Ethical issues, topics and debates: reproductive health, abortion and birth control Books

Book SynopsisWith stories from the front lines, a legal scholar journeys through distinct legal climates to understand precisely why and how the war over abortion is being fought.Drawing on her years of research in El Salvador—one of the few countries to ban abortion without exception—legal scholar Michelle Oberman explores what happens when abortion is a crime. Oberman reveals the practical challenges raised by a thriving black market in abortion drugs, as well as the legal challenges to law enforcement. She describes a system in which doctors and lawyers collaborate in order to identify and prosecute those suspected of abortion-related crimes, and the troubling results of such collaboration: mistaken diagnoses, selective enforcement, and wrongful convictions.Equipped with this understanding, Oberman turns her attention to the United States, where the battle over abortion is fought almost exclusively in legislatures and courtrooms. Beginning in Oklahoma, one of t

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Book SynopsisChanging Unjust Laws Justly describes the practical realities of campaigning to restrict abortion and explores various jurisprudential, legislative, and ethical aspects of the question.

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Book SynopsisAn Open Secret traces the history of women’s experiences with unwanted pregnancy and abortion in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia between the early 1950s and 2010. It finds that women’s personal reproductive experiences contributed to shaping policies and services in reproductive health care.Trade Review"An Open Secret illuminates with precision the logics governing women’s reproductive lives in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia. With broad implications for understanding gender relations globally, Kimball shows how discourses about 'choice' and 'rights' fail to capture the competing impulses and complicated terrain that women must navigate, and why access to health care services is a critical component of economic and social development." -- Mala Htun * co-author of The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women's Rights Around the World *"Kimball’s remarkable book offers a sensitive analysis of oral histories by women from La Paz and El Alto; it connects individuals’ deeply personal, intimate reflections on sexuality and reproduction to shifting local cultures, national politics, and global paradigms." -- Jadwiga Pieper Mooney * author of The Politics of Motherhood: Maternity and Women's Rights in Twentieth-Century Chile *Historias 98 interview with Natalie Kimball https://secolas.org/media/historias-98-el-embarazo-no-deseado-y-el-aborto-en-bolivia-con-natalie-kimball/ * Historias 98 *"Abortion in Bolivia: An Open Secret," by Beth Harpaz https://sum.cuny.edu/abortion-bolivia-secret-law-college-staten-island/ * SUM *"This beautifully written book is a must-read for anyone interested in gender equality and reproductive justice. It serves as a model for how to write a book with sensitivity and rigor, defining the politically fraught topics of abortion and unwanted pregnancy 'as human experiences.' It is a powerful reminder that what is at stake – women’s lives – is not something that should be up for political debate." * Nursing Clio *"At the heart of Kimball's study are the voices of women speaking about their experiences with pregnancy, which are curated from 113 oral interviews conducted with women and men in La Paz and El Alto....By guiding us through the complexities of these attitudes and decisions, Kimball achieves their goal: readers will likely view these decisions and the women making them with ‘greater compassion and respect.'" * Gender & History *"An Open Secret makes a case for narrative accounts as essential data for interpreting statistical and archival studies about how individuals navigate the complex avenues of reproduction. Moreover, Kimball's use of oral history elevates the intimate experiences of women as explicitly political." * Hispanic American Historical Review *"Kimball’s book offers a rare insight into the most intimate details of women’s lives, through their own testimony of their experience. It is carefully and sensitively researched and provides a wealth of detail on the social norms, practices, and laws and around reproduction." -- Maxine Molyneux * The Middle Ground Journal *Table of ContentsTable of Contents List of Figures and Maps Abbreviations Introduction Chapter One, Legislating Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion in Bolivia Chapter Two, Double Discourses: Social Attitudes on Sexuality and Reproduction Chapter Three, Feelings, Attitudes, and Decisions: Reproductive Decision-Making in the Urban Andes Chapter Four, Navigating Unwanted Pregnancy in La Paz and El Alto, 1950s-1980s Chapter Five, Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion in the Wake of Democracy, 1982-2010 Chapter Six, Abortion and the Law in La Paz and El Alto Conclusion Acknowledgments Appendix Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAn Open Secret traces the history of women’s experiences with unwanted pregnancy and abortion in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia between the early 1950s and 2010. It finds that women’s personal reproductive experiences contributed to shaping policies and services in reproductive health care.Trade Review"An Open Secret illuminates with precision the logics governing women’s reproductive lives in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia. With broad implications for understanding gender relations globally, Kimball shows how discourses about 'choice' and 'rights' fail to capture the competing impulses and complicated terrain that women must navigate, and why access to health care services is a critical component of economic and social development." -- Mala Htun * co-author of The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women's Rights Around the World *"Kimball’s remarkable book offers a sensitive analysis of oral histories by women from La Paz and El Alto; it connects individuals’ deeply personal, intimate reflections on sexuality and reproduction to shifting local cultures, national politics, and global paradigms." -- Jadwiga Pieper Mooney * author of The Politics of Motherhood: Maternity and Women's Rights in Twentieth-Century Chile *Historias 98 interview with Natalie Kimball https://secolas.org/media/historias-98-el-embarazo-no-deseado-y-el-aborto-en-bolivia-con-natalie-kimball/ * Historias 98 *"Abortion in Bolivia: An Open Secret," by Beth Harpaz https://sum.cuny.edu/abortion-bolivia-secret-law-college-staten-island/ * SUM *"This beautifully written book is a must-read for anyone interested in gender equality and reproductive justice. It serves as a model for how to write a book with sensitivity and rigor, defining the politically fraught topics of abortion and unwanted pregnancy 'as human experiences.' It is a powerful reminder that what is at stake – women’s lives – is not something that should be up for political debate." * Nursing Clio *"At the heart of Kimball's study are the voices of women speaking about their experiences with pregnancy, which are curated from 113 oral interviews conducted with women and men in La Paz and El Alto....By guiding us through the complexities of these attitudes and decisions, Kimball achieves their goal: readers will likely view these decisions and the women making them with ‘greater compassion and respect.'" * Gender & History *"An Open Secret makes a case for narrative accounts as essential data for interpreting statistical and archival studies about how individuals navigate the complex avenues of reproduction. Moreover, Kimball's use of oral history elevates the intimate experiences of women as explicitly political." * Hispanic American Historical Review *"Kimball’s book offers a rare insight into the most intimate details of women’s lives, through their own testimony of their experience. It is carefully and sensitively researched and provides a wealth of detail on the social norms, practices, and laws and around reproduction." -- Maxine Molyneux * The Middle Ground Journal *Table of ContentsTable of Contents List of Figures and Maps Abbreviations Introduction Chapter One, Legislating Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion in Bolivia Chapter Two, Double Discourses: Social Attitudes on Sexuality and Reproduction Chapter Three, Feelings, Attitudes, and Decisions: Reproductive Decision-Making in the Urban Andes Chapter Four, Navigating Unwanted Pregnancy in La Paz and El Alto, 1950s-1980s Chapter Five, Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion in the Wake of Democracy, 1982-2010 Chapter Six, Abortion and the Law in La Paz and El Alto Conclusion Acknowledgments Appendix Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAn ethnographic study that shows how similar national and cultural beliefs about gender, sexuality, and Greekness are the basis of both the public condemnation of abortion and its prevalence in Greece.Trade Review“Alexandra Halkias probes the tension between the male-centered, hegemonic assumptions of European nationalism and the representation of the nation as a female body (and the female body as a national property) with an adroit irony leavened by perceptive compassion. At the heart of the paradox of modern Greece, cast as both the despised backwater and the glorious cradle of ‘the West,’ she incisively dissects a concomitant paradox: insistent calls to fill the cradle coexist with a remarkably high rate of abortion. This is politically forthright cultural analysis grounded in intimate and yet also wide-ranging observation.”—Michael Herzfeld, Harvard University“The question of Greek women’s ready use of abortion and their ‘failure’ to use other methods of birth control is one that for some time has intrigued anthropologists. Alexandra Halkias offers provocative arguments regarding the ‘naturalness’ of abortion and the relationship between sexuality and national identity.”—Jill Dubisch, author of In a Different Place: Pilgrimage, Gender, and Politics at a Greek Island ShrineTable of ContentsAcknowledgents xi Introduction 1 Part 1. The Agoras of Agon 1. Setting the Stage: Athens, Greece, Fantasy, and History 19 2. Stage Left: Greek Women 35 3. Center Stage: What is Greece? 53 4. Stage Right: The Demografiko 77 Part 2. In Context, in Contests 5. In the Operating Room: On Cows, Greece, and the Smoking Fetus 89 6. Give Birth for Greece! Abortion and Nation in the Greek Press 113 Part 3. Sexing the Nation 7. Navigating the Night 135 8. The Impossible Dream: The Couple as Mother 207 9. Abortion, Pain, and Agency 235 10. Reprosexuality and the Modern Citizen Face the Specter of Turkey 291 11. A Critical Cartography of the Demografiko’s Greece 319 Epilogue: Theory and Policy 345 Notes 349 References 381

