ABORTION RAP

by Diane & Florynce Kennedy Schulder ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1971

Women's Liberationist lawyers Schulder and Kennedy have excerpted some of the depositions they obtained in early 1970 for use in the case of Abramowicz vs. Lefkowitz prior to the passage of the legalization of abortion in New York State. Close to the first half of the book consists of these annals of unwed motherhood: girls forced to abandon the babies they brought to term (guilt and deprivation and humiliation); one who was forced into a shotgun marriage; abortions in Puerto Rico, Japan or at the almost no-cost clinic of a Pennsylvania free-thinker/saint who performed as many as ten a day. Then there's the pregnancy of a Vassar girl (1962) at a time when the college held that any non-virgin was undeserving of a college education. On to the case itself, the testimony of witnesses pro abortion (a rabbi, doctors, etc.) and those against (unfortunately tagged The Friends of the Fetus), and commentaries on Black Power resistance since legalized abortion might entail black genocide. But ""the fight goes on"" as it will particularly since new curtailments and restrictions may be imposed. Sometimes one could exclude the inflammatory overgeneralizations of Mesdames Schulder & Kennedy: ""The gynecologist ever ready to accept a buck for treatment of a vaginal disorder. . . etc."" But no doubt the book will corroborate the sentiments of the 64% (a Harris poll of women) who approve of abortion, and both the facts and the first-hand testimonies confirm the need for a happier ending to one of the oldest stories in the world.

Pub Date: March 1, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION