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Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, by Katha Pollitt
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A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR
An "important, revelatory new book" (Elle) that is a powerful argument for abortion as a moral right and force for social good
Forty years after the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, "abortion" is still a word that is said with outright hostility or vague discomfort by many, this despite the fact that one in three American women will have terminated at least one pregnancy by the time they reach menopause. Even those who support a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy often qualify their support by saying abortion is a "bad thing," an "agonizing decision," thereby placing the medical procedure on a pedestal so remote and radioactive that it takes it out of the world of the everyday, turning an act that is often necessary, and often welcomed, into something shameful and secretive. Meanwhile with each passing day the rights upheld by the Supreme Court are being systematically eroded by state laws designed to end abortion outright.
In this controversial and necessary book, Katha Pollitt reframes abortion as a common part of a woman's reproductive life, one that should be accepted as a moral right with positive social implications. In clear, concise arguments, Pollitt takes on the personhood argument, reaffirms the priority of a woman's life and health, and discusses why terminating a pregnancy can be a force for good for women, families, and society. By whole-heartedly defending abortion rights, Pollitt argues, we reclaim the lives and the rights of women and mothers.
- Sales Rank: #302948 in Books
- Brand: Picador USA
- Published on: 2015-07-28
- Released on: 2015-07-28
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 209.30" h x .74" w x 5.48" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 288 pages
Features
Review
“Katha Pollitt's brilliant new book, Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights, arrives like an urgent letter as rights are fast eroding….With Pollitt's characteristic wit and logic, Pro marshals science, history, medicine, religion, statistics and stories of real women's lives--with all the ‘tangled secret misfortunes' of families--to make a myth-busting argument that abortion is a social good. It's good for women. It's good for children. It's good for men. It's a normal fact of life and has been since ancient times. All of which might sound shocking, so rarely do we hear about abortion's benefits.” ―Kate Manning, Time
“Enraging...Pollitt's exploration of the hypocrisy of abortion opponents...is so witheringly encyclopedic it will be an eye opener for those who have never darkened the door of a women's studies classroom....Pro may succeed best at galvanizing complacent pro-choicers....Motherhood is hard enough if you go into it willingly. And Pollitt is correct to insist that the right to an abortion is merely society's down payment on all the rights we are yet due.” ―The New York Times Book Review
“Pollitt's arguments force those who oppose reproductive rights to show their true colors--and effectively parries the 'abortion hurts women' nonsense.” ―Jessica Valenti, The Guardian (UK)
“[This] shouldn't be a radical message, but in an era when some feminists feel the need to defend the birth control pill by highlighting its use for reasons other than contraception, the very idea that we should insist that abortion is a good thing because it's good for women feels incredibly bold…. ‘No one is pro-abortion' is a common refrain among liberals defending the right to choose. In the abstract, no, but if you need an abortion to live your life as you see fit, then pro-abortion is exactly what you are. Katha Pollitt has your back on this, and more pro-choicers should embrace her unapologetic approach.” ―Ms. Magazine
“[An] important, revelatory new book... Pollitt does an excellent job of unpacking [the statistics] and showing the contradictions in our views, as well as the limits to what surveys can tell us about the decisions Americans make for themselves.” ―Laurie Abraham, Elle
“A refreshing and comprehensive look at abortion rights… Pro is a passionate plea--and a book that is needed now more than ever.” ―Michele Filgate, Salon
“Katha Pollitt's Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights is such an important book.... Pollitt's fearlessness in exposing and dismissing the misogynist kernel at the center of the issue makes Pro the most fearlessly feminist book I've read in ages, a genuine work of bravery and scholarship and discourse. Am I gushing? You bet. You will be, too.” ―The Stranger
“A lucid and paassionate book.” ―Jane Ciabattari, BBC.com
“Throughout Pro, Pollitt maintains a moral clarity...Ultimately, Pollitt is arguing not just for reproductive rights but for reproductive justice, which places the right to mother, or not, within the global context of human rights and social and economic justice, inextricable from the fight for universal health insurance, immigration reform and a host of social challenges. It's a holistic vision of a more just society that in her telling is at once utterly reasonable and heartbreakingly elusive. It's unlikely that Pro is going to change anyone's mind about abortion, but Pollitt's invigorating articulation of the web of connections that could, someday, create a society concerned with the well-being of all its citizens is reason enough for anyone already on the bus to pick it up.” ―The Chicago Tribune
“[Pro is] a challenging, smart book, and it will change what you think about and talk about when the topic of abortion comes up.” ―Flavorwire