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Book SynopsisFeatures many of the major Supreme Court decisions on abortion - as well as many majority, dissenting, and plurality opinions. This book sets these cases in political, historical, and philosophical context, and gives the reader a sense of what the issues in the constitutional law of abortion are likely to be in the future.Trade ReviewAbortion: The Supreme Court Decisions is the essential collection of abortion case decisions for students and scholars. With comprehensive coverage of both the foundational and the very latest cases, the volume guides the reader through the intricate channels of constituently reasoning around reproductive rights. Shapiro's new introduction maps the history and implications of abortion jurisprudence with welcome clarity. No library or personal collection of works on Supreme Court jurisprudence, reproductive rights, or the ethics of abortion policy will be complete without Shapiro's new edition. --Lisa Ellis, Texas A&M UniversityDispute over whether abortion should never, sometimes, or always be legal remains at the center of American jurisprudence, politics, and morality. It shows no sign of dissolving into the negotiation and compromise of 'politics as usual.' Thus Ian Shapiro's Abortion is an invaluable book. The third edition provides not only the Supreme Court decisions but also an expanded Introduction by Shapiro. The Introduction does just what this vexed issue needs--laying out the history, law, partisanship, and philosophy of the abortion debate. Abortion is a wonderful resource for teaching and research, or simply for pondering this troubling and complex issue. --Jennifer L. Hochschild, Harvard UniversityThis book provides an essential resource for understanding one of the most divisive issues in American politics. The collection of edited cases and dissents, together with Shapiro's lucid introduction, offers teachers and students alike an unsurpassed guide for understanding and debating the legal conflicts over abortion. --Margaret Weir, University of California at Berkeley

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Book SynopsisThis Element shows that (1) moral issue attitudes endure longer than authoritarianism; (2) moral issues predict change in authoritarianism; (3) authoritarianism does not systematically predict change in moral issues; and (4) moral issues have always played a much greater role structuring party ties than authoritarianism.

