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This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor
by Susan Wicklund

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1175376.This_Common_Secret_My_Journey_as_an_Abortion_Doctor?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1181648171m/1175376.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1175376.This_Common_Secret_My_Journey_as_an_Abortion_Doctor?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/573666.Susan_Wicklund">Susan Wicklund</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/14967463?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>i really didn't know what i was getting into with this book.  was it going to be familiar propaganda?  will it matter that i read it if i am already pro-choice?  the fact that i read it in one sitting speaks to the book's straightforward and compelling tone.  the deep emotion that these stories conjured in me was surprising.  susan wicklund tells her story fairly and with great compassion and gratitude for her patients, her co-workers and colleagues, and for the community that arose to protect her from danger when police or government factions would not.  her story begins in the 1970's only a few years after the legalization of abortion via roe v. wade and it continues through the organization of anti-choice activists through the 80s and 90s, the various threats that they make and act upon, and it carries through the global gag rule enforced by the bush administration which makes discussion of family planning options (including, but never limited to abortion) inaccessible for women in the u.s. and abroad.  she includes scenarios involving domestic abuse, incest, rape, and she reiterates the measures that women go to to abort unwanted pregnancies, especially as access to safe and legal abortions is constricted, effective contraceptive measures are not taught to young people, and the anti-choice forces growing stronger and louder all the time.  wicklund also includes a list of resources at the end of the book.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/33791?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

courtney's review
rating:
recommended for: americans... humans...

i really didn't know what i was getting into with this book. was it going to be familiar propaganda? will it matter that i read it if i am already pro-choice? the fact that i read it in one sitting speaks to the book's straightforward and compelling tone. the deep emotion that these stories conjured in me was surprising. susan wicklund tells her story fairly and with great compassion and gratitude for her patients, her co-workers and colleagues, and for the community that arose to protect her from danger when police or government factions would not. her story begins in the 1970's only a few years after the legalization of abortion via roe v. wade and it continues through the organization of anti-choice activists through the 80s and 90s, the various threats that they make and act upon, and it carries through the global gag rule enforced by the bush administration which makes discussion of family planning options (including, but never limited to abortion) inaccessible for women in ...more

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