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Without Apology: The Abortion Struggle Now
An indispensable guide to abortion access in America, and a necessary argument for building a fighting feminist movement to protect women's rights
Anti-abortion justice Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. A misogynist in the White House. Abortion inaccessible to women in 85% of American counties. The stakes for women's ability to control our own bodies are high.
In this spirited book, Jenny Brown describes what the United States looked like without legal abortion -- when feminist collectives organized abortion care -- and what women face trying to get an abortion today. Drawing inspiration and lessons from the women's liberation movement of the 1970s to the successful fight to make the morning-after pill available over the counter, to the recent mass movement to repeal Ireland's abortion ban, Without Apology is an indispensable guide for today's threats to women's autonomy.
Brown argues that we need to move beyond the idea that abortion is a personal choice, beyond the idea that it should be "rare," beyond the idea that abortion is about privacy or that it shouldn't be politicized, and instead build a fighting feminist movement that can argue for abortion as women's collective social right -- without apology!
Anti-abortion justice Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. A misogynist in the White House. Abortion inaccessible to women in 85% of American counties. The stakes for women's ability to control our own bodies are high.
In this spirited book, Jenny Brown describes what the United States looked like without legal abortion -- when feminist collectives organized abortion care -- and what women face trying to get an abortion today. Drawing inspiration and lessons from the women's liberation movement of the 1970s to the successful fight to make the morning-after pill available over the counter, to the recent mass movement to repeal Ireland's abortion ban, Without Apology is an indispensable guide for today's threats to women's autonomy.
Brown argues that we need to move beyond the idea that abortion is a personal choice, beyond the idea that it should be "rare," beyond the idea that abortion is about privacy or that it shouldn't be politicized, and instead build a fighting feminist movement that can argue for abortion as women's collective social right -- without apology!
208 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2019
50 people are currently reading
3536 people want to read
About the author
Jenny Brown
2 books41 followersJenny Brown first studied the radical history of the Women’s Liberation Movement with Gainesville (Florida) Women’s Liberation and then with Redstockings, where she developed materials for the Redstockings Women’s Liberation Archives for Action. She was a leader in the grassroots campaign to win morning-after pill contraception over-the-counter in the United States, and a plaintiff in the winning lawsuit. For ten years she co-chaired the Alachua County Labor Party, organizing for national health insurance, the right to a job at a living wage, free higher education and a working person’s political party under the Labor Party slogan, “The corporations have two parties, we need one of our own.” More recently she worked as a staff writer and editor for Labor Notes magazine, covering labor struggles in hotels, restaurants, retail, farmwork, airlines, telecommunications and the building trades, and co-authored, with other Labor Notes staff, How to Jump-Start Your Union: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers (2014). She is author of Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women’s Work (PM Press, 2019). She writes, teaches, and organizes with the dues-funded feminist group National Women’s Liberation (womensliberation.org).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
December 2, 2021
Dec 2021 Update: With Roe v. Wade being up for review, PLEASE read this book! Regardless of your stance the information is very enlightening. The contents are more relevant now than when I read this, but I'm thinking a lot about it this week. The personal is political.
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This taught me a ton about not only the movement for women's right to abortion, but also about the women's liberation movement as a whole. Almost every page, if not every paragraph, had me asking, "Why didn't I know this?" The book answers that question too.
Genuinely, I think everyone should read this. There's a lot of information here about the women's movement and about abortion that they don't teach in school and that isn't talked about in the mainstream (and yes that is on purpose.) There's also some analysis of restricting women's right to choose and how that intertwines with things like capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy, which everyone should be thinking about. I also found all this very important information to be presented in a digestible and engaging way.
As an ex-Catholic, I was surprised to learn things in here about the RCC and abortion. I always knew the church was super anti-choice (one of the first disagreements that led to my leaving the religion.) They don't teach you in Catholic school that the church actually wasn't even anti-abortion until Catholic countries' birth rates started declining (seems not at all motivated by anything but theology if you ask me (/sarcasm obviously)) but they have no qualms of equating abortion to literal genocide to full classrooms of middle schoolers which I experienced first hand on more than one occasion. There are also some disgusting accounts of the way women were treated until as recently as 2018 in Irish Catholic hospitals. If I could convince my Catholic family members to read this, I think it would do them a lot of good at least in terms of learning important information if not changing their minds entirely.
Anyway, this is perhaps the best book I've read in 2020. I recommend it to literally everyone.
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This taught me a ton about not only the movement for women's right to abortion, but also about the women's liberation movement as a whole. Almost every page, if not every paragraph, had me asking, "Why didn't I know this?" The book answers that question too.
Genuinely, I think everyone should read this. There's a lot of information here about the women's movement and about abortion that they don't teach in school and that isn't talked about in the mainstream (and yes that is on purpose.) There's also some analysis of restricting women's right to choose and how that intertwines with things like capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy, which everyone should be thinking about. I also found all this very important information to be presented in a digestible and engaging way.
As an ex-Catholic, I was surprised to learn things in here about the RCC and abortion. I always knew the church was super anti-choice (one of the first disagreements that led to my leaving the religion.) They don't teach you in Catholic school that the church actually wasn't even anti-abortion until Catholic countries' birth rates started declining (seems not at all motivated by anything but theology if you ask me (/sarcasm obviously)) but they have no qualms of equating abortion to literal genocide to full classrooms of middle schoolers which I experienced first hand on more than one occasion. There are also some disgusting accounts of the way women were treated until as recently as 2018 in Irish Catholic hospitals. If I could convince my Catholic family members to read this, I think it would do them a lot of good at least in terms of learning important information if not changing their minds entirely.
Anyway, this is perhaps the best book I've read in 2020. I recommend it to literally everyone.
May 16, 2022
An incredibly insightful and accessible look at the history of abortion in America, and the future ways in which women can challenge structural antiabortion rhetoric. Unfortunately very timely, and I recommend this to anyone who's struggling to have the conversation with anyone in their life who's pro forced birth, as it offers many ways to articulate the argument in favour of abortion beyond the often nebulous 'pro choice' terminology.
January 16, 2020
Veľmi dobrá a užitočná knižka, zhŕňa krátko dejiny boja za reprodukčné práva v US a ukazuje, že za úspechom v kampaniach nebolo hľadanie výnimiek, či sústredenie sa na ťažké “smutné” prípady, ale priame, osobné, organizované a radikálne dožadovanie sa vlastných reprodukčných práv, bez pardonu.
