Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood (California series on social choice and political economy)

Rating:
Summary: A Guide to Understanding the Abortion Debate
Review: Luker should be commended for her tremendous contribution with this book. _Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood_ tackles a phenomenal project, namely, charting the history of attitudes towards abortion. She does through a thorough analysis of historical sources (concentrating mainly on attitudes and later legislation in the US but starting with ancient Western philosophies) and continues through the present day where she begins to interweave personal stories of women (both pro-life and pro-choice) with her narrative. I was continually impressed with both Luker's fine writing as well as her skill in being able to analyze philosophy, history, the law, and oral history and meld it all into a gripping narrative.

Rating:
Summary: A Guide to Understanding the Abortion Debate
Review: Luker should be commended for her tremendous contribution with this book. _Abortion and the Politics of Motherhood_ tackles a phenomenal project, namely, charting the history of attitudes towards abortion. She does through a thorough analysis of historical sources (concentrating mainly on attitudes and later legislation in the US but starting with ancient Western philosophies) and continues through the present day where she begins to interweave personal stories of women (both pro-life and pro-choice) with her narrative. I was continually impressed with both Luker's fine writing as well as her skill in being able to analyze philosophy, history, the law, and oral history and meld it all into a gripping narrative.

Rating:
Summary: An honest attempt at a less biased presentation of the issue
Review: The authors provide an intelligent perspective of the abortion issue. They were quick to identify few readers pick up a book on this subject without attempting to determine the slant. It was refreshing that the authors went to some effort to present the issues from the perspectives of those involved rather than a rant on justifying the author's position over the reader's. This is neither an editorial or a novel but a good reference for those on either side of the abortion issue to learn another perspective and not get assaulted in the process.