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Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care
"Beyond Limits is moving, personal, insightful, and powerfully written. This book helps us to see people who seek abortions with clarity and compassion, as people in the real world, rather than as the objects of an abstract moral or political debate."—Diana Greene Foster, author of The Turnaway Study
A compassionate perspective on late-term abortion that challenges preconceived notions of who gets abortions and why
Within both the anti-abortion and pro-choice movements, third-trimester abortion is often stigmatized and misunderstood. For 20 years, Dr. Shelley Sella saw patients whose diverse backgrounds and circumstances led them to the same difficult to end their pregnancies.
Now, interweaving her own journey as a provider, Dr. Sella invites readers into a typical week at her clinic to demystify the experience. She shares the stories of people like
Clarissa, a mother of 2 whose third suffered a massive stroke in utero with no chance of recoveryMary, a devoted Catholic whose fourth round of IVF offered a late-in-life chance at motherhood, only to be dashed by anomalous test resultsLaura, a mother to 4 already whose bruised arms tell a painful story, one she couldn’t bring herself to write a fifth child into
Beyond Limits is not just a testament to a standard of care grounded in competence, compassion, and sensitivity. It is also a call for a paradigm shift that moves beyond Dobbs, beyond Roe, beyond limits to provide care. And it is a tribute to the real people whose hearts, reasons, and stories are more complex than politicized conversations about abortion lead us to believe.
A compassionate perspective on late-term abortion that challenges preconceived notions of who gets abortions and why
Within both the anti-abortion and pro-choice movements, third-trimester abortion is often stigmatized and misunderstood. For 20 years, Dr. Shelley Sella saw patients whose diverse backgrounds and circumstances led them to the same difficult to end their pregnancies.
Now, interweaving her own journey as a provider, Dr. Sella invites readers into a typical week at her clinic to demystify the experience. She shares the stories of people like
Clarissa, a mother of 2 whose third suffered a massive stroke in utero with no chance of recoveryMary, a devoted Catholic whose fourth round of IVF offered a late-in-life chance at motherhood, only to be dashed by anomalous test resultsLaura, a mother to 4 already whose bruised arms tell a painful story, one she couldn’t bring herself to write a fifth child into
Beyond Limits is not just a testament to a standard of care grounded in competence, compassion, and sensitivity. It is also a call for a paradigm shift that moves beyond Dobbs, beyond Roe, beyond limits to provide care. And it is a tribute to the real people whose hearts, reasons, and stories are more complex than politicized conversations about abortion lead us to believe.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 3, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
September 20, 2025
This was a wonderful book. Dr. Sella seems like a kind and empathetic doctor providing care to women who desperately need it. I needed no convincing on this subject. I used to be very anti abortion when I was young, but once I went to medical school it took observing exactly one abortion to completely change my mind. I don’t know if it was in the late second or the third trimester, but this woman was having an abortion for fetal anomalies. It had been a wanted pregnancy and she was devastated. I held her hand and thought “Who am I to judge her?” And then I knew - Who was I to judge any woman! I knew nothing of what led them to the decision. My mind was changed. I hope I am half as compassionate and loving towards my patients as is Dr. Sella. I hope she has a lovely life in retirement.
July 28, 2025
So much to learn from this book.
Dr. Sella provides a glimpse of weeks work by highlighting 6 patient's abortion stories. She alternates chapters with a high level memoir of her life and career.
This account is full of straightforward facts surrounding abortion. Must read for anyone.
Dr. Sella provides a glimpse of weeks work by highlighting 6 patient's abortion stories. She alternates chapters with a high level memoir of her life and career.
This account is full of straightforward facts surrounding abortion. Must read for anyone.
November 16, 2025
I’m fully the choir being preached to here, but this is an utterly human, necessary book that I long to throw at the sort of people who blather about the horror of late-term abortion
May 19, 2026
Compassionate and thoughtful discussion of the most stigmatized version of abortion
June 19, 2025
Reading Beyond Limits was an emotional journey for me. Dr. Shelley Sella's compassionate storytelling brought to light the deeply personal and often heart-wrenching experiences of individuals facing third-trimester abortions. The book does an excellent job of humanizing these patients, showing the complex and varied circumstances that lead them to make such difficult decisions. I found myself moved by the empathy and care Dr. Sella provides to her patients, which is evident in every story she shares.
