This isn't a book that aims to change the minds of people who are intractably opposed to abortion--as Pollitt herself says. It's a rallying cry to pro choice advocates and the confused, to remind us of what's really at stake--a woman's right to control her body and by extension her place in society. Instead of placing the baby at the center of the argument, Pollitt frames the argument where it should be: around women who make the choice, around the attempts to control women's bodies, sexuality, and economy. ( )

I have yet to hear sensical "pro-life" refutation of the arguements presented here. Oh, right. That's because they don't exist. ( )

I have SO MANY FEELS about this book. First: if you are a fence-sitter about abortion or are ignorant on reproductive rights, ignore my rating. It's a 5 for you. It's valuable book to deprogram those who live in the land of middle ground about abortion and don't get why it's such a thing.

For people who already knew the Bible doesn't talk about abortion or know what the Guttmacher Institute is, this book is a lot more complicated. Pollitt finally starts talking about intersectionality (without ever calling it that) in the very. last. chapter. And it's like, "man, this is the whitest way possible to discuss how reproductive rights go beyond sex ed/birth control/abortion and why many young feminists are grumpy with Second Wave White Feminism (TM)" Like, I recognized this as what it was - a tool for middle ground types - but it's so frustrating that middle ground types are being fed White Liberal Feminism 101, especially when it hits you that Pollitt spends a lot of time dancing around race and class through the whole book and never really does face it head on. Class doesn't really drive the opposition to welfare; when the welfare state was narrativized and segregated for the white poor, welfare was, wait for it, REALLY POPULAR in America.

I guess, TL;DR - Pro is a pretty darn good Feminism and Reproductive Rights 101 resources, but it's got some serious flaws as a 201 or above resource. ( )

Every so often, over the years, I come across a book that tremendously sharpens and solidifies my thoughts on significant issues that draw on my own values system. This is one such book. While the books subtitle implies that it is about abortion rights -- which is most certainly is -- it goes way beyond that to the role and rights of women in our society, and, of course, it does that because abortion rights cannot be separated from the total female experience. Make no mistake about it, the author covers abortion issues with laser-like efficiency, from every possible angle. As the book title states, she is "pro" -- but wait, "pro" what? She even gets into the various shades of what that means. Pro abortion, pro choice, pro death, pro what? But even as she presents the many "pro" arguments, she offers abundant "anti" views, and discusses them in great depth, never being too biased to state their merits, where merits exist. If I see any downsides to this tome, it comes in two areas. The first is that the second half of the book feels more relaxed and, thus, unfocused, compared to the first half. Part of that comes from the utter efficiency and clarity with which she "presents" her case. But just like the Q&A after many presentations gets stuck with audience questions that were amply answered during the presentation, there is a certain level of redundancy toward the end as she tries to fill any possible gaps in what came earlier. The second issue of concern is her lack of acknowledgment of the conservative right's faith-based arguments against abortion and woman having any rights in general. There is indeed a section dealing entirely with Bible verses, which she uses effectively against the "Anti" position. Also, at another point, the author points out how differently the liberal, more secular, science-based, pro community drives support for its "cause" versus the Christian faith-based anti community. What she skips over is how very differently the faith-based mind works. In its essence, faith says something exists for no other reason than because someone said "because I said so" and for no other reason. The book has great value for those who value science and logic. And it will give give values clarification to those who have religious foundations but still appreciate science and logic. But, let's face it, for a great many fundamentalists, this book will sail right over their heads, and be damned as the devil's work -- just because. ( )

I love Pollitt, so I knew I was going to love this book. I am so tired of all the hand-wringing way we talk about abortion in this country, and this book was a near-perfect antidote to that. I want to buy copies and press them into the hands of anti-choicers in my life. In the meantime, it's certainly changed the way I talk about abortion and reproductive justice issues. Not that I was so apologetic about it in the first place, but still.

Pair with Mother Nature by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy for straight talk perfection. ( )