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Book SynopsisAbortion trail activists are national and transnational organizations and movements that enable access to safe abortion this open access book adopts a global perspective to explore their historic contribution to reproductive justice, their innovative work, and the continuing and emergent problems they face. Deirdre Duffy offers the first dedicated analysis of both the historic and on-going relationship between groups supporting access to abortion and abortion politics, drawing on theoretical perspectives and debates including post-colonialism, feminist anarchism and health activism. Challenging assumptions about the achievements of pro-choice politics, Duffy examines the race-based exclusions within and created by dominant historic pro-choice narratives, critiquing the prochoice movements' whiteness, and the limitations of a focus on legal change. Case studies are drawn from across the Global North and South, including examples from Argentina, Kenya, Poland, the Neth

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Book SynopsisExplores the historical roots of controversies over abortion, fetal personhood, miscarriage, and maternal mortality. On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, asserting that the Constitution did not confer the right to abortion. This ruling, in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health case, was the culmination of a half-century of pro-life activism promoting the idea that fetuses are people and therefore entitled to the rights and protections that the Constitution guarantees. But it was also the product of a much longer history of archaic ideas about the relationship between pregnant people and the fetuses they carry. In Policing Pregnant Bodies: From Ancient Greece to Post-Roe America, historian Kathleen M. Crowther discusses the deeply rooted medical and philosophical ideas that continue to reverberate in the politics of women's health and reproductive autonomy. From the idea that a detectable heartbeat is a sign of moral personhood to why infant and maTrade ReviewTimely and important.This book is a wake-up call for those who care about and for women and children.—Library Journal (starred review)Historian Kathleen Crowther sees a connection between Ancient Greek philosophers studying embryos and modern day abortion restrictions....In her new book, Policing Pregnant Bodies...Crowther examines ancient metaphors that are still being used, describes the process through which early physicians came to understand fetal development, and explores the pernicious notion that a pregnant woman is the primary threat to the health of her fetus.—NPR[Crowther] effectively shows how the same misogynistic ideas crop up repeatedly throughout history, pitting pregnant people against fetuses in a dangerous zero-sum game....In Policing Pregnant Bodies, Crowther combines three decades of experience as a medical historian with a rare ability to communicate clearly and engagingly with a general audience.—ScienceCrowther, a very knowledgeable historian of reproduction, effectively draws together ancient and modern religious and philosophical thought about the importance of the developing fetus and the minimal role (as told from the mostly male perspective) of the pregnant female body.This book is well researched and well referenced.—ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1. The Tell-Tale HeartChapter 2. The Fetus in the BottleChapter 3. The Dangerous WombChapter 4. The Secrets of WomenChapter 5. Abortion and the FetusConclusionAcknowledgmentsFurther ReadingNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThis book considers how societal influences, such as religion, nationalism and culture, impact abortion law and access. It provides an accessible, informative and engaging text for academics, policy makers and readers interested in abortion politics.Trade Review"This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the global politics of abortion, and to shaping our advocacy strategies. It shows how reproductive justice helps to bridge the gap between the Global North and South." Marlene Gerber Fried, Professor of Philosophy and Director, Hampshire College"With clarity and an impressively wide reach, this book shows how abortion politics are shaped by local contexts but connected by broader, global contexts about morality, equality, control and reproductive freedom. An indispensable addition to the scholarship." Fiona de Londras, Law School, University of BirminghamTable of ContentsIntroduction Criminalisation The biomedicalisation of abortion Abortion discourses: Religion, culture, nation International interventions Activism Is choice enough? Engaging with reproductive justice Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis book considers how societal influences, such as religion, nationalism and culture, impact abortion law and access. It provides an accessible, informative and engaging text for academics, policy makers and readers interested in abortion politics.Trade Review"This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the global politics of abortion, and to shaping our advocacy strategies. It shows how reproductive justice helps to bridge the gap between the Global North and South." Marlene Gerber Fried, Professor of Philosophy and Director, Hampshire College"With clarity and an impressively wide reach, this book shows how abortion politics are shaped by local contexts but connected by broader, global contexts about morality, equality, control and reproductive freedom. An indispensable addition to the scholarship." Fiona de Londras, Law School, University of BirminghamTable of ContentsIntroduction Criminalisation The biomedicalisation of abortion Abortion discourses: Religion, culture, nation International interventions Activism Is choice enough? Engaging with reproductive justice Conclusion