However, I struggled with the book's strong advocacy for third-trimester abortion. While I appreciate the importance of understanding these experiences, the detailed accounts and the author's unwavering support for this type of care were challenging for me to reconcile with my own views on abortion. The narrative felt somewhat one-sided, lacking a balanced discussion on the ethical and moral complexities surrounding late-term abortion. This made it difficult for me to fully engage with the book.
However, I struggled with the book's strong advocacy for third-trimester abortion. While I appreciate the importance of understanding these experiences, the detailed accounts and the author's unwavering support for this type of care were challenging for me to reconcile with my own views on abortion. The narrative felt somewhat one-sided, lacking a balanced discussion on the ethical and moral complexities surrounding late-term abortion. This made it difficult for me to fully engage with the book.
June 28, 2026
Sending the most shine to Dr. Sella for writing this brave and deeply empathetic book. I am so happy I read this and will absolutely come back to Sella's words in the future.
A while ago, I was having one of those conversations about abortion + politics where I had to state the obvious fact that most pro-choice people are not in favor of infanticide. I caught myself defending abortion "up to a certain point" for the sake of proving my point, which was that being pro-choice is not radical or extremist. But afterwards, I started to wonder what we lose when conversations about abortion assume at baseline that third-trimester abortions are uniquely gruesome, unethical, or irresponsible. And part of that line of thinking stems from the assumption that there's no valid reason for third-trimester abortions to happen, that women should decide these things sooner and not be so lazy as to wait until they are 30 weeks pregnant to seek out help. Of course, having a late-term abortion is magnitudes more complicated than just deciding one day that you're not feeling the idea of parenting your baby anymore. God damn it, women literally give birth in these scenarios to still-born babies; this medical procedure is extremely trying and difficult, in no world is it an "easy way out."
So I wanted to read this book to learn about the women's stories who get third-trimester abortions and also to understand Dr. Sella's perspective on why she chose this particular career path. From watching the "After Tiller" documentary, I knew that Dr. Sella is a legend for many reasons, one being that she trained under Dr. George Tiller, an abortion doctor himself who was famously assassinated outside of his clinic by a pro-forced-birth extremist. I found that history fascinating and it made me value Sella's words even more.
Something that surprised me about Sella's practice is how caring and multifaceted it is. When women came to see Tiller and Sella seeking a third-trimester abortion, they spent several days returning to the clinic for psychological support groups and counseling sessions. The level of healthcare these doctors provide is, as mentioned in the book, some of the best and most all-encompassing care that many women experience in their entire lives. For example, Sella described counseling a patient and her husband about what to say to their family, friends, and neighbors when people inevitably started noticing that a once-pregnant woman was no longer pregnant but there was no baby in sight: "Whatever you decide to say, and I have some suggestions, my advice is to keep it short and simple and to be prepared with your sentences. If you are not prepared, you might end up losing it at the checkout counter at the supermarket where you've shopped for years, when the friendly cashier asks you about your baby. Here are the four sentences I offer my patients: 'The baby was sick. We went for testing. The baby didn't make it. It's hard for me to talk about it right now.'" I was tearing up reading these words and feeling the rare compassion that abortion providers have for the women and families dealing with such a difficult experience.
But importantly, Tiller and Sella also treated patients who sought third-term abortions for reasons besides fetal health. Those were the cases I was slightly more curious about because they seemed more politically controversial. If your baby isn't ill, what causes a woman to seek out a third-term abortion? Sella writes extensively about this in Beyond Limits. She had teenage patients who hid their pregnancies for months in fear of getting in trouble with mom/dad, so that ultimately by the time the pregnancy was revealed, it was so late in the gestational period. There were women who had multiple children already, were being abused by their husbands, and could not imagine bringing a new life into this world with their spouse + further anchoring themselves in their already-abysmal circumstances. There were women whose spouses tragically and unexpectedly passed away, leaving them alone and without family support. There were women who already had a child or children and who could not financially handle another baby. The list goes on. An obvious follow up to these examples is "why not give the baby up for adoption?" Sella addresses this question multiple times. For example, she wrote: "Many patients were worried about the life their child would lead if it was adopted, most commonly expressing worries that the child would feel abandoned, unwanted, or would be mistreated. One patient told me, 'I don't feel that I can emotionally handle the pain of not knowing how safe it is, if it's in good hands with a different family or worrying or thinking about it for the rest of my life...You go through the whole process of carrying it and knowing it and you just give it away. Knowing it's still out there somehow and it doesn't know it was given away. That it was unwanted at the time, it was seen as a burden. I guess I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I gave up a child. To think about me possibly living a good life while a child of mine is out there struggling...We know this is a boy. What that would mean as an African American baby is that he would probably end up in foster care... And, yes, there are exceptions, but there's a good chance that he would end up in jail, on drugs. I work with high-risk youth. I know what his future would look like, and I wouldn't want that for him.'"
