Pro
Subtitle: reclaiming abortion rights
By: Katha Pollitt
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Picador
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 258
ISBN-13: 9780312620547
Subjects: Abortion; Public opinion; Government policy
Other titles: Reclaiming abortion rights
Description: Argues that abortion is a common part of a woman's reproductive life and should not be vilified, but instead accepted as a moral right that can be a force for social good.

"Forty years after the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, "abortion" is still a word that is said with outright hostility by many, despite the fact that one in three American women will have terminated at least one pregnancy by menopause. Even those who support a woman's right to an abortion often qualify their support by saying abortion is a "bad thing," an "agonizing decision," making the medical procedure so remote and radioactive that it takes it out of the world of the everyday, turning an act that is normal and necessary into something shameful and secretive. Meanwhile, with each passing day, the rights upheld by the Supreme Court are being systematically eroded by state laws designed to end abortion outright. In this urgent, controversial book, Katha Pollitt reframes abortion as a common part of a woman's reproductive life, one that should be accepted as a moral right with positive social implications. In Pro, Pollitt takes on the personhood argument, reaffirms the priority of a woman's life and health, and discusses why terminating a pregnancy can be a force for good for women, families, and society. It is time, Pollitt argues, that we reclaim the lives and the rights of women and mothers."--Book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages [221]-258).
Table of contents: title: Reclaiming abortion; title: What do Americans think about abortion?; title: What is a person?; title: Are women people?; title: Six myths about abortion; title: What do they really oppose?; title: Can there be a compromise?