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Book SynopsisIrish law only currently allows for abortion where the life of the pregnant woman is at risk. A constitutional referendum will be held in 2018 to liberalise abortion law. This book offers practical proposals for policymakers and advocates, including model legislation, making it an essential campaigning tool leading up to the referendum.Trade Review"Nuanced, detailed and clearly explained, even for laypeople like me. A map through the quagmire of Ireland’s reproductive laws” Tara Flynn, Comedian, Actor and Repeal the 8th Campaigner"A quick and mandatory read for anyone seeking the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the 8th Amendment.” Mara Clarke, Founder, Abortion Support Network."This text's novel proposals for Irish abortion law reform make it an essential read." Brid A Ni Ghrainne, Sheffield University"An incisive, forensic and comprehensive analysis of the legal implications of the 8th amendment to the Irish Constitution in 1983." Linda Connolly, Maynooth University"This careful analysis of the 8th amendment, with its succinct roadmap for reform, should be compulsory reading for Irish legislators." Sandra McAvoy, Historian"This concise critique cuts through decades of controversy with a compelling case for repeal and proposes a workable legislative solution. Bravo!" Ailbhe Smyth, Convenor, Coalition to Repeal the 8thTable of ContentsThe case for repealing the 8th The Constitution after the 8th A rights-based approach to abortion Accessing abortion care: principles for legislative design Model legislation Conclusion

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Book SynopsisAvailable Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Written by leading experts in the fields of medicine, law, reproductive health and social science, this book offers a concise and authoritative account of the evidence regarding the likely impact of decriminalisation of abortion in the UK.Table of ContentsIntroduction: what would it mean to decriminalise abortion? ~ Sally Sheldon and Kaye Welling Is public opinion in support of decriminalisation? ~ Ann Marie Gray and Kaye Wellings How would decriminalisation impact on women’s health? ~ Patricia Lohr, Jonathan Lord and Sam Rowlands Would decriminalisation mean the deregulation of abortion services? ~ Jonathan Herring, Emily Jackson and Sally Sheldon What would be effects of decriminalisation in Northern Ireland? ~ Marie Fox and Goretti Horgan How would decriminalisation impact on the incidence of abortion? ~ Ronnie Johnson, Louise Keogh and Wendy Norman

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Book SynopsisUsing a wide range of prosecution and trial records, along with more recent newspaper coverage of court proceedings, this book furnishes a fascinating insight into the relationship between the law, sex, and society in modern Scotland.

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Book SynopsisAnyone who wants to understand how abortion has been treated historically in the western legal tradition must first come to terms with two quite different but interrelated historical trajectories. On one hand, there is the ancient Judeo-Christian condemnation of prenatal homicide as a wrong warranting retribution; on the other, there is the juristic definition of crime in the modern sense of the word, which distinguished the term sharply from sin and tort and was tied to the rise of Western jurisprudence. To find the act of abortion first identified as a crime in the West, one has to go back to the twelfth century, to the schools of ecclesiastical and Roman law in medieval Europe.In this book, Wolfgang P. Müller tells the story of how abortion came to be criminalized in the West. As he shows, criminalization as a distinct phenomenon and abortion as a self-standing criminal category developed in tandem with each other, first being formulated coherently in the twelfth century aTrade Review[T]he argumentation is intricate. To put it differently, this reader found that the importance of Criminalization rose to the surface upon a second reading. For, this is an important book, which will interest historians across the sub-disciplinary spectrum and not only late medievalists. It provides a stimulating account of the theoretical and practical development of medieval criminal justice and will become a sine qua non in the history of abortion. -- Zubin Mistry * The Mediæval Journal *The Criminalization of Abortion in the West examines the processes which led to the voluntary killing of a human fetus becoming a crime, as opposed to a sin or a wrong compensable by a money payment....This book should be regarded as essential reading for those studying the interface between law and medicine in medieval Europe, to legal historians and social historians. -- Gwen Seabourne * Social History of Medicine *Muller traces the tortuous path of the treatment of abortion as a public crime (felony) between the late 12th and early 16th centuries.... He succeeds in demonstrating the shift in the settlement of disputes from the pre-12th-century local control of justice depending on local power and the strength of family status to a more public hearing under the control of centralizing authorities.... Added to these public tribunals to investigate abortion as a crime was the widespread public attitude that regarded it as no more than a sin, if that, subject to confession to a priest and the performance of penance. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroductionChapter 1. The Earliest Proponents of Criminalization The Scholastic Origins of Criminal Abortion Forms of Sentencing in Medieval Jurisprudence Crimen in "An Age without Lawyers" (500–1050)Chapter 2. Early Venues of Criminalization Crimen in Sacramental Confession Judicial Crimen in the Ecclesiastical Courts Public Penitential Crimen Royal Jurisdiction in Thirteenth-Century EnglandChapter 3. Chief Agents of Criminalization Legislation versus Juristic Communis Opinio Communis Opinio and Peer Dissent Systematic Law before the Rise of the Modern StateChapter 4. Principal Arguments in Favor of Criminalization Successive Animation and Creatianism Legal and Theological Assessments of Therapeutic Abortion The Demise of Late Medieval EmbryologyChapter 5. Objections to Criminalization Customary Indifference North and East of the River Rhine Rejection in the Royal Courts of England (1327–1557)6. Abortion Experts and Expertise Evidence of Midwifery Medical Embryology and Abortion Discourse Abortifacient PrescriptionsChapter 7. Abortion in the Criminal Courts of the Ius Commune Criminal Accusationes and Inquisitiones The Rules and Safeguards of Ordinary Inquisitiones Extraordinary InquisitionesChapter 8. Forms of Punishment in the Criminal Courts of the Ius Commune Statutory and Customary Specifications Substitute Penalties Adjustment Out of CourtChapter 9. The Frequency of Criminal Prosecutions Viable Statistical Queries Geography and Patterns of Record Keeping A Triad of Typical CasesBibliography Index