This is all to say, this book is amazing and I learned a lot by reading it. Sella does not shy away from the hard questions that third-trimester abortions bring up, and she answers them in a way that is really humanizing and focused on her patients' wellbeing. I have so much respect for her and for the doctors who offer this medical care.
A while ago, I was having one of those conversations about abortion + politics where I had to state the obvious fact that most pro-choice people are not in favor of infanticide. I caught myself defending abortion "up to a certain point" for the sake of proving my point, which was that being pro-choice is not radical or extremist. But afterwards, I started to wonder what we lose when conversations about abortion assume at baseline that third-trimester abortions are uniquely gruesome, unethical, or irresponsible. And part of that line of thinking stems from the assumption that there's no valid reason for third-trimester abortions to happen, that women should decide these things sooner and not be so lazy as to wait until they are 30 weeks pregnant to seek out help. Of course, having a late-term abortion is magnitudes more complicated than just deciding one day that you're not feeling the idea of parenting your baby anymore. God damn it, women literally give birth in these scenarios to still-born babies; this medical procedure is extremely trying and difficult, in no world is it an "easy way out."
So I wanted to read this book to learn about the women's stories who get third-trimester abortions and also to understand Dr. Sella's perspective on why she chose this particular career path. From watching the "After Tiller" documentary, I knew that Dr. Sella is a legend for many reasons, one being that she trained under Dr. George Tiller, an abortion doctor himself who was famously assassinated outside of his clinic by a pro-forced-birth extremist. I found that history fascinating and it made me value Sella's words even more.
Something that surprised me about Sella's practice is how caring and multifaceted it is. When women came to see Tiller and Sella seeking a third-trimester abortion, they spent several days returning to the clinic for psychological support groups and counseling sessions. The level of healthcare these doctors provide is, as mentioned in the book, some of the best and most all-encompassing care that many women experience in their entire lives. For example, Sella described counseling a patient and her husband about what to say to their family, friends, and neighbors when people inevitably started noticing that a once-pregnant woman was no longer pregnant but there was no baby in sight: "Whatever you decide to say, and I have some suggestions, my advice is to keep it short and simple and to be prepared with your sentences. If you are not prepared, you might end up losing it at the checkout counter at the supermarket where you've shopped for years, when the friendly cashier asks you about your baby. Here are the four sentences I offer my patients: 'The baby was sick. We went for testing. The baby didn't make it. It's hard for me to talk about it right now.'" I was tearing up reading these words and feeling the rare compassion that abortion providers have for the women and families dealing with such a difficult experience.
But importantly, Tiller and Sella also treated patients who sought third-term abortions for reasons besides fetal health. Those were the cases I was slightly more curious about because they seemed more politically controversial. If your baby isn't ill, what causes a woman to seek out a third-term abortion? Sella writes extensively about this in Beyond Limits. She had teenage patients who hid their pregnancies for months in fear of getting in trouble with mom/dad, so that ultimately by the time the pregnancy was revealed, it was so late in the gestational period. There were women who had multiple children already, were being abused by their husbands, and could not imagine bringing a new life into this world with their spouse + further anchoring themselves in their already-abysmal circumstances. There were women whose spouses tragically and unexpectedly passed away, leaving them alone and without family support. There were women who already had a child or children and who could not financially handle another baby. The list goes on. An obvious follow up to these examples is "why not give the baby up for adoption?" Sella addresses this question multiple times. For example, she wrote: "Many patients were worried about the life their child would lead if it was adopted, most commonly expressing worries that the child would feel abandoned, unwanted, or would be mistreated. One patient told me, 'I don't feel that I can emotionally handle the pain of not knowing how safe it is, if it's in good hands with a different family or worrying or thinking about it for the rest of my life...You go through the whole process of carrying it and knowing it and you just give it away. Knowing it's still out there somehow and it doesn't know it was given away. That it was unwanted at the time, it was seen as a burden. I guess I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if I gave up a child. To think about me possibly living a good life while a child of mine is out there struggling...We know this is a boy. What that would mean as an African American baby is that he would probably end up in foster care... And, yes, there are exceptions, but there's a good chance that he would end up in jail, on drugs. I work with high-risk youth. I know what his future would look like, and I wouldn't want that for him.'"