June 22, 2022
3,75/5
May 12, 2022
why are there so few reviews for this outstanding work? answering my own question, i only found out about it via recommendation after the supreme court roe v wade repeal leak, and verso promptly offered the ebook for free. clear, concise, sharp, repetitive -- in a good way, that is: exposing and debunking the likes of "reform," "choice," "personal," "between patient and doctor," and other euphemisms and avoidance of anything less than the need for abortion being free, legal, and on-demand, and within a nationalized healthcare system. brown leaves nothing hidden, not just criticizing the openly hostile right wing, but showing how ineffective (backward, really) neoliberal and white supremacist feminisms have been in regards to abortion (and labor of all kind), including clinton and (cia asset) steinem. attached to the racist motivations of banning abortion and contraceptives, we also see how big of a factor capitalist economics comes into play, gaining cheap, forced labor (on multiple levels), perpetuating male domination, rich over poor. and the religious aspect, dear lorde. how the catholic church believed in aristotle's three stages/three souls of pregnancy, the vegetable, the animal, and finally the rational, which for centuries was considered the quickened moment ... that is until late 19th century with increased (and safer) practice of contraceptives and abortion, france --- the most catholic country in europe --- saw a dip in birthrate, and the pope deemed rational soul quickening at conception and all abortion murder. this religious attitude coupled with u.s. individualism has kept this rhetoric going for well over a century. brown goes over the basics of abortion procedures throughout history, the innovation -- and safety -- of tools and methods, and the underground movements that helped and continue to help with birth control today. for something so taboo and demonized, brown explains abortion's really not at all complex, and pill abortions (accounting for 30% of all) make matters even easier -- that is, when legally available and without governmental/commercial red tape. 30% is also the consistent number women have had abortions at for decades, including catholics. and 7 out of 10 women who get abortions are mothers. just some of the stats given in 'without apology.' there's a lot of information in here, and under 200 pages. it's an american forward book, with some comparative facts and statistics globally, and a section on how ireland overturned their abortion ban. in regards to some reviewer complaints (much like the discussion of abortion abroad) of wanting more gender inclusive material and/or verbiage, brown addresses this early on in acknowledging trans and nb people affected by abortion bans; and at no moment did i ever get a modicum of terf or queerphobic rhetoric. brown was on the women's liberation front line that legalized plan b, so offered in 'without apology' is women's liberation history, radical history, written by someone whose life work has been bringing radical change not just for women, but all. can't think of a better book about abortion, easily 5 stars.
May 4, 2022
Clear, concise and sadly timely (which is why I imagine you can download it for free on the Verso website). I wish someone would write a book like this about the fight in the U.K. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting history lessons from Call The Midwife but I’d love to read a proper book about it. The chapter on the Repeal movement in Ireland was particularly enjoyable, I admire those activists so much. One quick thing - weird that there’s no mention of Stalin making abortion illegal again after Lenin legalised it?
I highlighted this line: if you spoke your personal experience, you discovered it was shared. If it was shared, it was social. And if it was social, it was political. And if it was political, you could do something about it.
I highlighted this line: if you spoke your personal experience, you discovered it was shared. If it was shared, it was social. And if it was social, it was political. And if it was political, you could do something about it.
June 25, 2022
Wish I was reading this under different circumstances, but was very educational and inspiring nonetheless. This follows the laws and practices regarding abortion and bodily autonomy through history and highlights the various feminists who fought so hard for roe and other legislation to support safe abortions for everyone. Heartbreaking reading this knowing all that work was undone.
January 17, 2024
Maybe one of the best nonfiction books i’ve ever read. Jenny Brown does an amazing job discussing the history of reproductive rights in the United States (mostly), and does it in such a unique way.
So many writings on this topic center legislation, but Brown focuses on Women’s lived experiences. This humanizes the issue so much more- you’re not learning about the intricacies of the Hyde Amendment, you’re learning the names of the women who died because of it and about the extreme measures it forced women to take.
Anybody who’s wanting to learn more about reproductive rights and abortion needs to read this. Even if you’re not actively trying to learn… read this!
So many writings on this topic center legislation, but Brown focuses on Women’s lived experiences. This humanizes the issue so much more- you’re not learning about the intricacies of the Hyde Amendment, you’re learning the names of the women who died because of it and about the extreme measures it forced women to take.
Anybody who’s wanting to learn more about reproductive rights and abortion needs to read this. Even if you’re not actively trying to learn… read this!
November 6, 2022
A concise history of the movement with very sharp political commentary.
June 30, 2022
Published in 2019, there is still an absolute tonne of relevance to Jenny Brown's exploration of abortion access in America and how even before last week's judgement by the Supreme court, she highlighted how access to abortions was being rolled back in America. I will note the book isn't perfect because whilst Brown acknowledges that trans-gender and non-binary individuals who have a uterus also access abortion services, she does just the terminology "woman" throughout the book which I think lacks nuance.
However, I still think there are some key takeaways from the book which I've pulled together below in the comments and onto relevant infographics for easy summary.
- Nobody has to justify their right to an abortion, there are no good or bad reasons for an abortion.
- Stigma has to be removed surrounding abortion and we can do this by sharing personal testimonies and speaking out.
- The aim has to be to overturn all laws restricting abortions, not focusing on case by case exceptions. Through grassroots activism, sharing personal testimonies, marching and fighting for rights.
- 3 in 10 women have abortions (an average 25-30% have had illegal/legal abortions, which has been remarkably stable since 1840).
- Most individuals who get an abortion have at least one child.
- Black women get abortions at higher rates than white women.
- Trans men and non-binary individuals who don't identify as women have abortions. Abortion rights are for anyone with a uterus.
- Low-waged, unemployed and uninsured women get more abortions than those with higher pay/better insurance as reliable birth control is expensive.
- Those under 18 represent only 7% of abortions.
- Parental involvement laws were instituted for people under eighteen which required parental notification 48 hours before the procedure and parental consent. The first young woman Becky Bell died in 1988 as a direct result of this amendment.
- Abortion and birth control are connected, for those with a uterus to have control over their body, access to both needs to be granted.