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Book SynopsisFocus on Abortion: Americans Share Their Storiesintroduces the often-missing and most important voices in the abortion conversation: the voices of those who have experienced abortion.This project provides a platform for these voices to be heard. Sixty individuals are featured. They have had an abortion or are close to the abortion experience, including partners, friends, relatives, counsellors, and professionals who provide abortion care. Each person is represented by a photographic portrait and a first-person narrative.The storytellers come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and generations. They live in urban, suburban and rural areas throughout America. Together they will provide a broad, complex and poignant picture of abortion in our country.These nuanced stories have the potential to mitigate the profound stigma that surrounds abortion. Few people talk about their abortions so many will be surprised to learn that one out of four women in the US will have an abortion during their reproductive years.These narratives touch on the complex circumstances leading up to the decision to end a pregnancy, the person's ability to access healthcare, and life after having had an abortion. Most importantly, these stories have the potential to widen public understanding of abortion. We learned from the Civil Rights and Gay Rights movements that deep-seated beliefs can evolve once people give voice to their personal stories.

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Book SynopsisIn Dershowitz on Killing: How the Law Decides Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die, Alan Dershowitz—New York Times bestselling author and one of America’s most respected legal scholars—examines the subjects of death, life, and the law. Alan Dershowitz has been called “one of the most prominent and consistent defenders of civil liberties in America” by Politico and “the nation’s most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer and one of its most distinguished defenders of individual rights” by Newsweek. His legal career as a criminal defense lawyer has been deeply involved with death and life decisions.Dershowitz on Killing is a timely examination of issues and questions that are front and center in today’s society. Employing a philosophical, moral, religious, and cultural lens to the legal aspects surrounding death and life, Dershowitz elucidates the role of government to determine who shall live and who shall die in declaring wars, ordering executions, authorizing deadly force, permitting or denying abortions, providing or mandating vaccines, controlling climate change, allowing or refusing asylum for endangered migrants, and other life and death rulings. He notes that when the government decides these choices, it is asked to do so by first determining whether a “right” is involved, because rights trump mere interest, just as constitutional restrictions trump legislative and executive actions. Dershowitz on Killing asserts that the rules governing death and life decisions should reflect the irreversibility of death. It is essential reading for anyone interested in or concerned about how these decisions are allocated among state and federal; executive, legislative, and judicial; private and governmental; religious and secular institutions—and how people in a democracy, through the power of the ballot, have the ultimate say in these critical decisions.

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Book Synopsis'Merle Hoffman has always known that in a democracy, we each have decision-making power over the fate of our own bodies. She is a national hero for us all.” ​—Gloria Steinem In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade and a country divided, a pioneer in the pro-choice movement and women’s healthcare offers an unapologetic and authoritative take on abortion—“the front line and the bottom line of women’s freedom and liberty.” Merle Hoffman has been at the forefront of the reproductive freedom movement since the 1970s. Three years before the Supreme Court legalised abortion through Roe v. Wade, she helped to establish one of the United States’ first abortion centres in Flushing, Queens, and later went on to found Choices, one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive women’s medical facilities. For the last five decades, Hoffman has been a steadfast

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Book SynopsisThis book analyses the world of selective reproduction interventions that influence reproductive outcomes and allow only some pregnancies to be borne to fruition by a critical analysis of three modes of controlling birth, namely contraception, reproductive violence, and repro-genetic technologies. -- .

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Book SynopsisExamining the changing pluralities of contemporary abortion debate in Britain, this innovative and important book shows why it is necessary to move beyond an understanding of abortion politics as characterised in binary terms by ‘pro-choice’ versus ‘pro-life’. Amery traces the evolution of political and parliamentary discourses from the passage of the Abortion Act in the 1960s to the present day, and argues that the current provision of abortion in Britain rests on assumptions about medical authority over women’s reproductive decision-making which are unsustainable. She explores new arguments around sex-selective abortion, disability rights, pre-abortion counselling and the push for decriminalization, and radically reconceptualizes the debate to account for these new battlegrounds in abortion politics.Trade Review“An innovative text in the field of reproductive justice literature, Amery provides a sophisticated account of the intricacies of the abortion debate for both students of Politics and Gender Studies and practitioners.” Sarah Cooper, University of ExeterTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. Regulating the female body 3. Passing the Abortion Act 4. Feminism enters the debate 5. Backlash and appropriation 6. Into the 21st century 7. Towards decriminalisation? New battlegrounds in abortion politics 8. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisTracing the evolution of political and parliamentary discourses on abortion in Britain from the passage of the Abortion Act in the 1960s to the present day, this interdisciplinary book argues that to understand the changing pluralities of the abortion debate it is necessary to move beyond an understanding of abortion politics as characterised by ‘pro-choice’ versus ‘pro-life’.Trade Review“An innovative text in the field of reproductive justice literature, Amery provides a sophisticated account of the intricacies of the abortion debate for both students of Politics and Gender Studies and practitioners.” Sarah Cooper, University of ExeterTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. Regulating the female body 3. Passing the Abortion Act 4. Feminism enters the debate 5. Backlash and appropriation 6. Into the 21st century 7. Towards decriminalisation? New battlegrounds in abortion politics 8. Conclusion