This is all to say, this book is amazing and I learned a lot by reading it. Sella does not shy away from the hard questions that third-trimester abortions bring up, and she answers them in a way that is really humanizing and focused on her patients' wellbeing. I have so much respect for her and for the doctors who offer this medical care.
January 3, 2026
Dr. Sella is a hero 💛
May 26, 2026
profound amazing book, important for all people who want to have an opinion about abortion. i <3 shelley
February 24, 2026
I was rather dreading reading this book, but felt I needed the information to be effective at supporting abortion rights for women. The book was instead, fascinating! The author, who was essentially the assassinated Dr. Tiller’s medical heir, describes what a week of work looks like in her clinic that serves women at all stages of pregnancy. I now have a clear understanding of the inherent medical problems in Roe vs Wade, and why simply putting Roe back into place is not a good idea. Pregnancy is simply too complex to be simply judged by which trimester you are in. She answers all the common questions asked in such situations such as, well why did they wait so long? (Very short answer: they likely were fighting socioeconomic factors and stigmatization such as not having enough money to deal with pregnancy.) she explains why she decided to retire and a brief summary of the political situation now.
If you think you are dealing with someone who might be open to changing their beliefs based on information, recommend this book! If you’re on the fence about abortion, read this book! If you want better ammunition over discussions about abortion, read this book! If you want to be reminded what kindness and skill can do to help desperate people, read this book!
If you think you are dealing with someone who might be open to changing their beliefs based on information, recommend this book! If you’re on the fence about abortion, read this book! If you want better ammunition over discussions about abortion, read this book! If you want to be reminded what kindness and skill can do to help desperate people, read this book!
April 10, 2026
Eye opening. The author is a very good storyteller and gives answers to so many questions people consistently ask regarding late term abortions. The stories she shared were heartbreaking and inspirational at the same time. it brought a new perspective to my initial views about this topic. There is so much more beneath the surface of this topic that many of us do not understand or are able to visualize
January 14, 2026
A quick read to humanize third-trimester abortions. I do wish she talked more about going beyond Roe/reproductive justice, but I guess that wasn’t her point
January 19, 2026
Beautifully written, eye opening and an important resource for all. No matter your views on abortion, I highly recommend this book. Part One was my favorite.
June 28, 2025
Que livro magnífico 💛 fez me chorar, fez me rir.
Fez-me querer ter mais voz sobre os direitos das mulheres que estão sempre, sempre a ser colocados em causa e a ser perdidos.
É um livro sobre verdades e factos, diferentes realidades e falta de acesso ao sistema de saúde. Sobre governos que não querem saber das mulheres e muito menos respeitam as suas escolhas.
Este livro é também a história desta incrível e corajosa médica e o seu percurso pessoal e profissional. Que exemplo 🌿
Fez-me querer ter mais voz sobre os direitos das mulheres que estão sempre, sempre a ser colocados em causa e a ser perdidos.
É um livro sobre verdades e factos, diferentes realidades e falta de acesso ao sistema de saúde. Sobre governos que não querem saber das mulheres e muito menos respeitam as suas escolhas.
Este livro é também a história desta incrível e corajosa médica e o seu percurso pessoal e profissional. Que exemplo 🌿
August 24, 2025
So so insightful, thought-provoking, and well written. I will recommend this book to everyone. Dr Sella tells her stories and experience in such an informative and inspiring way. An easy and important read
November 28, 2025
dr sella is the coolest girlboss!
January 17, 2026
Beyond Limits by Dr. Shelley Sella is one of the most beautiful, grounding, and necessary books I’ve read in a long time. It’s honest without being sensational, deeply human without ever losing the medical reality, and it treats abortion with the seriousness, tenderness, and respect it deserves. Dr. Sella doesn’t just tell stories. She honors people. Every page felt like a reminder that reproductive healthcare is not a debate topic or a headline. It’s real life, real bodies, real families, real grief, real relief, and real love.