- Many women face birth control sabotage which includes partners hiding birth control pills, poking holes in condoms or diaphragms (with one Rhode Island doctor saying at least 15% of her patients experienced this).
- The morning-after-pill and IUD were claimed to induce abortions and in 2014 the Supreme Court in Burwell v. Hobby enabled employers to shed the obligation to cover the costs of these methods of birth control for their employees.
- Federal backlack against Roe came in 1976 through the Hyde amendment act which banned federal Medicaid funding abortions except for in cases to save the life of a woman, or incest/rape which is still in effect.
- The average abortion (at the time of the books publication in 2019) cost $530.
- Pill abortions which are safe and could be inexpensive have been made more difficult and as expensive as surgical abortions to obtain in the US by regulators.
- Anti-abortion sentinment is driven by capitalist fears of declining population and racial prejudice.
- Abortion is an economic issue that cannot be understood separately from housing, jobs, wages, health care, policing, racial, sexual hierarchies, immigration or environmental health. Without the ability to limit time and pregnancies, those with a uterus will be disadvantaged at work and and subordinate to men.
However, I still think there are some key takeaways from the book which I've pulled together below in the comments and onto relevant infographics for easy summary.
- Nobody has to justify their right to an abortion, there are no good or bad reasons for an abortion.
- Stigma has to be removed surrounding abortion and we can do this by sharing personal testimonies and speaking out.
- The aim has to be to overturn all laws restricting abortions, not focusing on case by case exceptions. Through grassroots activism, sharing personal testimonies, marching and fighting for rights.
- 3 in 10 women have abortions (an average 25-30% have had illegal/legal abortions, which has been remarkably stable since 1840).
- Most individuals who get an abortion have at least one child.
- Black women get abortions at higher rates than white women.
- Trans men and non-binary individuals who don't identify as women have abortions. Abortion rights are for anyone with a uterus.
- Low-waged, unemployed and uninsured women get more abortions than those with higher pay/better insurance as reliable birth control is expensive.
- Those under 18 represent only 7% of abortions.
- Parental involvement laws were instituted for people under eighteen which required parental notification 48 hours before the procedure and parental consent. The first young woman Becky Bell died in 1988 as a direct result of this amendment.
- Abortion and birth control are connected, for those with a uterus to have control over their body, access to both needs to be granted.
- Many women face birth control sabotage which includes partners hiding birth control pills, poking holes in condoms or diaphragms (with one Rhode Island doctor saying at least 15% of her patients experienced this).
- The morning-after-pill and IUD were claimed to induce abortions and in 2014 the Supreme Court in Burwell v. Hobby enabled employers to shed the obligation to cover the costs of these methods of birth control for their employees.
- Federal backlack against Roe came in 1976 through the Hyde amendment act which banned federal Medicaid funding abortions except for in cases to save the life of a woman, or incest/rape which is still in effect.
- The average abortion (at the time of the books publication in 2019) cost $530.
- Pill abortions which are safe and could be inexpensive have been made more difficult and as expensive as surgical abortions to obtain in the US by regulators.
- Anti-abortion sentinment is driven by capitalist fears of declining population and racial prejudice.
- Abortion is an economic issue that cannot be understood separately from housing, jobs, wages, health care, policing, racial, sexual hierarchies, immigration or environmental health. Without the ability to limit time and pregnancies, those with a uterus will be disadvantaged at work and and subordinate to men.
June 1, 2022
Cannot recommend this highly enough, my goodness..
Clear, gripping, direct and un-preachy.
Best mix of context & manifesto I've read in a long time!
Clear, gripping, direct and un-preachy.
Best mix of context & manifesto I've read in a long time!
November 7, 2019
A short, passionate, and persuasive argument that the defense of the right to an abortion must be part of a comprehensive movement for women's liberation. Brown slices quickly and easily through a lot of history here, but this book is not meant to be a history or comprehensive accounting of the acquisition and defense of abortion rights in America. She wants the reader to see that through any angle - economic, historical, or legal - the deciding factor in the preservation of abortion rights is to connect it with the economic and legal liberation of women.
The book is extremely well written and Brown does a good job in making her case. People who are unfamiliar with the larger history or legal history of abortion rights will find parts of this book too thin for them. I found her distilling of court cases, the reason that Roe v. Wade was heard when it was, and the legal reasoning behind the decision to be excellently handled by Brown. She's building a case here, not providing a history or cultural analysis. This book is an argument that if you do not frame abortion within a discourse of women's liberation, you are going to lose the right to an abortion. It's about freedom, the same sort of reproductive and economic freedom men have now.
The most refreshing part of the book is Brown's continual re-articulation that the major difference between countries where abortion was challenged and the right was maintained and the United States is that here we don't believe people's minds can be changed. We avoid saying "abortion" and couch the argument in things like "liberty" or "choice" or "privacy." We also do not allow or have public testimony of the value of having an abortion and how that improved or changed a life. In places like Ireland, this was the approach - recognition of people who chose to do this and it really was a positive good for them and for society. Brown compellingly argues that if we don't speak of this as a key element in the freedom of women, that women, particularly white women, are going to be forced to be pregnant when it would be harmful to them.
Finally, Brown makes a chilling argument that abortion rights are being slowly eroded in the face of the need for replacement labor for the elites of the United States. Policies like free and open child care and children's medical care are thought of as too expensive, or corporations don't want to pay that tax for those services to exist. If you have no economic support for people who want to have children, they will have more abortions. In countries where abortion is free and accessible on demand, you don't have population issues like you do in the U.S. as long as there are social services for those who want to have children. It seems reasonable to conclude that if you have abortion on demand as a part of a national health service you have less abortions in total, as long as you have some support system for those who want to have a family.
Freedom and equality for women requires full inclusion of abortion-on-demand and abortion services access both financially and otherwise. Brown argues very successfully that without this, there will be no meaningful women's liberation. And without a meaningful public argument for the importance of women's liberation, there can be no successful defense for abortion rights. It's a great book, very easy to read, and it captures your attention in a great way.
The book is extremely well written and Brown does a good job in making her case. People who are unfamiliar with the larger history or legal history of abortion rights will find parts of this book too thin for them. I found her distilling of court cases, the reason that Roe v. Wade was heard when it was, and the legal reasoning behind the decision to be excellently handled by Brown. She's building a case here, not providing a history or cultural analysis. This book is an argument that if you do not frame abortion within a discourse of women's liberation, you are going to lose the right to an abortion. It's about freedom, the same sort of reproductive and economic freedom men have now.
