This Common Secret
Books | Social Science / Abortion & Birth Control
4.2
Susan Wicklund
Alan Kesselheim
A brave account of the social and political forces that threaten a woman's right to choose, this emotionally affecting memoir from a doctor on the front lines of the abortion debate reveals what's really at stake in the Supreme Court In America the reproductive justice debate is reaching a new pitch, with the Supreme Court weighted against women's choice and state legislatures passing bills to essentially outlaw the practice of abortion. With This Common Secret, Dr. Susan Wicklund chronicles her twenty-year career in the vanguard of the abortion war. Growing up in working-class rural Wisconsin, Susan made the painful decision to have an abortion at a young age. It was not until she became a doctor that she realized how many women shared her ordeal of an unwanted pregnancy. . . and how hidden this common experience remains. Now, in this raw and riveting true story, Susan and the patients she's treated share the complex, anguished, and empowering emotions that drove their own choices. Hers is a calling that means sleeping on planes and commuting between clinics in different states -- and that requires her to wear a bulletproof vest and to carry a .38 caliber revolver. This Common Secret reveals the truth about the reproductive health clinics that anti-abortion activists mischaracterize as damaging and unsafe. This intimate memoir explains how social stigma and restrictive legislation can isolate women who are facing difficult personal choices -- and how we as a nation can, and must, support them.
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Author
Susan Wicklund
Pages
336
Publisher
PublicAffairs
Published Date
2007-12-07
ISBN
1586486276 9781586486273
Ratings
Google: 5
Community ReviewsSee all
"Excellent, informative, quick-read. #abortion #womensrights #feminism #womens_health The rest of my review consists of quotes, from throughout the book, I found to be thought provoking.
“People like you do it safely so that people like me don’t murder their best friends.”
“Risk of death during childbirth is eleven times higher than the risk of death from legal abortion.”
“Women have abortions because they want to be good mothers.”
“… true choice is a matter of understanding and weighing all the options, and then being free to carry out the most appropriate one.”
“Abortion is about life: quality of life for infants, children, and adults. Everywhere and in every sense of the word. Life, not death.”
“Poor women in the United States are four times as likely to have an unwanted pregnancy than affluent women. They are five times more likely to have an unintended birth and three times more likely to have an abortion. The correlation between poverty and unwanted pregnancy is stark.”"
Katie
"While this book did not change my personal views on abortion, it did allow me to see things from another point of view, which is never a bad thing. Dr. Wicklund seems to be a very caring physician and person. Her stories will make you cringe, and laugh, and cry. Mostly, I was just disappointed by the total lack of respect many of the pro-life activists had for her family, which at the time included a minor child. Because of this book, I believe I will be a little more empathetic as a bereavement doula in working with women who have been faced with the heart-wrenching decision to terminate a much wanted pregnancy for medical reasons. Although trained in a traditional medical school, Dr. Wicklund seems to subscribe to the midwifery model of care which is woman centered.<br/><br/>If one is going to be working with women in the childbirth and pregnancy realm, this book would be very important to read. It may even be beneficial for pastors and mental health counselors to read so they can better understand some of those they help. I personally ended up reading this book because I had to choose books from a list in order to acquire doula certification, and this book was on the list, and available through Scribd - so I did not have to purchase another new book...I had just purchased 3/4 of the textbooks needed for my entire midwifery education program."
Amanda Russell