As someone who advocates for reproductive justice, this book genuinely expanded my perspective. It made me reflect on how often we talk about abortion in theory, while Dr. Sella brings you face to face with what it actually looks like in practice. The complexity, the courage, the impossible decisions, and the care that patients deserve regardless of circumstance. She writes with so much compassion and clarity that it’s impossible to walk away unchanged.
And honestly, reading this as someone who wants to become an OBGYN hit even harder. It made me feel even more certain about the kind of physician I want to be. One who leads with empathy, listens without judgment, and protects patients’ dignity in the moments they need it most. This book captures the heart of medicine. Meeting people where they are, providing evidence based care, and treating patients like full human beings, not political symbols.
It’s devastating that abortion has become so politicized, because nothing about this is abstract. People deserve healthcare without shame, surveillance, or barriers created by lawmakers who will never have to live with the consequences. Dr. Sella’s work makes it painfully clear. Restricting abortion doesn’t end abortion. It just increases suffering and risk, and it punishes people for being human.
If you care about bodily autonomy, patient centered medicine, or the truth behind reproductive healthcare, Beyond Limits is essential. It’s powerful, heartbreaking, and somehow still full of hope. The kind of book that makes you feel more informed, more compassionate, and more committed to fighting for a world where care isn’t conditional.
As someone who advocates for reproductive justice, this book genuinely expanded my perspective. It made me reflect on how often we talk about abortion in theory, while Dr. Sella brings you face to face with what it actually looks like in practice. The complexity, the courage, the impossible decisions, and the care that patients deserve regardless of circumstance. She writes with so much compassion and clarity that it’s impossible to walk away unchanged.
And honestly, reading this as someone who wants to become an OBGYN hit even harder. It made me feel even more certain about the kind of physician I want to be. One who leads with empathy, listens without judgment, and protects patients’ dignity in the moments they need it most. This book captures the heart of medicine. Meeting people where they are, providing evidence based care, and treating patients like full human beings, not political symbols.
It’s devastating that abortion has become so politicized, because nothing about this is abstract. People deserve healthcare without shame, surveillance, or barriers created by lawmakers who will never have to live with the consequences. Dr. Sella’s work makes it painfully clear. Restricting abortion doesn’t end abortion. It just increases suffering and risk, and it punishes people for being human.
If you care about bodily autonomy, patient centered medicine, or the truth behind reproductive healthcare, Beyond Limits is essential. It’s powerful, heartbreaking, and somehow still full of hope. The kind of book that makes you feel more informed, more compassionate, and more committed to fighting for a world where care isn’t conditional.
February 20, 2026
An absolutely fascinating account of Dr. Sella's career and the ways in which her life experiences drove her path. What I found most riveting about this book was Dr. Sella's description of how her clinic cares for the patients they see, how they provide what many patients ultimately describe as the best medical care they've ever received. The level of consideration and concern that go into every aspect of the patients' experience is astonishing, and almost difficult to hear if you are a woman who has--like most of us--mostly ever experienced varying levels of dismissiveness, gaslighting, or indifference from healthcare providers. Sella's lengthy and comprehensive answers to the two questions she's most often asked--"Why did she wait so long?" and "What doesn't she just give the baby up for adoption?"--probably won't convince anyone who's already decided they're antiabortion, but for those who support reproductive freedom but find the idea of third-trimester abortions troubling, these stories are illuminating, heartbreaking, and often infuriating. From teenage girls navigating the complex legal landscape of abortion access alone, to women whose antiabortion doctors deliberately withhold information about their fetuses' medical anomalies, to survivors of rape who cannot face the reality of pregnancy, it is clear that no one arrives at the third trimester seeking an abortion because they just couldn't be bothered to get one sooner. A must-read for anyone who cares about issues of reproductive justice and feminism, this book will help you understand why the people seeking abortions late in pregnancy are as deserving of compassion and care as anyone else.
