Lovejoy: A Year in the Life of an Abortion Clinic - Hardcover

Korn, Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0871136597 ISBN 13: 9780871136596

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr, 1996

Synopsis

A story of lives in conflict as political dilemmas become quite personal voices all points of view and puts a human face on the moral debate over abortion

About this title

Review

Lovejoy Surgicenter is an abortion clinic in Portland, Oregon, but it sits at the very epicenter of the nation's most wrenching issues. Oregon is a largely liberal state with few restrictions on abortion. It is also home to more than its share of extremist groups, including the anti-abortion organization Advocates for Life Ministries. Lovejoy Surgicenter is the site of some 4,000 abortions a year and the target of numerous protests as well as a handful of firebombings. Journalist Peter Korn provides a valuable look at the abortion issue with this absorbing profile of the clinic, the people who run it, the women who use its services, and the groups who will go to almost any length to shut it down. He doesn't turn away from any of the difficult details, whether it is the procedure itself or the methods of the people who would make that procedure illegal once again.

From Kirkus Reviews

A keenly observed account of the human and political drama surrounding an abortion clinic. Freelance writer Korn spent a year at Lovejoy, a clinic in Portland, Ore., during which time he came to know intimately many of the workers there, as well as some of its vehement opponents, and they all defy easy stereotype. Head counselor Carye's empathic power is her greatest strength, and her weakness; she hates the term ``pro-choice'' because she feels that most of her patients do not have a choice. Allene, who sports sculpted nails and drives a black Jaguar, runs the clinic; she is a savvy businesswoman and fierce strategist. Outside the clinic is an equally compelling cast of characters--Andrew Burnett and his followers. Burnett, seemingly calm and rational, heads Advocates for Life, a Portland-based organization which puts out literature condoning the killing of abortion doctors. During the 12 months of Korn's coverage, Lovejoy weathers not only cascading threats and disruptive protests (one doctor wears a bulletproof vest), but harassment from angry boyfriends, the agony of countless indecisive girls, the sight of many people making wrenching choices, and persistent disputes among the staff. Worst of all, one surgical procedure goes terribly wrong, terrifying patients and staff alike. Korn's year-in-the-life format works well because events at Lovejoy are so consistently dramatic that his book needs no other narrative structure. The prose in the first chapters is a bit awkward and stilted, but as the pace picks up, it becomes more readable. Directly quoting the subjects more often would have given the narrative more resonance. Lovejoy is certain to humanize a battle that, though ceaselessly in the news, is waged too often in abstractions. Reading it is like watching the best kind of documentary film: It puts you on the scene, romanticizes no one, and doesn't preach. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Pr
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0871136597
• ISBN 13: 9780871136596
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 306