'A cri de coeur and passionate appeal from writers, thinkers, musicians, actors, comedians, activists and political staffers, offering personal stories of abortion alongside historical record and political anecdote.
'At a time when abortion is a criminal act and prosecution is a real risk in parts of Australia, this book is needed more than ever. In 2018, the world watched aghast when a Tasmanian woman lost her job at a high-profile sporting agency for tweeting the truth: even in states where abortion is legal, access can be nearly impossible.
'This treasury of stories highlights the sheer, unspoken commonality of abortion. Women have been dealing with the risks and the fall-out for longer than there is record. It is poignant, wise, funny and true; a salute to those who have been working in the field, a celebration of how far we've come, an electrifying caterwaul at how far we still have to go, and a clarion call to action.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Contributors include Jane Caro, Claudia Karvan, Laura Jean, Melissa Lucashenko, Emily Maguire, Tara June Winch, Michelle Law, Tony Birch, Melanie Cheng, Anne Summers, Gideon Haigh, Monica Dux, Bri Lee, Jenny Kee, and a foreword by Tanya Plibersek.
'“[A] woman’s ovaries belong to the commonwealth; she is simply their custodian,” American physician Ely van de Warker wrote in 1906.' (Introduction)
'The article offers information on Angela Williamson's essay in "Choice Words: A collection of writing about abortion." Topics discussed include several writers who explore the ways in which, in the absence of any useful discussion of the topic at home or school, popular culture shaped their early attitudes towards abortion; and her story is visceral and angry, sad, intimate and at times darkly comic.' (Publication abstract)
'Rosie Waterland was twenty-one, couch surfing, and working at a cinema when she learned she was pregnant. A hot flush, then a wave of nausea, hit her on the toilet. ‘It was the kind of nausea that takes away any sense of dignity that a person has,’ she writes. She stripped off, lay down on the bathroom floor, and prayed for the feeling to pass.' (Introduction)
'“[A] woman’s ovaries belong to the commonwealth; she is simply their custodian,” American physician Ely van de Warker wrote in 1906.' (Introduction)
'Rosie Waterland was twenty-one, couch surfing, and working at a cinema when she learned she was pregnant. A hot flush, then a wave of nausea, hit her on the toilet. ‘It was the kind of nausea that takes away any sense of dignity that a person has,’ she writes. She stripped off, lay down on the bathroom floor, and prayed for the feeling to pass.' (Introduction)
'The article offers information on Angela Williamson's essay in "Choice Words: A collection of writing about abortion." Topics discussed include several writers who explore the ways in which, in the absence of any useful discussion of the topic at home or school, popular culture shaped their early attitudes towards abortion; and her story is visceral and angry, sad, intimate and at times darkly comic.' (Publication abstract)