June 22, 2025
Dr. Sella is a board certified Ob-Gynecologist who gradually came to realize her calling as a provider for problematic third trimester abortions. She relates tales of women who came to clinics where she gave care, not just abortions, to women whose lives were upended by unexpected pregnancies which impacted their futures. They made decisions no woman makes lightly. Dr. Sella explains how these decisions are made, either because of a late-in-pregnancy discovery of a fetal anomaly too terrible for a birth or one that impacts the health of the mother (whether physically or emotionally). Some are young teens who didn't know of their pregnancy. Some are older mothers who cannot financially handle another child. Some are fearful of abusive partners. Others want this baby and are upset that it will die soon after birth. Many issues arise for different reasons. Dr. Sella supports all; it's not her choice, but that of the person choosing the abortion. The clinics where she works provide counseling and help for each single woman or couple before arrival, during their 4 days of care, including as they leave. She details the kinds of group discussions that take place and her own involvement with each patient. Interwoven is her own, personal life story, which enhances the meaningfulness of her life's work. She's retired now, engaged in advocacy. This powerfully told memoir is gripping and important.
April 12, 2026
A beautifully written book intertwining a week in Dr. Sella’s life providing essential healthcare to patients seeking abortions and her own personal memoir. She answers the questions of why someone might obtain an abortion and why someone would feel a calling to provide abortions. At the heart of the answer to both these questions is love. It is palpable the love Dr. Sella has for her patients, the stories they bring to the clinic and the stories they’ll live after. Love weaves through her mentors, the staff, and mentees as they navigate how to continue providing care for their patients as the barriers become greater and the nation vilifies abortion.
As a training physician that has found a calling for protecting abortion access and promoting reproductive justice, I was continuously surprised by the ways Dr. Sella’s personal story and patient stories challenged my notions and elicited strong emotions. What an honor it is to have a glimpse at the lives of these patients and Dr. Sella’s own story. I am left with the hope that books like this and the stories that continue to be shared will allow empathy to grow and love to spread so that one day patients won’t need to jump through unnecessary hurdles to access the care they need and want.
As a training physician that has found a calling for protecting abortion access and promoting reproductive justice, I was continuously surprised by the ways Dr. Sella’s personal story and patient stories challenged my notions and elicited strong emotions. What an honor it is to have a glimpse at the lives of these patients and Dr. Sella’s own story. I am left with the hope that books like this and the stories that continue to be shared will allow empathy to grow and love to spread so that one day patients won’t need to jump through unnecessary hurdles to access the care they need and want.
December 30, 2025
Dobbs passed the year before I started medical school, and I, unfortunately, continue to see its ramifications to this day. One of my first shadowing experiences involved a patient who had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. Although she sought out care earlier in her pregnancy, she did not receive medication that would terminate her pregnancy, despite this being the standard of care, because she presented to a religiously affiliated hospital in Texas. So, instead of being provided with the appropriate level of care early in her pregnancy, she presented to our hospital with internal bleeding after her fallopian tube ruptured, as expected. Her initial denial of care led to her losing her fertility in our OR. So, as I’m sure readers of this book will agree, abortion, regardless of indication, is healthcare.
On a brighter note, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Sella at an annual meeting earlier this month - I will forever be inspired by what she has done for the field, and more importantly, the patients.
On a brighter note, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Sella at an annual meeting earlier this month - I will forever be inspired by what she has done for the field, and more importantly, the patients.
September 20, 2025
Such an Important Book
I am so grateful Dr. Sella wrote and published this book, and even more grateful for her sacred work in abortion care, particular third-trimester abortion care. As someone who chose an abortion at 26 weeks due to non-fatal, but serious, fetal abnormalities I felt seen and understood by her commentary about others in similar circumstances. Perhaps more importantly I appreciated her perspective on abortions for maternal reasons. I’ve been involved and especially interested in the topic of abortions later in pregnancy for four years and still found new food for thought and perspectives from this book. I especially loved the discussion and definition of viable vs. non-viable pregnancies.
Highly recommend this book, to everyone.
I am so grateful Dr. Sella wrote and published this book, and even more grateful for her sacred work in abortion care, particular third-trimester abortion care. As someone who chose an abortion at 26 weeks due to non-fatal, but serious, fetal abnormalities I felt seen and understood by her commentary about others in similar circumstances. Perhaps more importantly I appreciated her perspective on abortions for maternal reasons. I’ve been involved and especially interested in the topic of abortions later in pregnancy for four years and still found new food for thought and perspectives from this book. I especially loved the discussion and definition of viable vs. non-viable pregnancies.
Highly recommend this book, to everyone.