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Book Synopsis*THE INSTANT NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER IN CANADA*'A fascinating and compelling story peopled with strong, brave women who had me cheering them on and moved to tears' Tracy Rees, bestselling author of The Rose Garden'Just tell them you're looking for Jane...'2017 When Angela discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten letters, she begins to look for the intended recipient. Her search takes her to the 1970s and 80s, when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network known only by its whispered code name: Jane . . .1971As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was forced to give her baby up for adoption. Swearing she'll do everything she can to make sure other women have the right to choose, she joins the Jane Network to provide safe but illegal abortions. There, she crosses paths with Nancy, who was told that if she ever found herself 'in a position', she should ask for Jane. Nancy soon becomes the Network's newest volunteer, desperately trying to help others while family secrets threaten everything she knows to be true.Over the years, Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela's lives intertwine to reveal the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice, and the buried secrets that will always find a way to the surface . . . Spanning decades, Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela's lives intertwine to reveal the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice, and the buried truths that will always find a way to the surface...'A compelling, courageous must-read about motherhood and choice' Genevieve Graham, bestselling author of The Forgotten Home Child'A beautifully written meditation on the lengths mothers will go to for their children as well as an eye-opening history of women' Janet Skeslien Charles, bestselling author of The Paris LibraryTrade ReviewA fascinating and compelling story peopled with strong, brave women who had me cheering them on and moved to tears -- Tracy Rees, author of The Rose GardenLooking for Jane is a beautifully written meditation on the lengths mothers will go to for their children as well as an eye-opening history of women. It is an ode to the doctors, nurses, and volunteers who fought for the rights of future generations to have a say over their bodies. This gracefully entwined story of three generations of women, societal mores, and mothers and daughters stole my heart -- Janet Skeslien Charles, bestselling author of The Paris LibraryHeather Marshall shines a spotlight on the unsettling truths and heartbreaking realities faced by women of every generation. Looking for Jane is a compelling, courageous must-read about motherhood and choice -- Genevieve Graham, bestselling author of The Forgotten Home ChildAn original and poignant story that holds a mirror to the ongoing fight for women's rights. In reflecting on a dark spot in Canadian history, Heather Marshall speaks to the power of solidarity and of brave women who dare to take a stand -- Ellen Keith, bestselling author of The Dutch Wife

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Book Synopsis*THE INSTANT NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER IN CANADA*'A fascinating and compelling story peopled with strong, brave women who had me cheering them on and moved to tears' Tracy Rees, bestselling author of The Rose Garden'Just tell them you're looking for Jane...'2017 When Angela discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten letters, she begins to look for the intended recipient. Her search takes her to the 1970s and 80s, when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network known only by its whispered code name: Jane . . .1971As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was forced to give her baby up for adoption. Swearing she'll do everything she can to make sure other women have the right to choose, she joins the Jane Network to provide safe but illegal abortions. There, she crosses paths with Nancy, who was told that if she ever found herself 'in a position', she should ask for Jane. Nancy soon becomes the Network's newest volunteer, desperately trying to help others while family secrets threaten everything she knows to be true.Over the years, Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela's lives intertwine to reveal the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice, and the buried secrets that will always find a way to the surface . . . Spanning decades, Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela's lives intertwine to reveal the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice, and the buried truths that will always find a way to the surface...'A compelling, courageous must-read about motherhood and choice' Genevieve Graham, bestselling author of The Forgotten Home Child'A beautifully written meditation on the lengths mothers will go to for their children as well as an eye-opening history of women' Janet Skeslien Charles, bestselling author of The Paris LibraryTrade ReviewA fascinating and compelling story peopled with strong, brave women who had me cheering them on and moved to tears -- Tracy Rees, author of The Rose GardenLooking for Jane is a beautifully written meditation on the lengths mothers will go to for their children as well as an eye-opening history of women. It is an ode to the doctors, nurses, and volunteers who fought for the rights of future generations to have a say over their bodies. This gracefully entwined story of three generations of women, societal mores, and mothers and daughters stole my heart -- Janet Skeslien Charles, bestselling author of The Paris LibraryHeather Marshall shines a spotlight on the unsettling truths and heartbreaking realities faced by women of every generation. Looking for Jane is a compelling, courageous must-read about motherhood and choice -- Genevieve Graham, bestselling author of The Forgotten Home ChildAn original and poignant story that holds a mirror to the ongoing fight for women's rights. In reflecting on a dark spot in Canadian history, Heather Marshall speaks to the power of solidarity and of brave women who dare to take a stand -- Ellen Keith, bestselling author of The Dutch Wife