The most refreshing part of the book is Brown's continual re-articulation that the major difference between countries where abortion was challenged and the right was maintained and the United States is that here we don't believe people's minds can be changed. We avoid saying "abortion" and couch the argument in things like "liberty" or "choice" or "privacy." We also do not allow or have public testimony of the value of having an abortion and how that improved or changed a life. In places like Ireland, this was the approach - recognition of people who chose to do this and it really was a positive good for them and for society. Brown compellingly argues that if we don't speak of this as a key element in the freedom of women, that women, particularly white women, are going to be forced to be pregnant when it would be harmful to them.
Finally, Brown makes a chilling argument that abortion rights are being slowly eroded in the face of the need for replacement labor for the elites of the United States. Policies like free and open child care and children's medical care are thought of as too expensive, or corporations don't want to pay that tax for those services to exist. If you have no economic support for people who want to have children, they will have more abortions. In countries where abortion is free and accessible on demand, you don't have population issues like you do in the U.S. as long as there are social services for those who want to have children. It seems reasonable to conclude that if you have abortion on demand as a part of a national health service you have less abortions in total, as long as you have some support system for those who want to have a family.
Freedom and equality for women requires full inclusion of abortion-on-demand and abortion services access both financially and otherwise. Brown argues very successfully that without this, there will be no meaningful women's liberation. And without a meaningful public argument for the importance of women's liberation, there can be no successful defense for abortion rights. It's a great book, very easy to read, and it captures your attention in a great way.
July 23, 2022
A very readable look at the history of abortion (did you know it was legal in the U.S. until 1873? I didn't) and an argument that we should aim high, demanding maximum freedom for reproductive rights, not engage in apologetic, euphemistic talk about "choice." Stirring and enlightening.
October 19, 2025
It's simple for me to say as a cis man that I am pro-abortion. I think I also don't have much to add to the conversation besides my own support. I also have a degree in history and can sit here and say that no one should go through a back alley abortion.
This book was also published in 2019 and so much more has happened since then to hinder someone's right to an abortion.
Now onto the finer details of this book. Brown did a good job, but if you've read any book by a leftist activist you've kind of read them all. I wanted to be drawn in, and I think it would have been easier for me to read a history of abortion in the United States. Literally the sections that really drew me in were the parts on the history of abortion and the section on the Irish referendum in 2018. I had a hard time putting down the book at those points. Beyond that it was an easy read, but I did not feel blown away by it, maybe I wanted something a bit more academic, but I think that would go against the point. Anyways, I recommend it, but I'd like to see an updated edition detailing recent developments.
I think for me since the Dobbs decision and growing up in a home with someone who lived through and participated in women's liberation, I already knew about what Brown was recommending. Liberal feminism will not succeed for the same reason the Democratic Party is constantly shooting itself in the foot, it is merely performative in its activism. A feminist politic rooted in capitalism does not bring meaningful change for people. For the abortion struggle to be "won," it requires to return to the radicalism that fueled it in the 70's and make the personal political. Abortion should be legal period. There should not be an asterisk by that, if someone wants to get an abortion then they should have the legal right to do so, and their reasoning should not matter. That is one of the most important ideas that Brown presents, and that's why you should read it.
Anyways, support universal healthcare, radicalism in your politics, and capitalism is always to blame.
This book was also published in 2019 and so much more has happened since then to hinder someone's right to an abortion.
Now onto the finer details of this book. Brown did a good job, but if you've read any book by a leftist activist you've kind of read them all. I wanted to be drawn in, and I think it would have been easier for me to read a history of abortion in the United States. Literally the sections that really drew me in were the parts on the history of abortion and the section on the Irish referendum in 2018. I had a hard time putting down the book at those points. Beyond that it was an easy read, but I did not feel blown away by it, maybe I wanted something a bit more academic, but I think that would go against the point. Anyways, I recommend it, but I'd like to see an updated edition detailing recent developments.
I think for me since the Dobbs decision and growing up in a home with someone who lived through and participated in women's liberation, I already knew about what Brown was recommending. Liberal feminism will not succeed for the same reason the Democratic Party is constantly shooting itself in the foot, it is merely performative in its activism. A feminist politic rooted in capitalism does not bring meaningful change for people. For the abortion struggle to be "won," it requires to return to the radicalism that fueled it in the 70's and make the personal political. Abortion should be legal period. There should not be an asterisk by that, if someone wants to get an abortion then they should have the legal right to do so, and their reasoning should not matter. That is one of the most important ideas that Brown presents, and that's why you should read it.
Anyways, support universal healthcare, radicalism in your politics, and capitalism is always to blame.
May 27, 2022
Verso Books is in fact THE best publishing house because they are on top of global issues and always offering resources that keep up with the times. This is one of those - a short history on abortion, focusing mostly on the USA.
More important than speaking truth to power is speaking truth to each other in order to build our power.
Very much recommended to every person who can bear children, to every feminist and to everyone interested in their own rights, and the rights of those around them. You know, even if you don't know that you know, a person who has had an abortion. The personal is political, because the numbers are so high - and I can only hope I get to live a time when people can access the rights to their own bodily autonomy without stigma, without hardships (emotional or monetary ones) and without questions.
More important than speaking truth to power is speaking truth to each other in order to build our power.
Very much recommended to every person who can bear children, to every feminist and to everyone interested in their own rights, and the rights of those around them. You know, even if you don't know that you know, a person who has had an abortion. The personal is political, because the numbers are so high - and I can only hope I get to live a time when people can access the rights to their own bodily autonomy without stigma, without hardships (emotional or monetary ones) and without questions.
January 6, 2021
Great, highly readable, and informative (did you know Frank Sinatra's mom provided illegal abortions, or that Chinese scientists developed vacuum aspiration and synthesized levonorgestrel, the active ingredient in the morning-after pill?!) This short polemic makes a sharp argument: advocates for reproductive justice shouldn't cede ground to our opponents (eg by referring to abortion with euphemisms, accepting legal restrictions or failure of govt to subsidize access), but instead unequivocally demand free abortions as part of a national healthcare system.
