Generation Roe: Inside the Future of the Pro-Choice Movement by Sarah ErdreichMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This little book is a good primer on the state of the pro-choice movement in America. It was written in 2012, long before the recent Supreme Court decision striking down HB 2, Texas' terrible abortion law, and thus is somewhat pessimistic about the movement's future. Despite the recent SCOTUS victory, abortion rights are still under siege in many areas of the country, as this book points out.
Topics include "Hands-Off Training," discussing the (lack of) training offered by many medical schools in how to perform abortions; "(Mis)Representations of Reality," pointing out the distorted view of abortions, a common medical procedure (1 in 3 American women has an abortion during her reproductive lifetime), offered on TV and movies; and "I Went to the March for Life, and All I Got Was This Lousy Fear of Choice," the chronicle of the author attending the March for Life and visiting a so-called "Crisis Pregnancy Center." The most interesting part of the latter section is the author's recounting of literature she picked up in said CPC, and how dishonest it is. From page 197:
"I knew going into this CPC that I would not receive any pro-choice information. But I was still shocked at just how factually inaccurate and misleading the abortion information actually was. Just because a clinic is 'faith-based,' as the woman I met with pointed out--to say nothing of not 'abortion-minded'--does not give it the right to provide women and their partners with lies."
Huh. Well, color me shocked (not).
This book is well-written but doesn't tackle its subjects in any great depth, unlike another book I recently read on the topic, Katha Pollitt's Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights. It's certainly worth reading, however.
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