“Pollitt is at her best when she is passionately arguing for women's right to control their own lives. Pro begins with a fierce critique of the way the pro-choice infrastructure has shied away from the word abortion itself and has allowed the anti-abortion crowd to shape the discourse -- and to leave pregnant people out of it entirely, focusing instead on those endlessly lovable fetuses and their "right to life." It ends with an equally powerful call to understand abortion not as some singular culture-war issue but as one part of a struggle for women to be able to live full, complete lives, and for the reproductive labor that is still done mostly by women to be understood as something that benefits all of society and is deserving of respect and (financial) support.” ―Refinery 29
“An impassioned, persuasive case for understanding [abortion] in its proper context…With wit and logic, Pollitt debunks the many myths surrounding abortion, and analyzes what abortion opponents really oppose: namely, women's growing sexual freedom and power….With arguments that are both lucid and sensible, Pollitt successfully reframes the abortion debate to show that, ‘in the end, abortion is an issue of fundamental human rights.'” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“In this powerful pro-choice treatise, Pollitt, the well-known feminist, poet, and award-winning columnist for the Nation, expertly lays out why she supports a woman's right to decide whether to end a pregnancy.” ―Booklist (starred review)
“A dramatic, persuasive argument for abortion…Bolstered by dramatic statistics (‘excluding miscarriages, 21 percent of pregnancies end in abortion'), personal interviews, and historical references reaching as far back as ancient Greece and Egypt, Pollitt impressively makes her case while admitting that abortion clinics have become increasingly inaccessible and certain ‘pronatalist pundits' are holding women's intimately private pregnancy decisions up for public scrutiny…Pollitt's cogent opinion presents potent testimony on a woman's right to choose.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“Pro-choice advocates will find Pollitt's summation helpful in recruitment.” ―Library Journal
“Explosive.” ―Flavorwire "25 Must-Read Books for the Fall"
About the Author
Katha Pollitt, the author of Virginity or Death!, is a poet, essayist, and columnist for The Nation. She has won many prizes and awards for her work, including the National Book Critics Circle Award for her first collection of poems, Antarctic Traveller, and two National Magazine Awards for essays and criticism. She lives in New York City.
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
... for class and on my own) I don't feel like there was a lot that was said in this ...
By Kaitlyn D
As a graduate student who is very pro-choice and has done a lot of reading on the subject (both for class and on my own) I don't feel like there was a lot that was said in this book that I hadn't already thought about, at least vaguely (although Pollitt lays it out much more clearly than I ever could). It is definitely worth reading, however! I felt that the book is engaging and very easy to understand, and it does an amazing job of both laying out the pro-choice position, and identifying the problems with the pro-life position (and with many suggested pro-life "compromises") when taken to their logical extreme. I would most likely recommend it (1) to the "middle grounders," who may not identify strongly as pro-life or pro-choice, and who may not entirely understand why pro-choice people are as passionate as we are on the issue and (2) to people who are pro-choice, but who don't have a lot of exposure to pro-choice rhetoric and/or find it difficult to put into words why they feel the way they do on the issue.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Incredibly powerful
By morehumanthanhuman
When I was 14 or 15, I read Reasonable Creatures: Essays on Women and Feminism by Katha Pollitt. It was a collection of short essays on feminism. I had been exposed to feminism before, but mainly in a historical context. It was something that had happened and was now over -- or so I thought. Reading this book exposed me, for the first time, to a modern voice writing as if women truly matters. It changed my mind and it changed my life.
Pollitt correctly identifies that for a woman to be able to control her own life, she has to be able to make decisions about if and when she will become a mother. Anti-abortion advocacy isn't just about fetal personhood (in fact, as she shows, those who oppose abortion often don't believe the embryo/fetus is a person), it's about what role women can play in society.
Those of who support equality for women have given up a lot of ground by acting as if abortion is something shameful and Pollitt's book is a useful corrective. She challenges us to be clear about what we mean when we say there should be fewer abortions -- do we mean that there should be fewer women and girls with unwanted pregnancies? If we do believe there should be fewer unwanted pregnancies, what real world steps are we taking to bring that about? By this standard, many anti-abortion advocates fail, and miserably so. Is what they're really saying that we are okay with the number of unwanted pregnancies, but that women and girls should simply toss their plans for their own lives whenever fate demands? Pollitt makes a good case for the latter scenario.
Pollitt approaches this issue as if the lives of women matter -- it's amazing how infrequently this is the lens through which the abortion debate is viewed. Her chapter "Are Women People?" cuts to the heart of what we are really saying when we ask women to carry pregnancies to term against their will. If those who wanted to return to pre-Roe days really believed what they said about motherhood, they would be less likely to dub it a simple "inconvenience," one of several inconsistencies she highlights.
