p. 63 |
| Part II Reform | p. 78 |
| Clergy | p. 81 |
| Right to Life | p. 93 |
| Repeal | p. 107 |
| Courts | p. 125 |
| Jane Roe | p. 139 |
| Jane Hodgson | p. 149 |
| Federal Court | p. 157 |
| Jane | p. 165 |
| Part III Roe v. Wade | p. 176 |
| Appeal | p. 179 |
| Briefs | p. 189 |
| Oyez, Oyez, Oyez | p. 201 |
| Deliberations | p. 217 |
| Roe, Again | p. 235 |
| Opinions | p. 245 |
| The Decision | p. 257 |
| Part IV After Roe | p. 272 |
| Politics | p. 275 |
| The Supreme Court, Again | p. 279 |
| Pushback | p. 293 |
| Restrictions | p. 301 |
| Epilogue | p. 311 |
| Glossary of Legal and Medical Terms | p. 319 |
| Timeline | p. 323 |
| Significant Supreme Court Cases on Abortion and Reproductive Rights | p. 327 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 331 |
| Bibliography | p. 333 |
| Notes | p. 345 |
| Photo Credits | p. 367 |
| Index | p. 369 |