August 27, 2025
a beautiful and powerful memoir of courage and love
Dr. Shelley Sella has shared her own story and the stories of dozens of the people she has treated in a long and generous career. She highlights the contributions of my friend, Dr. George Tiller, who was murdered by an anti abortion thug, and others who taught and mentored her. She writes about abortion care at its best. She helps us understand the lives and thinking of women who have been all too frequently judged by people not in their shoes. I am deeply grateful for this courageous book and for Dr. Sella’s loving and generous work.
Dr. Shelley Sella has shared her own story and the stories of dozens of the people she has treated in a long and generous career. She highlights the contributions of my friend, Dr. George Tiller, who was murdered by an anti abortion thug, and others who taught and mentored her. She writes about abortion care at its best. She helps us understand the lives and thinking of women who have been all too frequently judged by people not in their shoes. I am deeply grateful for this courageous book and for Dr. Sella’s loving and generous work.
March 26, 2026
A must-read for anyone who is interested in abortion, abortion rights, and reproductive justice. Especially for anyone who is confused about what a third trimester abortion actually is. Dr. Sella is clearly a compassionate caretaker of high moral character. I'm grateful to her for sharing her experiences, these stories, and to all the patients she treated who allowed their stories to be told. Until we remove stigma from abortion, and stop fetishizing pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood, our culture (and our legislators) will continue to put people's lives and health at risk. This book tells the truth about one of the most misunderstood aspects of pregnancy with empathy and respect.
September 12, 2025
Got to meet Dr Sella and attend her book reading which made this book extra special, but I also love it and her ideas on their own merit.
Love her redefining of “viability” more holistically: “every patient who comes to me for an abortion has considered all factors relevant to their well-being and to their unborn child and concluded this particular pregnancy is non-viable.”
Love the way she practices medicine like a midwife/family member despite being both family med and OBGYN trained. I could only hope to be so patient and humble and empathetic as a doctor or even human
Love her redefining of “viability” more holistically: “every patient who comes to me for an abortion has considered all factors relevant to their well-being and to their unborn child and concluded this particular pregnancy is non-viable.”
Love the way she practices medicine like a midwife/family member despite being both family med and OBGYN trained. I could only hope to be so patient and humble and empathetic as a doctor or even human
July 13, 2025
Compassionate, factual, non-judgmental presentation of reality women face when dealing with life-altering decisions. Presents a clear picture of the lack of health care that touches the lives of all residents in the United States of America and the politics that have created this reality.
This is a book that every politician, every person involved in the legal or judicial process/field and every voter should read.
There but for the grace of God, go I...
This is a book that every politician, every person involved in the legal or judicial process/field and every voter should read.
There but for the grace of God, go I...
October 4, 2025
A crucial read for everyone. Dr. Sella demystifies and de-sensationalizes 2nd and 3rd trimester abortions through copious case studies of real people she treated. She is unequivocal in her belief that people deserve abortions for any reason at any time. The only thing I would have appreciated is a retelling of a time when she turned someone away—whether that’s due to being too far in the pregnancy, concerns about coercion, or another reason.
November 18, 2025
Dr. Sella compassionately explains why women make a choice that I had previously felt was a bridge too far. I had long struggled with this question and now I understand why “maternal indication” patients make this choice. I wish we lived in a country where women didn’t have to choose this, I wish we lived in a country where women could make this choice more easily, and I wish we lived in a country where the people making the decisions for women would read this book.
May 20, 2026
this book taught me a lot about the arbitrary nature of gestational limits and the types of fetal and maternal indications that would warrant a later term abortion. i just really respect Dr. Sella’s perspective on medicine, patient interaction, and reproductive care. i could tell she was a deeply empathetic and caring person at the speaker event we had at school, and i’m really glad i went to that so i could get this book
June 17, 2025
Shelley Sella's book presents the stories of women facing near-impossible choices. This book explores the wrenching decision-making process these women undergo and shows why third-trimester abortions are often the only possible outcome. Not all readers will agree with Sella's arguments, but everyone should hear them.
July 15, 2025
A phenomenal book. Dr. Sella's compassion knows no bounds and oozes from every page as she tells her own story and her patients' stories dealing with some of the toughest things life can throw at you. Her real talk about third trimester (and, really, all) abortion was hard to put down. Dr. Sella saves people's lives, and we are lucky to have this book to let us have a peak into this world.
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