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Jan 13, 2008

Leena rated it:

This story exposes all the grays.

I'm so happy this book was written, yet am sad that it had to be. Whether we like it or not, abortions have always been around.

This is the story of one abortion provider. She treats women in the midwest and west, areas of the country that face challenges to abortion that I'm not used to thinking about, living here in NY.

I am a pro-choice, feminist activist, just to lay that out on the line. I was actually a little put off by More...

3 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 06, 2008

Mazola1 rated it:

Dr. Susan Wicklund worked in women's reproductive health for over twenty years. In that capacity, she was often the only doctor who would perform abortions in many areas of midwestern or rural states, such as Montana and Minnesota. Dr. Wicklund's memoir is written in a clear and almost matter of fact manner, but the story it tells is anything but dry and academic. Her book puts a human face on the issue of abortion in America today. The book provides unforgettable portraits of the women who get More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 24, 2009

Jessica rated it:

Too often when we think of abortion we think of the legislation, policy and politics surrounding it. And when it does get personal it's generally the woman having the abortion who we hear from...the provider tends to get lost. So I really loved hearing from an abortion provider - as hard as her story was to hear, sometimes. This is a book that reminds you how grateful we should be to abortion providers who literally risk their lives to make sure women have reproductive choices.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 23, 2008

Kate rated it:

This is a very powerful and interesting book. Wicklund really lays it all out there for the reader, including diary entries. For someone who mostly reads irony filled fiction, the sincerity of this book made me a bit uncomfortable at times. The focus is on abortion of course, but it was also really interesting for me to just read a story about a woman going through med school and building a career regardless of her speciality. I realized that we don't get to see that much - how a career path can More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 04, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

Wow... this book was hard to read at times, especially when the author talks about all that she went through to do her job and to help the women who needed her. I think that reading her story just reinforces how important a woman's right to choose is, and makes us grateful that there are doctors out there who are as dedicated and compassionate as Dr. Wicklund.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 26, 2011

James rated it:

A fascinating take on the subject of abortion. This subject is controversial enough for me to avoid most people’s take on it generally because those who are most opinionated (and therefore more likely to have written a book on it) often tend to be the least educated on the subject.

I bought this book because it is simply a journal of sorts straight from the mouth of an abortion doctor. She genuinely seems to have no political goal behind her words. In fact, there are parts of this bo More...

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Mar 01, 2011

Ciara rated it:

This book, like this doctor, is amazing. I read it in one sitting, and it brought me to tears many times over. As a doctor providing legal abortions in clinics across the midwest and west, Dr. Wicklund tells of the constant struggle to ensure she's acting in every patient's best interest. She is a workaholic, and is also struggling to maintain her marriage and her identity as a mother, while flying three to four times a week all over the country. Finally, the threat of violence against abortion More...

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Jul 12, 2010

Kara rated it:

I checked this book out from the library so long ago that I've had to renew it. I was initally drawn to it by it's cover (Yes- I do judge books by their covers. I have a theory behind it too.)& because I have been more drawn towards memoir-esque books lately.

I finally picked up this book to read two days ago & finished it at midnight last night. WOW. What an impactful read. This book tells the professional & personal struggles of an abortion doctor in the late 80s through today. More...

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Jul 23, 2009

Molly rated it:

Wow, this book was really powerful. I don't think the writing was the best I've ever read, but the stories themselves were just amazing- horrible stories, some of them, but hopeful.

I thought it was inspiring for a few reasons. First, she decides at age 25 that she could/should be a doctor. Even though she has a daughter, is a single mom, and she never went to college, she totally works her way through and becomes a doctor. Then, she decides that because she had a horrible abort More...

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May 31, 2009

Claire rated it:

The murder today of George Tiller, a man who performs late-term abortions, brought this book to mind.
I read it a while back, having come across it while book-shopping at some point.
It is a powerful book, bringing the issues to life in a way only possible by someone as enmeshed in them as Susan is.
I was horrified by the violence of the anti-choice protesters, as I am freshly, today.
My personal feeling is that anyone who wants an abortion should be able to get one.
More...