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Book SynopsisThe U.S. has the worst rate of maternal deaths in the developed world, a rate that is increasing, even as infant mortality rates decrease. Meanwhile, the right-wing assault on reproductive rights and bodily autonomy has also escalated. We can already glimpse a reality where embryos and fetuses have more rights than the people gestating them, and even women who aren't pregnant are seen first and foremost as potential incubators.In Belabored, journalist Lyz Lenz lays bare the misogynistic logic of U.S. cultural narratives about pregnancy, tracing them back to our murky, potent cultural soup of myths, from the religious to the historical. In the present she details, with her trademark blend of wit, snark, and raw intimacy, how sexist assumptions inform our expectations for pregnant people, whether we're policing them, asking them to make sacrifices with dubious or disproven benefits, or putting them up on a pedestal in an "Earth mother" role. Throughout, she reflects on her own experiences of being seen as alternately a vessel or a goddess--but hardly ever as herself--while carrying each of her two children. Belabored is an urgent call for us to embrace new narratives around pregnancy and the choice whether or not to have children, emphasising wholeness and agency, and to reflect those values in our laws, medicine, and interactions with each other.

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Book SynopsisA new look at the last four decades of the abortion law and its effects from a young conservative. Abortion was legalized with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case in 1973. Since that time, there have been more than sixty-one million abortions. In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton told the country that abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare," but growing numbers and new laws regarding late term abortion distress conservatives and those in the right-to-life movement.As a pro-life activist and speaker, Danielle D-Souza makes the case against abortion while providing commentary on various court cases, and the movement since the 1970s. Her goal with this book is to provide a fresh look at this divisive issue.

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Book SynopsisDanielle D'Souza Gill, in a pathbreaking new book, blows the lid off the abortion debate, which is radically different than it was when the Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973. Technology has transformed the landscape and allowed people to see development in the womb. Ultrasound has rendered many old assumptions about abortion obsolete.The Democratic Left has become radicalized on abortion. It is no longer a necessary evil, but a positive good. Consequently, the Left has legitimized a form of mass killing in this country that dwarfs the deaths caused by cancer, smoking, homicide, terrorism, and war.Writing with freshness, intelligence, and insight, Danielle explores the contours of the debate, taking into account new ideas, new technology, and new laws and putting forth a new vision for a life-affirming society.In Socratic style, Danielle builds her case in response to the strongest contentions of the pro-choice camp. She engages their most powerful arguments head-on, carefully examines them, and then dismantles them. The result is a pro-life argument so persuasive that it will reach into the heart of the most hardened opponent.While it is a heartbreaking book, it is in the end inspiring. No matter what you believe about abortion, this book will educate, astonish, and deeply move you. It may move you to a position different from what you now hold.If you read one book about abortion, make it this one, The Choice: The Abortion Divide in America.

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Book SynopsisThis book is meant to provide an overview of and gather the literature on abortion -- one of the most divisive issues of our times. Honest women and men the world over must deal with this issue in their hearts and minds whether or not they ever face the issue personally. It is hard to conceive of a single thinking person who doesn''t have an opinion on abortion -- usually strongly held. The arguments are cogent on both sides of the issue. We hope that this collection will bring to the attention of readers the publications which shed light on the fundamental issues involved.

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Book SynopsisThe abortion debate has returned. More than forty years have passed since the landmark decision Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States. But the abortion debate continues to rage among ethicists and the influencers of society in politics, government, and the arts. Dave Sterrett’s Aborting Aristotle examines these essential differences philosophically, while investigating the naturalistic worldview about humanity that is frequently held by many of the scholarly defenders of abortion. Each year 44 million babies are killed from intentional abortion around the world. 1.29 million babies are aborted right here in the United States. These are not just merely cold statistics: These are human beings . . . real babies. Sterrett reveals the unreasonableness of abortion and argues against abortion even in the difficult circumstances. In the ancient world, infanticide was defended by Plato and Aristotle. Christians who believed in the sacredness of human life stopped infanticide and intellectually argued against the practice. Peter Singer, professor of ethics at Princeton, hopes the time has come for atheists to reassess the morality of infanticide “without assuming the Christian moral framework that has, for so long, prevented any fundamental reassessment” [Peter Singer, Practical Ethics (Cambridge University Press, UK; 1993), 173.] Dave Sterrett takes on Peter Singer, along with other scholarly defenders of abortion, including David Boonin, Michael Tooley, and Judith Jarvis Thomson. Although he is against Aristotle’s teaching in favor of abortion, Sterrett argues that Aristotle had much good in his metaphysical and logical teachings that Western education has forgotten. Sterrett draws upon current scientific knowledge of the human embryo to provide reasons for a restoration of the Aristotelian scholastic philosophical tradition that could help ethicists become more open-minded about the dignity and personhood of unborn human beings.Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. ARISTOTLE & THOMAS JEFFERSON 3. METAPHYSICS IS ESSENTIAL TO THE ETHICAL DEBATE ON ABORTION. 4. DENYING THE METAPHYSICS OF PERSONS IS SELF-REFUTING. 5. LACKING EPISTEMOLOGICAL PRECISENESS CONCERNING HUMAN BEINGS DOES NOT DISPROVE THE TRUTH ABOUT THEIR EXISTENCE ONTOLOGICALLY. 6. NATURALISTIC MATERIALISM IS NOT THE BEST EXPLANATION FOR REALITY 7. THE TERMS “SANCTITY” AND “NATURAL THEOLOGY” SHOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE DISMISSED IN PHILOSOPHY OR LAW BECAUSE IT MIGHT HAVE IMPLICATIONS OF THE DIVINE. God is the best explanation for a first efficient cause. God is the best explanation for a necessary entity. God is the best explanation for moral realism. 8. ARISTOTLE’S ANCIENT CONCEPT OF SUBSTANCE IS STILL RELEVANT AND COMPATIBLE WITH SCIENCE. 9. ALL HUMANS ARE PERSONS. 10. All HUMAN PERSONS ARE SOMEONE FOR WHOM THEY ARE AND NOT SOMEONE FOR WHAT THEY DO. 11. CONCLUSION: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES There can be a greater purpose in some suffering encountered in life. Humans are responsible for what they could have prevented. Racism is wrong. Animals should be treated with respect. A fetus is an individual member of the species homo sapiens. Philosophers’ ethical stance of abortion is frequently rooted in their metaphysical beliefs. Those in favor of abortion frequently emphasize hypotheticals, while defenders of life use Aristotlean logic with premises about real life. 11. BIBLIOGRAPHY Index

