We Organize to Change Everything: An Abortion Essay Anthology

 I received a copy of this anthology of abortion essays for review from the publisher.

Below are the significant comments about this book from my journal that I'm willing to put on the internet.  

                                  

                                

In the first essay by Jenny Brown, she refers to Neoliberalism.  She means the British version of liberalism.  People who aren't aware that "liberal" once had another meaning might be confused. It's based on an older definition of liberalism that goes back to the 18th century, a philosophy that supports freedom, equality, human rights and democracy, as opposed to monarchy or other types of authoritarianism.  See the Wikipedia article on the subject here.  In the 19th century liberalism evolved into a political philosophy of free enterprise.  It still retains that meaning in the modern UK.  In the U.S., it essentially means the opposite.  It's a preference for government intervention in order to assist minorities and the impoverished.  This is another example of "two great nations separated by a single language".  Oscar Wilde originally said something similar in The Canterville Ghost.  

It entertains me to think that the Hyde Amendment is related to Robert Louis Stevenson's character Mr. Hyde who turned into a monster. This is a law that doesn't allow the U.S. federal government to fund anything involving abortion unless the abortion saves the life of the mother, or is the result of rape or incest.  I do find the practical results of the Hyde Amendment rather monstrous.  Non-consensual pregnancies aren't in the interest of mothers, children or families in general.

In the essay "Labor Crisis in the Clinics" two Planned Parenthood workers have a discussion with journalist Amy Littlefield.  I mention it in this review because I learned from this essay that some Planned Parenthood workers are unionized, and that the relationship of the union with those who run Planned Parenthood is very adversarial.  I will never think about Planned Parenthood the same way again.

One of the essayists in this anthology says she had been a supporter of abortion rights since she was ten years old. I hadn't even heard the word "abortion" at that age. I feel that there is a vast chasm that has opened up between the world of my childhood and the world that I live in now.  

I learned some things that I hadn't known, but more importantly this book caused me to think more about the topic of abortion than I had previously.  I'm glad I read this book.