Currently reading
June 24, 2022Donate to abortion funds (like @UTabortionfund or @AbortionFunds on twitter), not feckless politicians seeking fundraising off of these harmful judicial decrees upholding White Christian nationalism. Mifepristone + Misoprostol (@Plancpills @AidAccessUSA on twitter)
October 10, 2021
Very informative and there was so much in here that I had no idea about. Taught me a lot about how feminists have organized in the past for abortion but also in general.
May 15, 2022
o livro fala mais sobre a realidade estadunidense, mas é bem interessante no sentido de pensar estratégia política (a parte com argumentos pró aborto que não funcionam é bem interessante)
May 26, 2022
A comprehensive, accessible primer on the methods and struggle for abortion rights in the US (and a couple other places sprinkled in). Informative (both of the theory and the history) and very well written.
August 27, 2022
The whole time I was like… this is shocking… but this is the US we’re talking about! The American dream and all that, but a third world country when it comes to abortion rights.
February 26, 2020
What a great read! Tons of good information, very clear and concise. Should probably be required reading for anyone affected by abortion or the ongoing abortion debate (so, everyone).
July 26, 2022
Jacobin series is basically an effort to resuscitate the art of pamphleteering and has been hit-and-miss for me, but this is an excellent use of the form.
August 18, 2024
It has been said that historically around 30% of women in America have gotten an abortion. With that being said, at least 30% of Americans should read this book. In all seriousness, this is a wonderful book on the history of the radicalism within the feminist movement. Unfortunately, the feminist movement has largely been diluted of its most socialist and radical elements with it being twisted into a neoliberal feminism. This book is a phenomenal history of the Women’s Liberation Movement and the fight for reproductive rights within America. An inspiring book documenting the lives and acts of the many forgotten women who helped fight for a radical feminist movement. Therefore, it is imperative that you grab your homemade Del-Em, read this book, and help create a new radical feminist movement for the 21st century!
June 24, 2022
Possibly more significant given the recently challenges to Roe v Wade in the US, a better understanding of the abortion movement as a whole is required for everyone. Without Apology, manages to be both immensily accessible and straightforward about the history of abortion legislation and it's role as part of Second Wave feminism in the United States, and includes examples of the types of underground abortion services that women relied on during this time.
Many women in rural Canada and the United states are much closer to that reality than living in a society where women have automy over their own bodies. Make no mistake, Canadian Conservatives are looking at the regression of abortion rights in the United States as a way to introduce the same ideas here.
Brown's criticism at the lack of progress since Roe v Wade is scathing, where access to abortion has been ceeded time after time and bill after bill, making abortion access something that only exists in the technical sense instead of the practical sense. Where weak campaigns and the fear of using the term abortion has convoluded efforts to protect access to abortions and people are scared of dreaming for bigger when it comes to the right to a safe abortion.
The amount of abortions do not go down when it is made illegal, but the women who die of complications from a dangerous abortion goes up.
All in all, you should read this book if you:
- care about a woman's right to an abortion
- are curious about how abortion access has been lost since Roe v Wade in the US
- are interesting in what the approach moving forward might be in order to protect access to abortions.
Many women in rural Canada and the United states are much closer to that reality than living in a society where women have automy over their own bodies. Make no mistake, Canadian Conservatives are looking at the regression of abortion rights in the United States as a way to introduce the same ideas here.
Brown's criticism at the lack of progress since Roe v Wade is scathing, where access to abortion has been ceeded time after time and bill after bill, making abortion access something that only exists in the technical sense instead of the practical sense. Where weak campaigns and the fear of using the term abortion has convoluded efforts to protect access to abortions and people are scared of dreaming for bigger when it comes to the right to a safe abortion.
The amount of abortions do not go down when it is made illegal, but the women who die of complications from a dangerous abortion goes up.
All in all, you should read this book if you:
- care about a woman's right to an abortion
- are curious about how abortion access has been lost since Roe v Wade in the US
- are interesting in what the approach moving forward might be in order to protect access to abortions.
August 23, 2023
Before reading this book I don't know if I would have called myself a feminist. Now though, I am explicitly pro abortion (as opposed to even just pro choice) and I'm a raging feminist. I'm looking for places to volunteer. This book was so eye opening to the struggle not just for reproductive rights/justice but for being a woman in a world not made for you in general
October 11, 2023
In this book, Jenny asks us to reflect on the true purpose of the feminist movement: women's liberty. She observes that the current movement appears to no longer have this vision (however well-intentioned), and consequently, public support is generally misguided and lackluster. Feminism today revolves around the right to choose, the time of life's beginning, and pregnancy as a result of rape. Jenny proposes that this is the result of a calculated reactionary campaign that has hidden the historical prevalence of abortions throughout generations, masked the financial incentives of banning abortion, and rewritten the history of women's rights.
Jenny shows that these three tenets--choice, life's beginning, and pregnancy due to rape--are not sufficient to support a human rights movement: The right to choose is too private, the mythical beginning of life is only one point during an entire term of pregnancy (not to mention a whole human life), and most women do not become pregnant by rape. However, these narrow political points keep the conversation away from discussions of healthcare, childcare, and women’s liberty.
This book was published in 2019, but Jenny (like other women's liberty advocates) predicted that Roe v. Wade was a weak decision that ultimately did more damage to the feminist movement by ratifying abortion as an implied right to privacy and would soon be overturned. She attributes this to the movement's misguided focus on the aforementioned political platforms of the right wing, the erasure of feminist icons, doctrines, and history from the public consciousness, and the consequent saturation of the central, unifying mission of all activism: human rights for all.
Jenny does not present her criticism completely, but she references primary sources and offers supplementary texts that were written by the feminist pioneers before us who succeeded. I think this is effective, because by the end of her book, she has ignited the moral fire that will carry the reader through the external literature and hopefully into potent, intersectional, and genuine alliance with the women's rights movement.
When we talk about women's rights:
1. the right to choose should be the right to abortion and contraception
2. the debate on the beginning of life should be a demand for universal healthcare and government-funded childcare
3. the issue of pregnancy due to rape should be a conversation about how most women throughout history have wanted or needed an abortion at some point in their lives (as is their right)--not just victims of crimes
Jenny reminds us that no human right has ever been gained by compromising, and she warns that we cannot afford to continue compromising for our mothers, sisters, and daughters. She's damn right.
