Abortion & Life

By Jennifer Baumgardner

Photographs by Tara Todras-Whitehill

Akashic Books, 2008

“This book and the entire ‘I had an Abortion’ project puts women back into the center of life, as reality and ethics and common sense demand."
—Gloria Steinem

In Abortion & Life, author and activist Jennifer Baumgardner reveals how the most controversial and stigmatized Supreme Court decision of our time cuts across eras, classes, and race. Stunning portraits by photographer Tara Todras-Whitehill of folk singer Ani DiFranco, authors Barbara Ehrenreich and Gloria Steinem, and others accompany their riveting accounts of their own abortion experiences. In this bold new work, Baumgardner explores some of the thorniest issues around terminating a pregnancy, including the ones that the pro-choice establishment has been the least sensitive or effective in confronting. 

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Praise for Abortion & Life

“Jennifer Baumgardner has permanently changed the way people think about feminism...and will shape the next hundred years of politics and culture.”—The Commonwealth Club of California, hailing Baumgardner as one of Six Visionaries for the Twentieth Century

“In her book Abortion & Life Jennifer Baumgardner not only brings women's experiences and voices to the fore, she provides fresh insight about how the issues around abortion rights are changing and why one can be feminist, pro-choice, and pro-life.”

—Marcia Ann Gillespie, coauthor of Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration

“Too often, discussion about abortion is shrouded in political rhetoric. Abortion & Life refocuses the conversation on what’s most important—women’s voices and their lives.”—Jessica Valenti, author of Full Frontal Feminism

“Abortion & Life is a book this country needs...Jennifer Baumgardner removes the rhetoric and the politics and exposes the humanity.”—Amy Richards, author of Opting In: Having a Child without Losing Yourself