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Jun 23, 2011

Joss rated it:

I knew or rather heard stories of some of the realities abortion providers face: shootings, arson, attacks on clinics. Because the murder of Dr. George Tiller had not yet happened when I read Susan Wicklund’s memoir, This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor, I had some how managed to put this knowledge to the back of my mind. Was this stupid and ignorant of me? Of course. Wicklund’s book managed to remind me of this violence.

Some of what Wicklund experienced were truly terr More...

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Jul 02, 2009

Lacey N. rated it:

After the murder of Dr. George Tiller, I re-read Susan Wicklund's This Common Secret, her memoir about her experience as an abortion doctor. Wicklund had her own abortion as a college student prior to Roe v. Wade and this experience contributed to her decision to focus on women's health issues as a medical student and, against the advice of family and friends, to receive training that would qualify her to perform the controversial procedure. Wicklund describes the day verbal--and sometimes physi More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Michelle rated it:

"This Common Secret" is a slim, but powerful, volume on Dr. Susan Wicklund's experience as an abortion provider in the Midwest and West. It is easy, even as a pro-choice woman, to slide into complacency about the right for women to control their reproductive destiny. A reminder about how difficult it is day-to-day to be an abortion provider is refreshing, if completely enraging and saddening.

The harassment, threats, and assaults Dr. Wicklund endured will make you spit nails - More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 09, 2009

Connie rated it:

“Because it is such a secret, we lose sight of how common it is.” Abortion is one of those topics that not many people talk about. To talk about abortion is a gross violation of good breeding, or it was. Since Roe v. Wade, there seems to be a war waging between people who believe in having abortion as a choice that is available to them (pro-choice) and those who believe that abortion is killing the potential for life in a woman’s womb (pro-life). Especially in the recent election in 2008. Abort More...

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Aug 05, 2009

Emily rated it:

As Susan Wicklund points out, rarely is abortion discussed beyond political rhetoric based on untruths, despite the fact that 40% of American women have had/will have an abortion in their lifetime. As she more astutely speculates, perhaps the freedom of nearly half the population of the country to make personal medical decisions would not be constantly endangered if men, instead of women, were the child-bearing half of the species. Are there any other surgeries that are the subject of divisive p More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2009

Venessa rated it:

A very important, sobering book on the past, present and hopefully future of abortion in the United States of America. Wicklund's account is real and reminds us that abortion is probably the most common secret in this country. Hypocrisy is present in outrageous forms: one woman demands to be given an abortion while at the same time proclaiming abortion is wrong and that Wicklund is a murderer (I was so proud of Wicklund for refusing to perform the procedure on this hypocrite). Other stories are More...

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Aug 11, 2011

Lynne rated it:

Absolutely fascinating account of an abortion provider. This woman feared for her life and her family's life every day. It was important to her to provide safe abortions so women wouldn't die or harm themselves by using coat hangers and toxic potions. The stories were heartbreaking. Young girls impregnated by their fathers. Women who drove all day to the clinic for an abortion only to be told they must come back the following day after mandated counseling. The saddest story, though, was t More...

5 comments like

Aug 09, 2008

Veronica rated it:

This is an amazing book. Everyone in the pro-choice community should read this. If you're open-minded enough, those who are against abortion should also read this book to gain an insight into what the radical anti-abortion forces are doing to the lives of providers. My full review is on my site.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 18, 2008

'Auli'i rated it:

This woman is one tough cookie and an admirable fighter in the controversial battle over a woman's right to choose, and I have great respect for the work that she has done. The world would be a better place with more people like Susan Wicklund.

The book, however, could be tighter. The narrative veers off at times and is sometimes clunky when she starts lecturing the reader.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2012

Ann rated it:

This was the first book that I read electronically. It was very well done. Each chapter describes some aspect of Susan Wicklund's work as an abortionist and chapters end with facts about abortion, information about abortion, or letters from "antis" who threatened Susan or patients who benefited from her work. Most inspiring was Wicklund's path to medicine. As a 26 year old single Mom, a stranger took her aside and told her she should be a doctor. To her own surprise, she completed More...

