Abortion: Between Freedom and Necessity - Softcover

"British journalist and feminist Janet Hadley has composed a stunningly comprehensive work that argues that abortion should be legal, accessible, affordable, and accepted the world over. ... [Her] numerous arguments make sense and are presented in a style that is brisk and flowing, one that turns the many statistics and laws she cites into an essay, enlightening to read." -Publishers Weekly "[A] thoughtful survey of abortion politics worldwide. ... Hadley takes us through this moral maze without ever wavering in her political clarity." --New Statesman "This extraordinary, gripping, forthright book could well have been subtitled 'Nearly all you might need or want to know about the abortion rights controversy in the U.S> and around the world.' ... If you have time to read only one new book this year on abortion rights this year, this is the one." --Voice of Reason The Newsletter of Americans for Religious Liberty "Although abortion is legal in the U.S. and most of Europe, it continues to dominate political debate and national policies. This valuable book makes a major contribution to understanding aborition politics by analyzing not only the U.S. and Ireland, where such politics have been most bitter, but also by examining these politics in other countries. ... Answering critics who maintain that abortion is immoral, Hadley argues that denial of abortion infringes on women's moral rights to liberty and self-determination. ... [T]he author demonstrates that while the right to abortion is indeed about a woman's right to control her body and her life, it is also a matter of reproductive health. Women should not have to die because they have sex." -- Choice

A quarter of the world's population lives in countries where abortions are completely or almost completely prohibited. And as many as 500 women lose their lives every day as a result of unsafe abortions. Only recently has this most intimate and private decision been so publicly debated. The principle and practice of abortion has become increasingly controversial, bringing thousands of people on to the streets, dividing nations, and convulsing the politics of man countries. Janet Hadley, in this fascinating and meticulously argued book, considers abortion politics with an international perspective and explores some of the new issues affecting the abortion controversy, such as the abortion pill and prenatal testing for birth defects. She challenges many of the arguments offered by the pro-life and pro-choice advocates, arguing for a renewed feminist commitment to abortion as a fundamental element of sexual freedom. \u0022Abortion is still not talked about. Few women admit to having had one. It is too personal, it is still taboo. Often, I have been asked, 'What's your book about?' and have had to take a deep breath, not knowing what the reaction would be. Yet this intimate personal issue has become sensationally and bewilderingly public, it has even brought down governments -- a paradox which I found intriguing enough to start me on the project of this book.\u0022 -- Janet Hadley