Today Roe still stands, but our rights are under attack to an unprecedented degree. At least 87% of US women live in a county without abortion access. There are no wide areas of the country where unless a woman has the ability to travel and take time off work, her right is only theoretical. By allowing anti-abortion advocates to set the terms of the debate, we've lost focus on what matters -- what happens when women are unable to decide when and if they will give birth (Pollitt also reminds us that 61% of women who have abortions have at least one child, highlighting that this isn't a decision made in a vaccuum, but as part of a consideration of how a woman can be a good mother, partner, student, or employee).
This is a powerful and clearly written book that challenges the lies and misdirections of those who would turn back the clock. Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the issue.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
A Venerable Eye-opener !
By Mike Morg
Author Katha Pollitt, a pro-life advocate, vouches the reclaiming of abortion rights. These "rights" are more than just legal rights, but also the social liberty of making one's own decision, and the right for the general public to be properly educated on such issues. This would do much to liberate women from pervading current social stigma. It's not entirely about women, but it's also about those who, on their volition and peril, and despite bitter opposition, go through with the women's requests. These are the abortion doctors.
I will summarize the text, and of course add my own sentiment to it.
The introduction captures a little history and the framework of abortion. Legalizing abortion didn't just save women from injury and fear of arrest, but also gave them a sense of empowerment. The fact that now women - the carriers of babies - can make their own decision to conceive. The author asks you to envisage the felicity of no pharmacist refusing to fill your prescription of birth control or Plan B, no religious fanatic yelling derogatory things (commonly "baby killer") through clinic parking-lots, no woman apologizing for not having a baby just because she happened to get pregnant, no woman feeling restricted from saying "this just wasn't the right time for me", and ultimately the grandiose support of what she calls "the giants": the large amount of people who are on the conflict-void edge of the conflict-ridden issue as well as those who are not involved. These will determine the fate of legal abortion. The author also states that abortion should have rather been legalized in the grounds of equality rather than privacy.
The author starts by explaining what she means by "reclaiming abortion". Abortion is seen under the insidious light of wickedness, and it reflects as an act of the demoralized, that's often equated with murder and incivility. According to her, we need to see abortion as an "urgent practical decision" that is just as, or if not more moral than the decision to have the child. Abortion is part of being a mother and caring for children because knowing when to bring a child into the world falls under that responsibility. When considering the topic abortion, she wants us to consider the full human scope: sex, work, men, respectful and reproductive healthcare, and realistic and accurate information about sex and reproduction. Etc. For example, a Brown university study found that 16 percent of pregnant fell victim to reproductive coercion and separately, 9% experienced "birth control sabotage". She raises a good point; she says that sometimes when we talk about abortion as being a bad thing, and that there's too much of it, we actually mean that there's too much unwanted pregnancy, too much inadequately beguiling sex education, not enough access to birth control, and even too much poverty.
In her chapter 'What Do Americans Think About Abortion?' she details the landscape of the issue. She discusses how abortion is perceived on a political level, and how such caricatures influence many people socially. Politically, there is much pressure to enforce more stringent mandates. As a result, many conservative states and systems place more onerous requirements and restrictions towards abortion clinics and prospects. She interpolates many polls from many different sources and times, and rebukes at the brash inconsistencies between what people actually think, what people THINK they think, and what they vote for or against. The conclusion easily drawn is that Americans don't have a solid understanding of abortion.
She importantly covers the expedient abortion topic - what is a person? Many abortion opponents injudiciously extend their definition of personhood and thus rally against contraceptives calling them "abortifacients". Religious zeal compels many to protect the fertilized egg, the blastocyst, etc. If this "loss of life" is so important to pro-lifers, then the same level of importance should be applied to miscarriages. Following the same logic, each and every miscarriage should be investigated as a possible crime. Also, vast sums of money should be spent to prevent them, yet its not.
