Abortion Stories

Starred review from February 1, 2025

Editor Weingarten gathers an anthology of fiction, memoir, poetry and testimony surrounding abortion, highlighting in her introduction how both anti-abortion laws and eugenics have been employed to uphold sexist, racist, classist, and xenophobic orders. First-person accounts dating to 1699 document the use of abortifacient herbs by enslaved women as a tool of resistance, for reasons echoed in Georgia Douglas Johnson's 1922 poem "Motherhood": "Don't knock on my door, little child, / I cannot let you in; / You know not what a world this is." Early literary passages require reading between the lines, but later entries evoke moods ranging from the cold rage beneath Dorothy Parker's "Mr. Durant" and the fierce defiance of Agnes Smedley's Daughter of the Earth to the devastating resignation of Genevieve Taggard's "Engaged" and the welter of emotions aroused by Tess Slesinger's "Missis Flinders." Other contributors include Edith Wharton, Langston Hughes, Eugene O'Neill, William Carlos Williams, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Lucille Clifton. Shirley Chisholm's stirring 1969 speech before Congress shines a bright light on the harsh exigencies of anti-abortion laws, while Renee Bracey's afterword steers readers toward the next generation of abortion stories. VERDICT Weingarten's selections ably reflect the complex realities and feelings surrounding this often-polarizing issue, while providing vital context for readers unfamiliar with the long, circuitous road toward reproductive justice. It's hard to imagine a public library that shouldn't have a copy.

Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2025
A compendium of abortion stories drawn from American fiction, memoir, poetry, drama, and oratory, Abortion Stories invites readers into the unbroken--if often secretive and risky--lineage of abortion in pre-Roe v. Wade America. In the few short years since Roe v. Wade was overturned, pregnant people seeking abortion care have already begun to face a new era of repression and risk. This collection stands as an unflinching memorial to the financial, social, and emotional complexities surrounding abortion and the dangers faced by those who cannot safely access such health care. Ranging from WPA oral histories collected from formerly enslaved people to mid-century popular fiction like Peyton Place, these stories cover a wide breadth of human experience. In many of the older pieces, the word "abortion" is not even uttered, a stark reminder of the long-standing taboos around this common, straightforward medical procedure. As we face a future without Roe, which risks returning the country to a dark age for maternal mortality, Abortion Stories appeals against reticence and euphemism and urges readers to bring their abortion experiences into the light.

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