The War on Choice
The Right-Wing Attack on Women's Rights and How to Fight Back
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
An eye-opening look at the right-wing strategy to reverse the gains American women have made, chronicling the actions at the highest levels of government to turn back the clock on women’s rights
With religious extremists in key decision-making posts and our federal judiciary filled with appointees whose values are drastically out of step with the pro-choice sentiments of the majority of the American people, abstinence-only sex education is now the rule, ideology has trumped science in domestic and global health policy, and reproductive freedoms are perilously close to toppling. But while many of the individual facts are known, no one until now has connected all the dots and drawn the Big Picture that shows exactly how radical and how successful this quiet revolution has been.
Judge by judge, law by law, and appointee by appointee, The War on Choice speaks the truth about what is happening, and also tells the stories of some of the women whose lives have been affected by these court decisions and federal policies. Combined with a hands-on plan of action for those who want to raise their voices in protest, this book will be riveting reading.
And there is no one better equipped to write about the insidious, step-by-step chipping away of rights, or about what we can do to fight back, than Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Her thirty years of work with the organization combined with her personal experience—as a woman who came out of the same West Texas political landscape as did George W. Bush but faced a very different economic and social reality as the mother of three children by the age of twenty—make her the ideal spokeswoman for those who are alarmed by the current political climate.
This book will be a wake-up call, describing in jaw-dropping detail the story of what the anti-choice movement is doing to the rights to birth control, abortion, and privacy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The right wing is eroding women's reproductive rights, and America's pro-choice majority must sound the battle cry, writes Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in this provocative work. The "war" goes beyond abortion, Feldt claims, to encompass "the right to have full access to family planning information, facilities, and products, the right to have children or not, sex education for young people that goes beyond the abstinence-only education being promoted by the right wing, and the right to medically accurate information." Feldt assumes her readers are pro-choice (she says it's necessary to "speak to the choir"), and for them, this book reveals how doctors are giving ideology-based information to patients, the rights of fetuses are being elevated and U.S.-funded organizations abroad are forbidden to teach family planning. Feldt's angry and personal tone, coupled with her liberal quoting of conservative sound bites (e.g., "There is no way to have premarital sex without hurting someone") makes for thought-provoking, challenging reading. She excels when giving concrete plans for how individuals can activate change, but her strong opinions leave little room for disagreement. For example, pro-choicers who support the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (aka the Laci Peterson Law) could feel alienated by some of Feldt's assertions. Oversimplifications and unsupported statements also mar the work. This book isn't for those on the fence about choice, and it definitely won't convince conservatives. However, it's an excellent tool for staunch supporters of reproductive rights; it will rouse readers to fight for change.