The author reverts back to the social issues of abortion and makes a compelling case for the societal degradation of women. While reading her claims of women being set-aside and unconsidered in the discussion of abortions, I was leery of overly-avid feminism. But honestly, I couldn't help but feel her. Her expostulation was inundated with good examples, a surfeit of facts and interpolated statistics, and well-structured arguments. While it is important to scientifically assess the termination of an embryo, and morally consider the loss of "life" per se, the enervating social constraints and opportunity costs are nevertheless to me a rather requisite consideration. Its abominable that such staunch opponents, in a perceived act of valor (though usually just blind religious conviction), go out of their way to save the unborn while simultaneously engaging in higher dereliction: the lack of action and even support for laws that do help single mothers, especially those impoverished; and the lack of pressure asserted to those who are equally responsible - the father. This contrasts western Europe were pronatalism (i.e. the encouragement of reproductive child-bearing) is part of the reasoning behind strong government support for families. Amusingly, conservatives are doing much to impute responsibility on the woman while liberating (perhaps unintentionally?) men. Considering the fact that many deny evolution and harbor [false] convictions that everything was divinely created less than 10,000 years ago, it's not to hard to fathom that entrenched in their ideologies lay archaic views of females and their roles in society. Women are often the ones reproached, coerced, and subjugated to culture-motivated "expectations". Them getting pregnant opponents say, is a result of their promiscuity and bad behavior. With repugnance, they assert that women should be responsible for the ramifications of their actions. As if fornication or promiscuity is a bad thing. Ramifications for such thinking is worse; birth control pills can't be attained without prescription and emergency contraception is often not available. Pronatalists are so concerned with the hypothetical future of the unborn, aka, the future worker, the future benefit, the future genius that never got the chance to be conceived. But what about the millions of poor people, often the ones we label as "ghetto", "low class", and "incompetent", that they do nothing for. Though benighted many are gifted, good intention-ed, and talented, yet they are plagued by they're environment: a maelstrom of bad influence, failure-ridden expectations, poor social conditions, plus a lack of resources that as a result obscure the proper path to success.
Towards the end, there's an interesting section called the "Six Myths About Abortion". I will not get into any detail but they are:
1. The Bible forbids it
2. Women are coerced into having abortions
3. Abortion is dangerous
4. There are too many abortions
5. Abortion is racist
6. Abortion opponents would never punish women
The chapter "What Do Abortion Opponents Really Oppose?" stresses the lack of concern for women again but this time more eclectically. The name is a hyperbole, a little too much for me. There's still a lot of fruitful information in it. For example, the top states for women's status, where religion plays a relatively small role in political life, have few abortion restrictions. The opposite is true for more conservative states. The correlation between elevated women status and congenial abortion laws may indicate that anti-abortion states are more interested in attacking women's rights than protecting fetal life according to the political scientist Jean Reith Schroedel. Schroedel shows that anti-choice states don't do much to ensure the health and well-being of fetuses and babies when it comes to prenatal care, drug treatment, other exogenous assistance. The same states are at the bottom when it comes to "education, child care, access to food stamps, Medicaid, and welfare" according to her. I've seen this examined before by other intellectuals but not under the light of abortion.
Overall, Pro was a great read. It was very insightful, and easy to understand. The author's tone conveys a sense of urgency and concern. For example, Pollitt's women "empowerment" argument in the introduction is definitely an appeal to emotion, but justified many times later in the text. At times though it seems that she may divert, at least in tone, and over-accentuate semi-subjective female injustice. Nevertheless, this is only in tone because the reoccurring diversions into the female perspective are not superfluous. This is reinforced by what I believe to be the thesis, on page 25:
"...although abortion has been legal for four full decades, for many women in America it might as well not be. It is inaccessible-too far away, too expensive to pay for out of pocket, and too encumbered by restrictions and regulations and humiliations, many of which might not be seen to be one of those "undue burdens" the Supreme Court has ruled are impermissible curbs on a woman's ability to terminate a pregnancy, but which, taken together, do place abortion out of reach."
Insofar as science goes, one of her arguments is that the DNA during the post-blastocyst stages are merely a blueprint for what's to be a person, but not a person them-self. She juxtaposes this to instructions for a house - just an outline - and the conditions from your mother's hormonal mix and the combination of love, diet, and simulation are what makes a person. The author vehemently argues that abortion is a bigger issue than the moral considerations for the zygote/embryo/fetus, because while abortion-opponents consider that, they are at the same time relegating women and their rights to the periphery. She says that the concept of personhood when applied to early human development in the womb makes no sense and is "incoherent, covertly religious, and believed by barely anyone". Even though this is true, I still feel that when it comes down to it, scientific analysis is needed to justify the "worth" of the unborn fetus, at all stages and void of any social/environmental considerations outside the mother herself. On a related note, one big thing missing from the book in my opinion is the analysis of pain. I'm not sure what scientific advancements have been made (or even the field involved - is it biology, neurology, or neurophysiology?) but I am sure to some degree we can measure the amount of pain or suffering we subject the unborn baby to when we abort it. Do those flies that we mindlessly slaughter with our feet, and inflict mass exterminations to with the minimal kinetic effort of our finger feel the same pain and suffering, with their mature physiology and well-developed nervous system, as an aborted fetus? My guess is that the pain would be greater. We may be, as Katha Pollitt says, neglecting of female worth in our society but by the same token we are also (and this is more subtle) overly egotistical.
4.6/5
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