10 Books on Abortion to Understand the Karaca and Wade Argument


Supreme Court, Roe v. As we reassess Wade months shy of his 50th anniversary and possibly prepare to topple him, according to a leaked opinion draft, it’s worth considering how the resolution establishing the constitutional right to abortion has divided our country.

Conflict was not inevitable. If abortion is burdened with universal points of contention—religion and gender, gender and autonomy, life and death—no country has divided more than the United States. And by 1975, two years after the 7-2 decision was announced, Roe had sparked so little backlash that John Paul Stevens, the first judge appointed to the Supreme Court after the decision, was not even asked for his opinion on the matter at the confirmation hearing. .

It’s simple, as some do, to attribute all discrimination on abortion in this country to our making of our abortion policy through the courts rather than the law. Leaders on both sides of the issue have sought to politicize the issue for political gain, taking advantage of the tensions of American character—our individualism and feminism, our religiosity and conservative attitudes towards sex.

As a result, half a century after the Roe decision, we now find ourselves so divided that, as feminist writer Katha Pollitt observes, “abortion is characterized as one of those issues where people have not only their own opinions, but their own truths. ” Indeed, even the science of abortion is controversial in the United States. Does having an abortion hurt a woman emotionally? At what point in pregnancy does a fetus start to feel pain? It largely depends on who you ask.

To help understand how we got to this point, here is a list of 10 books—five that examine the legal, political, and social underpinnings of abortion in America, then explore everything abortion has covered since Roe: issues of violence and stigma, politics and race, medicine and law, philosophy and medicine.


1978

Dating back to the 19th century, this invaluable book is the foundational history of American anti-abortion laws. It then examines how and why abortion was criminalized, which is essential to understanding the fight for its legalization.


1994

Every movement needs its own precise date. And this great book offers both detail and scope as it methodically navigates the half-century battle for reproductive rights that culminated in Roe. The book is as meticulous as it is monumental.


2010

Primary sources are crucial to understanding how history is made. This book It provides the reader with a collection of original documents, including letters, memoranda, and legal briefs, informing the reader about the abortion war as we know it today.


1984

Roe, the author of this powerful book—a sociologist, not a legal historian—was 11 years old when he showed that the American abortion divide, most importantly, grew out of class divides. This observation has profound implications.


2016

This book presents those who led the war against Roe as they see themselves as committed to values ​​rather than politics or religion. A wonderfully balanced book reminds us that abortion is a topic with good reason.


2015

This fair-minded yet hard-hitting book illustrates the transformation of abortion politics into partisanship and hatred. A law professor, the author is a leading expert on all things Roe.


1998

This book humanizes the evangelical effort to end abortion and demonstrates its profound impact on the American culture wars. It draws history.


2015

This poignant book makes clear what it means and demands to provide abortion in America today. It is a window into much of what abortion touches, including gender and race.


2018

Written by a bioethicist and lawyer, this book introduces current philosophical arguments for and against abortion. It is also, as is often the case in the country, a clear examination of abortion – an act both mundane and stigmatized.


2020

Bioethicist Snead examines the questions abortion raises about the meaning of human life with insight and provocation.


Joshua Prager is the author”The Roe Family: An American Story”, Roe v. A dual biography of Wade and his claimant, Jane Roe. Written over the course of ten years, the book tells the story of abortion in America through people, not politics.



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