Jenny shows that these three tenets--choice, life's beginning, and pregnancy due to rape--are not sufficient to support a human rights movement: The right to choose is too private, the mythical beginning of life is only one point during an entire term of pregnancy (not to mention a whole human life), and most women do not become pregnant by rape. However, these narrow political points keep the conversation away from discussions of healthcare, childcare, and women’s liberty.
This book was published in 2019, but Jenny (like other women's liberty advocates) predicted that Roe v. Wade was a weak decision that ultimately did more damage to the feminist movement by ratifying abortion as an implied right to privacy and would soon be overturned. She attributes this to the movement's misguided focus on the aforementioned political platforms of the right wing, the erasure of feminist icons, doctrines, and history from the public consciousness, and the consequent saturation of the central, unifying mission of all activism: human rights for all.
Jenny does not present her criticism completely, but she references primary sources and offers supplementary texts that were written by the feminist pioneers before us who succeeded. I think this is effective, because by the end of her book, she has ignited the moral fire that will carry the reader through the external literature and hopefully into potent, intersectional, and genuine alliance with the women's rights movement.
When we talk about women's rights:
1. the right to choose should be the right to abortion and contraception
2. the debate on the beginning of life should be a demand for universal healthcare and government-funded childcare
3. the issue of pregnancy due to rape should be a conversation about how most women throughout history have wanted or needed an abortion at some point in their lives (as is their right)--not just victims of crimes
Jenny reminds us that no human right has ever been gained by compromising, and she warns that we cannot afford to continue compromising for our mothers, sisters, and daughters. She's damn right.
August 4, 2024
This book should be required reading everywhere.
August 20, 2020
4.25 stars
While I appreciated this book, I do think it has its drawbacks. I will say that I learned some new history about the abortion rights/reproductive justice movements and I admired how deftly Brown connects this struggle to the wider economic struggle under capitalism. I also really appreciated the explanation of how the Ireland abortion repeal was achieved since that is a more recent event, as well as the section about Brown's own organizing efforts in the battle to win over-the-counter access to the morning-after pill.
My two main issues: 1) it could be more gender-inclusive 2) Brown contradicts herself at times. For example, she makes a point to talk about what is and isn't productive when it comes to strategy, then spends an entire section rehashing the 2016 Democratic primary. Like... why? Why did this need to be in the book? It just comes across as petty political infighting and distracts from the useful ideas found elsewhere in the book. And I say this as someone who was never particularly pro-Clinton and definitely leans more towards the socialism way of thinking. I'm just saying is all.
I do have to disagree that public consciousness-raising is the be-all and end-all of abortion rights strategy, as someone who participated in the 2013 protests against the proposed TRAP laws in the Texas legislature. If anything, that experience made me more aware of the need for a pragmatic legislative and legal strategy to effect change, because we quite literally gathered thousands of people to shout down the anti-abortion law and still lost the battle in the long run (the lege came back in a special session after the original law was defeated via Wendy Davis' filibuster and the People's Filibuster at the last moment, and passed easily in the special session). The will of the people cannot win out when the political system in control of the laws and courts is corrupt. I truly believe it has to be a both/and strategy.
That being said, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to hold our supposed allies (NARAL, Planned Parenthood, etc.) to higher feminist standards, as well as strengthening ties to other progressive moments since it is all interconnected under capitalism.
I would definitely recommend this one for anyone looking to learn more about the history and modern incarnations of the reproductive justice movements, with the caveat that there are some blatant political biases at play. Those that I technically agree with! It just rubbed me the wrong way here and affected the way I experienced the book. ymmv.
While I appreciated this book, I do think it has its drawbacks. I will say that I learned some new history about the abortion rights/reproductive justice movements and I admired how deftly Brown connects this struggle to the wider economic struggle under capitalism. I also really appreciated the explanation of how the Ireland abortion repeal was achieved since that is a more recent event, as well as the section about Brown's own organizing efforts in the battle to win over-the-counter access to the morning-after pill.
My two main issues: 1) it could be more gender-inclusive 2) Brown contradicts herself at times. For example, she makes a point to talk about what is and isn't productive when it comes to strategy, then spends an entire section rehashing the 2016 Democratic primary. Like... why? Why did this need to be in the book? It just comes across as petty political infighting and distracts from the useful ideas found elsewhere in the book. And I say this as someone who was never particularly pro-Clinton and definitely leans more towards the socialism way of thinking. I'm just saying is all.
I do have to disagree that public consciousness-raising is the be-all and end-all of abortion rights strategy, as someone who participated in the 2013 protests against the proposed TRAP laws in the Texas legislature. If anything, that experience made me more aware of the need for a pragmatic legislative and legal strategy to effect change, because we quite literally gathered thousands of people to shout down the anti-abortion law and still lost the battle in the long run (the lege came back in a special session after the original law was defeated via Wendy Davis' filibuster and the People's Filibuster at the last moment, and passed easily in the special session). The will of the people cannot win out when the political system in control of the laws and courts is corrupt. I truly believe it has to be a both/and strategy.
That being said, I wholeheartedly agree that we need to hold our supposed allies (NARAL, Planned Parenthood, etc.) to higher feminist standards, as well as strengthening ties to other progressive moments since it is all interconnected under capitalism.
I would definitely recommend this one for anyone looking to learn more about the history and modern incarnations of the reproductive justice movements, with the caveat that there are some blatant political biases at play. Those that I technically agree with! It just rubbed me the wrong way here and affected the way I experienced the book. ymmv.
March 23, 2020
“A right is something you don’t have to justify or explain to any authority.” (Loc 349)
This book chronicles the fight for reproductive rights beginning with the radical demands of the Redstockings and Women's Liberation movement in 1969 and ending with the right to legal abortion on the verge of being lost in 2019.
“For women to have life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and a chance for equality with men, we must have full rights to abortion and birth control.” (Loc 1350)
In the fight for reproductive freedom, there are two camps in favor of abortion rights: one advocating for the reform of existing laws and one advocating for the repeal of the laws. Total repeal was the demand voiced by the First Wave Feminists, and it is the position taken by this work.
The goal is to take decisions regarding abortion — who should be allowed to have one, when, where, under what circumstances, at what point in the pregnancy, performed by which provider with what qualifications using what method — out of the hands of the government and authorities within the Industrial-Medical Complex and turn them over to the women seeking abortion services.