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Nov 06, 2011

Lindsay rated it:

This book was heart wrenching, in the tragically simple way the day to day experiences and struggles of women's lives are. Susan Wicklund is a tireless warrior for choice, and her story should be required reading for any anti-choicer. Although it reads very much like a diary, with wild emotional ups and downs, it is also a bare testament to the fact that no one can ever know what another woman needs, and that anyone who truly cares about them will offer them compassionate choices, of which abo More...

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Apr 14, 2010

Ann rated it:

I am only 100 pages in to this book but I have already spent ten minutes straight talking about it/railing against abortion protesters to Mike. I think that means I am INVOLVED.

Okay, now I have finished it and would like to sit in front of CPCs handing it out. ABORTIONS FOR SOME, TINY AMERICAN FLAGS FOR OTHERS? Sure, maybe Wicklund's account of being an abortion provider is a tad glossy (Some women are so happy to get abortions! Other women are empathetically counseled and choose to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 31, 2009

Christy S rated it:

This isn't great writing, nor is it a book about the many perspectives and issues surrounding abortion. It is, however, a complete and compelling story of one woman's process becoming an abortion doctor, trying to live her life and raise a doughter amidst protest, violence, and controversy, and fine-tuning what this work could or should look like in true service to women.

The title gave me the impression that it would be more about the women from all walks of life who have found th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 26, 2009

Ash rated it:

This book is a gripping story of Susan Wicklund's life in her own words. It is a quick read, at times heart breaking, and exposes many of the shades of gray in the "abortion wars." However, for someone who has worked in pro-choice politics the book often reads like "more of the same."

Wicklund includes a number of patient stories, which are informative, but there is little in the book that is not covered in newspaper and magazine stories about abortion providers More...

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Dec 31, 2010

Virginia rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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May 21, 2008

Bells rated it:

I cannot come up with any sort of review for this... I think some of the anti's need to read this to understand WHY the doc does what she does. I did not say condone, or agree, but just try to understand this woman and her patients.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Tori rated it:

This Common Secret is a fast, heart-wrenching read that reinforces the truth about the tribulations that women face in the modern world as they strive to maintain equal rights and opportunities with their male counterparts.

Wicklund is unwavering in her commitment to her patients, which comes through not only in her recorded conversations with them, but in her descriptions of each individual and her specific situation. She is a testament to the fact that physicians who provide abortio More...

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Sep 11, 2009

Olivia rated it:

This is an absolutely wonderful book. I had always been uninterested in the abortion debate but for some reason when I saw this book I was drawn to pick it up. I am so grateful that I did, too. It opened my eyes and helped me to finally solidify my stance on the issue. There are wonderful stories from this woman's past and experiences. I was crying within the first couple pages, but the whole book isn't a huge roller coaster. It just pulls you in and is... wonderful. I genuinely loved this book More...

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Jan 08, 2010

Amelia rated it:

While I didn't think this book was particularly well-written, I couldn't put it down; I think this book will stay with me. Reproductive health is something I'm very passionate about; I don't need to be convinced that access to a safe & legal abortion is really, really important. And that's the very point this book sets out to prove. I didn't expect to get much more out of it than an affirmation of my beliefs.

The stories of the women in this book floored me. Several times, I had t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 26, 2010

BeccaBelle rated it:

Ugh. Where to begin?
First off, let me just go ahead and say that I am a feminist. Yes, that's right, a 100% feminist. However, I always seem to hit a nerve with my fellow feminists over this issue of abortion.
I read this book to see if just possibly the book would be realistic and not praise abotion and be basically propoganda for "pro-choice."
Nope.
This book did nothing but show me again that "pro-choice" people are basing their reasoning for why abor More...

7 comments like (1 person liked it)

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