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Book SynopsisIn Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the Constitution protects a woman''s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. In a companion case, Doe v. Bolton, the Court held further that a state may not unduly burden a woman''s fundamental right to abortion by prohibiting or substantially limiting access to the means of effectuating her decision. Instead of settling the issue, the Court''s decisions kindled heated debate and precipitated a variety of governmental actions at the national, state and local levels designed either to nullify the rulings or hinder their effectuation. These governmental regulations have, in turn, spawned further litigation in which resulting judicial refinements in the law have been no more successful in dampening the controversy. This book offers an overview of the development of abortion law from 1973 to the present. Beginning with a brief discussion of the historical background, the book analyses the leading Supreme Court decisions over the past 34 years, emphasising particularly the landmark decisions of Roe v. Wade and others. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

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Book SynopsisAntebellum America saw a great upsurge in abortion, driven in part by the rise of the pharmaceutical industry. Unsurprisingly, the practice became increasingly visible in the popular culture and literature of the era, appearing openly in advertisements, popular fiction, and newspaper reports. One figure would come to dominate national headlines from the 1840s onward: Madame Restell. Facing public condemnation and mob attacks at her home for her dogged support of women's reproductive rights, Restell built an empire selling her powders, pills, and services along the Eastern Seaboard.Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne undoubtedly knew of Restell's work and would go on to depict the incompatibility of abortion and nationalism in their writings. Through the thwarted plotlines, genealogical interruptions, and terminated ideas of Poe's Dupin trilogy and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, The House of Seven Gables, and The Blithedale Romance, these authors consider new concepts around race, reproduction, and American exceptionalism. Dana Medoro demonstrates that their work can be usefully read in the context of debates on fetal life and personhood that circulated in the era.

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Book SynopsisAntebellum America saw a great upsurge in abortion, driven in part by the rise of the pharmaceutical industry. Unsurprisingly, the practice became increasingly visible in the popular culture and literature of the era, appearing openly in advertisements, popular fiction, and newspaper reports. One figure would come to dominate national headlines from the 1840s onward: Madame Restell. Facing public condemnation and mob attacks at her home for her dogged support of women's reproductive rights, Restell built an empire selling her powders, pills, and services along the Eastern Seaboard.Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne undoubtedly knew of Restell's work and would go on to depict the incompatibility of abortion and nationalism in their writings. Through the thwarted plotlines, genealogical interruptions, and terminated ideas of Poe's Dupin trilogy and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, The House of Seven Gables, and The Blithedale Romance, these authors consider new concepts around race, reproduction, and American exceptionalism. Dana Medoro demonstrates that their work can be usefully read in the context of debates on fetal life and personhood that circulated in the era.

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Book SynopsisWith Latin America home to some of the most draconian bans on abortion in the world, abortion rights is one of the most controversial and hotly contested topics in Latin American politics today. The author explores the ways in which key actors—from politicians to grassroots activists to the global community—participate and shape strategies in the ongoing debate. The author sheds new light on the dire situation of Latin American women facing unwanted pregnancies, and on the interactions between the state and its most vulnerable members of society.Trade Review“Marcus-Delgado offers a rich…account of the political process of abortion reform.... A valuable feature of the book is the extensive and richly documented recount of women’s personal stories of their attempts to find justice.” - Debora Lopreite, Latin American Politics and Society“Manages to bring the lived experience of people in different social contexts to the fore, all while applying a systemic analytic approach ... Marcus-Delgado’s book is a great contribution.” Elizabeth Borland, Bulletin of Latin American ResearchTable of ContentsThe Politics of Abortion in Latin America. Intersections of Morality and Political Reality. From Revolution and Reform to "Right to Life." Pressure from Below. When Civil Society Meets Uncivil Opponents. Private Lives on the Global Stage. Outside Forces at Work. The Promise of Public Debate.

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