This book was eye-opening. I had always been led to believe that it was an enlightened and benevolent Supreme Court that legalized abortion rather than a Supreme Court bowing to social pressures. It was the momentum of thousands of women publicly demanding abortion rights that forced the Supreme Court into making this decision when in the past they had ruled in favor of criminalizing contraception, birth control, and informational materials about reproduction.
“In fact, the Roe decision fell considerably short of what the movement wanted. From this shaky beginning, things have been going steadily downhill.” (Loc 1226)
This book also explains how the abortion rights movement immediately began losing ground when it downgraded from radical to moderate. Once the women’s movement switched from offense to defense, an aggressive offense to a lukewarm defense, they began losing ground. The backslide has been so complete that the right to legal abortion in the United States is about to be lost. For millions of American women, abortion is already completely inaccessible due to heavy restrictions and lack of providers, so it may as well be illegal.
I found the list of what the author considers to be unhelpful arguments in favor of abortion to astonishing. All five are the most common arguments used in favor of legal abortion in contemporary public discourse, which it had never even occurred to me to question. The refutation for each one is mind-blogging. For example:
“Unhelpful argument #3: ‘Abortion is a matter between a woman and her doctor — legislatures should not intervene.’ This assumes women have a doctor as opposed to a string of one-time encounters with various medical personnel. And it ignores that doctors have a long, unsavory record of coercing women to have children they don’t want by refusing abortions — and conversely, of sterilizing women against their will, especially women of color.” (Loc 181 — 184)
I loved how concisely she rewraps up the dismantlement of this unhelpful argument by concluding, “Doctors may be allies or enemies, but they certainly aren’t partners in our decisions about abortion.” (Loc 189)
The author does a fantastic job of detailing the poor strategies employed by abortion rights advocates over the past decades. She explains how they fail to further the cause and how they actually contributed to the roll back of abortion rights. The biggest problem being the reluctance to use the word “abortion” and say that it is a good thing in cases other than the extremely rare ones involving rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, and the life of the mother being at stake in which abortion is still portrayed as an agonizing last resort.
The author calls out abortion supporters for categorizing abortions as either good or bad. Women (and teenage girls) who have abortions because of rape, incest, or to save their own lives have “good girl abortions.” But women (and teenage girls) who have abortions because they “failed to take precautions” and have selfish reasons like education, work, or a general unwillingness to gestate, birth, and then parent or surrender a child have “bad girl abortions.”
This not only undermines the movement. It stigmatizes all the women who aren’t having abortions because they are victims of rape or incest, suffering from a serious illness, developed a life threatening pregnancy complication, or carrying a child diagnosed with a condition that is “incompatible with life,” which is the vast majority of women who have abortions. Abortion advocates who use the tactic of emphasizing these rare circumstances are passing judgment upon the women whose right to abortion they seek to defend. In a ludicrous twist, they are also essentially telling the opposition — as well as women — that they are fine with abortion being outlawed as long as there are exemptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
“Behind every abortion is a man who didn’t wear a condom.” (Loc 309)
My favorite point made by the author is how men are entirely off the hook when it comes to abortion. Just as women bear the brunt of childbearing, childbirthing, childcaring, and child rearing in addition to the social judgement there upon, they face the responsibility of abortion similarly alone. “When abortion is discussed, [the man] fades out of the picture while [the woman’s] sexual activities and her ‘failure to take precautions’ are picked over in detail. His sexual activities or failure to use birth control are rarely considered.” (Loc 310)
This book presents the little known history of how abortion, like menstruation, was a woman’s matter, practiced by women amongst themselves without male interference, until male physicians decided to eliminate their competition from midwives and lay practitioners, by outlawing it in the mid-1800s. The prohibition of abortion and contraception then became a crucial tool in the suppression of women’s rights.
The author also includes the dark history of reproductive coercion practiced against the poor, especially women of color and women belonging to indigenous communities, in the early 20th Century in the United States. The government’s previously dark role in the regulation of reproductive medicine raises real doubts about its ability to provide impartial oversight and about whether or not it can ever be trusted to act in women’s best interests.
If anyone actually believed that laws against contraception and abortion are about the sanctity of life and the sanctity of motherhood and about protecting vulnerable women from sin and exploitation rather than trying to force women to remain in their proper place, which is at home providing free domestic labor and only engaging in sexual activity as part of proper wifely submission, this book will dispel all such notions.
“Reproductive justice is the answer to a neoliberal feminism that preserves technical rights that require money to exercise.” (Loc 1395)
The author believes that any hope of salvaging abortion rights for ordinary women, those without money and resources, lies with aligning the abortion rights movement with reproductive justice. Reproductive justice is a movement born in response to the Clinton Administration’s decision to deny coverage for abortion as a medical service in their proposed healthcare reform act in order to pander to Right. (Ironically, years later, Hilary Clinton failed to understand why the very people that she helped to further disenfranchise refused to vote for her. It was obviously an evil plot by Vladimir Putin.)
Correctly understanding that the poorest, most vulnerable people had been thrown under the bus for legislation destined to fail, a group of women staged a revolt. Reproductive justice has three tenets around which all their demands are centered: 1) the right not to have a child, 2) the right to have a child, and 3) the right to parent children in a healthy and safe environment (Loc 1376). As part of this movement, activists are calling for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment and abortion coverage as part of government funded, tax supported healthcare.
“Toning down our desires to match what policy experts think is winnable often turns out to be a losing strategy.” (Loc 1744)
The greatest takeaway of this book is to unequivocally demand the right to abortion without restriction and without apology. Lowering the demands in an attempt to lessen resistance by the opposition is a failing strategy. So, it’s time to unapologetically insist upon full abortion rights that put the decisions regarding abortion care in the hands of women.
Those interested in reading more about abortion rights “on feminist terms” may also enjoy Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt.
This book chronicles the fight for reproductive rights beginning with the radical demands of the Redstockings and Women's Liberation movement in 1969 and ending with the right to legal abortion on the verge of being lost in 2019.
“For women to have life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and a chance for equality with men, we must have full rights to abortion and birth control.” (Loc 1350)
In the fight for reproductive freedom, there are two camps in favor of abortion rights: one advocating for the reform of existing laws and one advocating for the repeal of the laws. Total repeal was the demand voiced by the First Wave Feminists, and it is the position taken by this work.
