Generation Roe: Inside the Future of the Pro-Choice Movement

In her first book, journalist and women’s health advocate Erdreich delivers a passionate study of the past, current, and future state of the pro-choice movement in America. Forty years after Roe v. Wade, abortion remains such a polarizing and untouchable subject that few abortion care providers feel they can discuss what they do with any candor, and 87 percent of U.S. counties don’t have an abortion provider. Even though abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures in the country, medical schools offer little formal training on the subject. Unapologetically pro-choice, Erdreich attends a pro-life march, visits a “crisis pregnancy center,” interviews women about their abortions, and relates the stories of activists, practitioners, and medical students on the front lines. Assessing the history and legislative battles on both sides of the issue, she focuses on the aftermath of Roe v. Wade, which, though it gave women the right to make private health decisions, left states to regulate those decisions, especially after the first trimester. As Erdreich explains, this restriction paved the way for the abortion laws, passed after 1992, which impose “undue burdens” (mandatory ultrasounds, parental or spousal notification, or both, and waiting periods) on pregnant women. As a result, the current generation of abortion workers faces an environment that is far more hostile toward abortion access. This is a thoughtful and comprehensive treatment of one side of an emotionally charged topic. Penn Whaling, Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency. (Mar.)