How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics, and the War on Sex

by Cristina Page

Book Overview

A pithy polemic bolstered by solid research, intellectual heft, and firsthand reporting, this is a book poised to change the debate over reproductive rights in this country wholesale. As activist and writer Cristina Page shows, the gains made by birth-control advocates (historically) and pro-choice organizations (currently) have formed the bedrock of freedoms few Americans would choose to live without. Now, not only is the future of legal abortion...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465054900
• ISBN13: 9780465054909
• Release Date: December 2006
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A spectacular, eye-opening, amazing, TRUTHFUL book

If you're considering buying this book, you definitely should. After reading it, I put it at the top of my favorites list. The beauty of this book is that the author knows the issues aren't black and white, as the Pro-Life campaign would like to make everyone think. And she knows the Pro-Choice view of life isn't just about abortions, either. Page has examined contraceptives, teen mothers, the ineffectiveness of abstinence programs in schools, Roe itself and many other landmark issues through the years and writes about them in perfect clarity. She definitely knows her facts, but never bores the reader. The book is extremely well researched and thought out. Reading it made me feel so proud to be Pro-Choice. She sheds light on so many issues I never even knew existed, like how far the Pro-Life movement will go to underhandedly and unfairly lie, cheat and steal for what they want. It's scary, but it's 100% true. And no other author could make it more interesting. Even if you're on the fence about a woman's right to choose, this book will really open your eyes, about how much women (and men!) have fought for, and how easily it can be taken away. A fantastic book!

"Pro-life" no more

This is a really great book for anyone willing to keep an open-mind. I'm the type of person who likes to read about both sides of an issue. I'm a former seminary student who was a very "good" Christian. I graduated from a Baptist University with a degree in Biblical Studies. I then went on to attend seminary (I'm currently in my 3rd year of law school). I grew up attending pro-life rallies in my hometown. My mom even voluteered for a crisis pregancy center when I was younger. Needless to say, I have always been pro-life. However, this book may have changed my mind. This book really surprised me. I had no idea that the pro-life people had an agenda far beyond preventing abortions. As established in the book, they really wish to control the morals/sexual habits of people, not just to prevent abortions. I learned that by opposing contraception, as almost all pro-life groups do, the pro-life movement actually causes more abortions. I became interested in this book after reading "Freakonomics," which argues that legalizing abortion has actually lowered the crime rate in America, a statistic I found very interesting. I still don't know how I feel about abortion itself, but I know that I don't agree with the far-reaching effects of pro-life agenda. I definitely will not support the movement anymore by automatically voting for Republicans based on the sole issue of abortion, as I've always done. I would encourage any pro-life person who is really concerned with preventing abortions to read this book. Even if it doesn't change your mind about abortion, it will give you insight into the primary agenda of many pro-life groups. As a pro-lifer myself, I was shocked and disappointed that my own group may be contributing to the abortion problem rather than solving it.

A takedown of the anti-choice agenda

page delivers an impeccably sourced argument that the political face of pro-life america has a much broader agenda than banning abortion. namely, they are actively hostile to the availability of artificial birth control. she makes a solid case for her claim that these organizations and their leaders are actively deceptive in presenting 'evidence' for the merits of their agenda. over forty pages of this rather short, but compact book are devoted to footnotes alone. it cannot be claimed that page did not do her research. her claims about the long-term goals of political pro-life organizations are backed up with copious cites from the publications, websites, and representatives of these organizations. time and time again, she documents instances in which the people who staff and fund these organizations ignore, distort, or outright lie about solid, scientifically-sound research refuting their claims about abortion, contraception, and abstinence-only sex education. the average pro-life american is clearly not as extreme in their stance towards contraception. the vast, vast majority of sexually active americans avail themselves of an array of contraceptive options. the political arm of pro-life america, however, is grossly out of step with the values of most pro-life americans. one does not have to agree with page's stance on abortion rights, but to claim that she has lied about the goals and intentions of political pro-life organizations and their leaders is to name oneself as an exile from the reality-based community.

A white/black, man/woman, gay/straight, left/right must read...

How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America isn't a history of the fading glory of the pro-choice and feminist movements. It's an incisive look at tomorrow's pro-life movement - and a chilling read. If you think that the prospect of overturning Roe is farfetched, or that it might calm the passions of the conservative movement, think again. Defeating Roe is just another step on the way to reinventing the American social order, with birth control, women's rights and personal privacy all in the cross hairs. I began the book with an underlying feeling of safety. After all, a majority of American's support a woman's right to choose. Even in a worst case scenario, I knew that my home state would continue to provide abortion care in a post-Roe world. Beyond that, I had even secretly wondered whether the post-Roe world might be good for the Democratic Party since the right would be losing its biggest weapon. Page's book blew away these fallacies quickly, quietly and without a look back. Before I knew it, Roe was the least of my worries, as the breadth of the pro-life agenda became apparent. One thing is for sure, it won't be someone else's problem - the issues at stake affect the life of every American. Hopefully, awareness will translate into action. Cristina Page has managed the nearly impossible by swaddling an immense amount of meticulous research in fast paced prose that forced me to read How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America in one sitting. This is a book people should be talking about.