The goal is to take decisions regarding abortion — who should be allowed to have one, when, where, under what circumstances, at what point in the pregnancy, performed by which provider with what qualifications using what method — out of the hands of the government and authorities within the Industrial-Medical Complex and turn them over to the women seeking abortion services.
This book was eye-opening. I had always been led to believe that it was an enlightened and benevolent Supreme Court that legalized abortion rather than a Supreme Court bowing to social pressures. It was the momentum of thousands of women publicly demanding abortion rights that forced the Supreme Court into making this decision when in the past they had ruled in favor of criminalizing contraception, birth control, and informational materials about reproduction.
“In fact, the Roe decision fell considerably short of what the movement wanted. From this shaky beginning, things have been going steadily downhill.” (Loc 1226)
This book also explains how the abortion rights movement immediately began losing ground when it downgraded from radical to moderate. Once the women’s movement switched from offense to defense, an aggressive offense to a lukewarm defense, they began losing ground. The backslide has been so complete that the right to legal abortion in the United States is about to be lost. For millions of American women, abortion is already completely inaccessible due to heavy restrictions and lack of providers, so it may as well be illegal.
I found the list of what the author considers to be unhelpful arguments in favor of abortion to astonishing. All five are the most common arguments used in favor of legal abortion in contemporary public discourse, which it had never even occurred to me to question. The refutation for each one is mind-blogging. For example:
“Unhelpful argument #3: ‘Abortion is a matter between a woman and her doctor — legislatures should not intervene.’ This assumes women have a doctor as opposed to a string of one-time encounters with various medical personnel. And it ignores that doctors have a long, unsavory record of coercing women to have children they don’t want by refusing abortions — and conversely, of sterilizing women against their will, especially women of color.” (Loc 181 — 184)
I loved how concisely she rewraps up the dismantlement of this unhelpful argument by concluding, “Doctors may be allies or enemies, but they certainly aren’t partners in our decisions about abortion.” (Loc 189)
The author does a fantastic job of detailing the poor strategies employed by abortion rights advocates over the past decades. She explains how they fail to further the cause and how they actually contributed to the roll back of abortion rights. The biggest problem being the reluctance to use the word “abortion” and say that it is a good thing in cases other than the extremely rare ones involving rape, incest, fetal abnormalities, and the life of the mother being at stake in which abortion is still portrayed as an agonizing last resort.
The author calls out abortion supporters for categorizing abortions as either good or bad. Women (and teenage girls) who have abortions because of rape, incest, or to save their own lives have “good girl abortions.” But women (and teenage girls) who have abortions because they “failed to take precautions” and have selfish reasons like education, work, or a general unwillingness to gestate, birth, and then parent or surrender a child have “bad girl abortions.”
This not only undermines the movement. It stigmatizes all the women who aren’t having abortions because they are victims of rape or incest, suffering from a serious illness, developed a life threatening pregnancy complication, or carrying a child diagnosed with a condition that is “incompatible with life,” which is the vast majority of women who have abortions. Abortion advocates who use the tactic of emphasizing these rare circumstances are passing judgment upon the women whose right to abortion they seek to defend. In a ludicrous twist, they are also essentially telling the opposition — as well as women — that they are fine with abortion being outlawed as long as there are exemptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
“Behind every abortion is a man who didn’t wear a condom.” (Loc 309)
My favorite point made by the author is how men are entirely off the hook when it comes to abortion. Just as women bear the brunt of childbearing, childbirthing, childcaring, and child rearing in addition to the social judgement there upon, they face the responsibility of abortion similarly alone. “When abortion is discussed, [the man] fades out of the picture while [the woman’s] sexual activities and her ‘failure to take precautions’ are picked over in detail. His sexual activities or failure to use birth control are rarely considered.” (Loc 310)
This book presents the little known history of how abortion, like menstruation, was a woman’s matter, practiced by women amongst themselves without male interference, until male physicians decided to eliminate their competition from midwives and lay practitioners, by outlawing it in the mid-1800s. The prohibition of abortion and contraception then became a crucial tool in the suppression of women’s rights.
The author also includes the dark history of reproductive coercion practiced against the poor, especially women of color and women belonging to indigenous communities, in the early 20th Century in the United States. The government’s previously dark role in the regulation of reproductive medicine raises real doubts about its ability to provide impartial oversight and about whether or not it can ever be trusted to act in women’s best interests.
If anyone actually believed that laws against contraception and abortion are about the sanctity of life and the sanctity of motherhood and about protecting vulnerable women from sin and exploitation rather than trying to force women to remain in their proper place, which is at home providing free domestic labor and only engaging in sexual activity as part of proper wifely submission, this book will dispel all such notions.
“Reproductive justice is the answer to a neoliberal feminism that preserves technical rights that require money to exercise.” (Loc 1395)
The author believes that any hope of salvaging abortion rights for ordinary women, those without money and resources, lies with aligning the abortion rights movement with reproductive justice. Reproductive justice is a movement born in response to the Clinton Administration’s decision to deny coverage for abortion as a medical service in their proposed healthcare reform act in order to pander to Right. (Ironically, years later, Hilary Clinton failed to understand why the very people that she helped to further disenfranchise refused to vote for her. It was obviously an evil plot by Vladimir Putin.)
Correctly understanding that the poorest, most vulnerable people had been thrown under the bus for legislation destined to fail, a group of women staged a revolt. Reproductive justice has three tenets around which all their demands are centered: 1) the right not to have a child, 2) the right to have a child, and 3) the right to parent children in a healthy and safe environment (Loc 1376). As part of this movement, activists are calling for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment and abortion coverage as part of government funded, tax supported healthcare.
“Toning down our desires to match what policy experts think is winnable often turns out to be a losing strategy.” (Loc 1744)
The greatest takeaway of this book is to unequivocally demand the right to abortion without restriction and without apology. Lowering the demands in an attempt to lessen resistance by the opposition is a failing strategy. So, it’s time to unapologetically insist upon full abortion rights that put the decisions regarding abortion care in the hands of women.
Those interested in reading more about abortion rights “on feminist terms” may also enjoy Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights by Katha Pollitt.
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