Dispatches from the Abortion Wars: The Costs of Fanaticism to Doctors, Patients, and the Rest of Us

213 Pages·2010·1.31 MB·English

by  Carole Joffe

DISPATCHES FROM
THE ABORTION WARS

DISPATCHES FROM
THE ABORTION WARS
The Costs of Fanaticism to Doctors,
Patients, and the Rest of Us
CAROlE JOFFE
Beacon Press
Boston
BEACON PRESS
25 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02108-2892
www.beacon.org
Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
© 2009 by Carole Joffe
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
12 11 10 09 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the uncoated paper
ANSI/NISO specifications for permanence as revised in 1992.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Joffe, Carole E.
Dispatches from the abortion wars : the costs of fanaticism to
doctors, patients, and the rest of us / Carole Joffe.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8070-3502-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Abortion—United States. 2. Pro-life movement—United States.
3. Abortion services—United States. I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Abortion, Induced—psychology—United States. 2. Health Policy—
United States. 3. Health Services Accessibility—United States. 4. Politics—United
States. 5. Public Opinion—United States. HQ 767.5.U5 J64d 2009]
HQ767.5.U5J64 2009
362.198´8800973—dc22 2009016538
Text design and composition by Wilsted & Taylor Publishing Services
in loving memory of
felicia hance stewart (1943–2006),
anne vygotsky joffe (1915–2006),
and george richard tiller (1941–2009)

AuTHOR’S NOTE
In this book I use the real names of those whose activities are a matter
of public record, who are heads of organizations, and whose written
work I cite. However, I have used pseudonyms to protect the con-
fidentiality of many of the abortion providers I cite. A list of those
pseudonyms is as follows:
Jeannette James Abby Trudeau
Justine Gordon Linda Johnson
Rachel Gould George Majors
Ruth Childs Margaret Riley
Rebecca Jacobs Ethel Bloom
Natalie Diamond Gary McPherson
Alex Wolff Sylvia Shore
Christopher Franklin Iris Foyle
Deborah Fox Annie Moses
Tim Shawn Christina Hernandez
Susan Golden David Bennett
Michelle Lawrence Julia Miller
Linda Perillo Renee Bancroft

CONTENTS
preface
xi
i
The Stigma of Abortion
1
ii
“You Need a Community with You”:
Becoming an Abortion Provider
21
iii
The Clinics: Ground Zero in the Abortion Wars
46
iv
Regulating Abortion
62
v
Hospital-Based Abortions:
Chaos, Cruelty, and Some Accommodation
83
vi
Abortion Patients and the “Two Americas”
of Reproductive Health
99