Reproductive Rights: Who Decides?

Oransky Wittenstein, Vicki

3.77

30 ratings by Goodreads

9781467741873: Reproductive Rights: Who Decides?

ISBN 10: 1467741876 ISBN 13: 9781467741873

Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books, 2016

Throughout history, men and women have always found ways to control reproduction. In some ancient societies, people turned to herbs or traditional rituals. Others turned to methods that are still used in the twenty-first century, such as abstinence, condoms, and abortions.

Legislating access to birth control, sex education, and abortion is also not new. In 1873 the US Congress made it illegal to mail 'obscene, lewd, or lascivious materials'--including any object designed for contraception or to induce abortion. In some states in the 1900s, it was illegal for Americans to possess, sell, advertise, or even speak about methods of controlling pregnancy.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and others began to defy these laws and advocate for the legalization of birth control and for better women's reproductive healthcare. By 1960 doctors had developed the Pill, but it wasn't until 1972 that all US citizens had legal access to birth control. And in the landmark decision Roe v Wade (1973), the US Supreme Court ruled that women had a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.

Disputes over contraception, sex education, and abortion continue to roil the nation, leading to controversial legal and political rulings and occasionally violence. As society changes--and as new reproductive technologies expand the possibilities for controlling and initiating pregnancy--Americans will continue to debate reproductive rights for all.

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About the Author:

Before becoming an author, VICKI ORANKSY WITTENSTEIN prosecuted criminal cases as an assistant district attorney with the Manhattan DistrictAttorney's office. She earned an MFA in writing for children and youngadults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Vicki has written a number ofscience articles and books for the juvenile market, including PLANETHUNTER: GEOFF MARCY AND THE SEARCH FOR OTHER EARTHS, which won the 2011Science Communication Award from the American Institute of Physics. Herbook FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND? THE SHAMEFUL HISTORY OF HUMAN MEDICALEXPERIMENTATION was a Junior Library Guild selection. In a starredreview, BOOKLIST says Vicki's latest book, REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: WHODECIDES? "packs a wallop." The book is also a Junior Library Guildselection. Vicki and her husband live in Brooklyn, New York. Visit herwebsite at vickiwittenstein.com.

Review:

"Though slim, this volume packs a wallop, taking an exhaustive look at the history of reproduction and the prevention thereof . . . Wittenstein leaves no stone unturned . . . She's careful, as well, to consider reproductive rights as a global issue." --BOOKLIST *Starred* review.

"VERDICT Well written and impeccably researched, this volume will appeal to budding activists and feminists and to those concerned about human rights." --SCHOOL LIBRARY
JOURNAL.

"The interplay of complex political, medical, and societal issues involved in reproductive rights is clearly explained and placed in its historical context. . . A valuable resource." --KIRKUS REVIEW.

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