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ShazzieB

(22,860 posts)
23. Allow me to recommend a book about that!
Fri May 15, 2026, 03:01 PM
Friday

The title is The Worst of Times, and the author is Patricia G. Miller. It was published in 1993 and has been out of print for a while now, but there are still used copies floating around that can easily be found online wherever used books are sold. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about what abortion was like in this country pre-Roe.

This book is not for the faint of heart; there are stories in it that will curl your hair. But this information has never been more vitally important than it is now.

From the jacket blurb:

All the oceans of verbiage and tons of newsprint on the subject of abortion boil down to one simple question. That question is not whether we will have abortions but what kind of abortions we will have. It is a question framed in stark human terms in Patricia Miller's The Worst of Times, which introduces us to dozens of ordinary Americans who have had firsthand experience with illegal abortion: women who survived the pain, humiliation, shame, and terror; motherless children of women who died; doctors who treated the terrible consequences of botched abortions; the abortionists themselves - barbers, midwives, mechanics; and the cops, coroners, and DAs charged with upholding the law. Abortion is a complex issue, but it is not an issue that exists abstractly in the eyes of ethicists or theologians. It is an issue that exists in the flesh - in the flesh of women with complicated lives and large responsibilities and a whole web of personal, familial, and moral concerns. As The Worst of Times makes powerfully and painfully clear, it is a question that women must be allowed to answer for themselves.


Recommendations

5 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

Not people Hillary. Women. Women have always had and will always have Autumn Friday #1
Are women not people? People who aren't women also get abortions. WhiskeyGrinder Friday #3
Only women are impacted by abortion or the lack of safe abortions. It's not a people thing. Autumn Friday #4
I can assure you men and nonbinary people also get abortions. WhiskeyGrinder Friday #5
I can assure you no man has ever had an abortion. Men may be a bystander in a woman's abortion Autumn Friday #6
Having helped men and nonbinary people get abortions, I feel sorry that you live in such a narrow world. WhiskeyGrinder Friday #9
so the man had a uterus ? dave99 Friday #27
some men do WhiskeyGrinder Friday #45
The only sexual organ that matters for gender identity is the brain. Zelda_Orchid Yesterday #49
Only human beings with x only chromosomes can create and carry babies questionseverything Friday #26
Not true. Pregnancy is possible in women with Swyer syndrome (46,XY) WhiskeyGrinder Yesterday #52
Google says they would need a donated egg, if so my point would stand questionseverything Yesterday #55
There is a documented study of a woman who had a normal pregnancy with her own eggs with that condition. So no. WhiskeyGrinder Yesterday #57
You mean the boxer, right? questionseverything Yesterday #58
No, why? WhiskeyGrinder 22 hrs ago #59
Just curious as to the " documented" case questionseverything 21 hrs ago #60
"." WhiskeyGrinder 20 hrs ago #61
Categorically untrue LearnedHand Friday #20
Do you think anyone reading this edhopper Friday #7
JK Rowling? nt LexVegas Friday #11
Egads, I hate that harridan wolfie001 Yesterday #48
My whole family can not watch any of the movies based on her work LetMyPeopleVote 9 min ago #64
This is why Democrats don't win. hamsterjill Friday #14
I'mWithYou+your statement. I'mWithHer(Hillary) oasis Friday #30
Post removed Post removed Friday #32
Oh, ffs. 🙄 QueerDuck Friday #17
Women are people Cirsium Friday #34
I know. QueerDuck Friday #41
I'm hiring a brass band... Cirsium Friday #42
Oh dear... lapucelle Friday #43
The GOP doesn't believe in facts. nt BootinUp Friday #2
My Favorite Abortion Quiet Em Friday #8
I think the answer is easier Buckeyeblue Friday #21
People do, in fact, like abortion. It's a solution that works for them. WhiskeyGrinder Friday #22
I don't know a single woman who is happy to have Phoenix61 Friday #28
this is such an ignorant statement electron_blue Friday #35
How so? nt Phoenix61 Friday #36
cuz... electron_blue Yesterday #54
I stand by what I said. Phoenix61 Yesterday #56
You're still missing the point and it seems like you have not been in that situation electron_blue 19 hrs ago #62
I know many people who were happy to get an abortion and did not find it disruptive. WhiskeyGrinder Friday #46
Yes!! Hope22 Friday #38
Thank you Madame President. niyad Friday #10
I am in my eighties. Abortion was never legal when I was single and birth control was hit or miss. appleannie1 Friday #12
Also young women who needed abortions and couldn't get them safely FakeNoose Friday #13
and public hospitals had abortion wards, mopinko Friday #19
Allow me to recommend a book about that! ShazzieB Friday #23
i'm old enough to remember those days. fortunately never had to face that myself, but mopinko Friday #24
Oh my goodness! This is bringing back horrible memories FakeNoose Friday #37
i find myself always pointed out that the men who make these laws mopinko Friday #39
Even the Bush family was pro-choice after a family friend died from a back-alley abortion. OMGWTF Friday #29
I've heard that abortions are on the increase Ilsa Friday #15
Part of it's the economy, but it's more because the abortion pill protocol makes it easier to end a pregnancy, WhiskeyGrinder Friday #16
Kitchen tables ... oldsoldierfadingfast Friday #44
But this is not about reality, it is about the control of women. Other methods have been used and have killed women. efhmc Friday #18
As usual, Hillary is right dlk Friday #25
We can do so much better than rusty coathanger abortions,..and then sepsis,.... magicarpet Friday #31
i'm so grateful for these meds. mopinko Friday #40
I am stunned by some responses. karynnj Friday #33
Mahalo to you and Hillary, Swede. Cha Friday #47
Before modern times, and now again, women will have to "Call Jane" TomWilm Yesterday #50
Yes, but only those who are in the upmost echelon should be able to have one. OldBaldy1701E Yesterday #51
Hillary intentionally used the word people, likely because of Republicans concerted efforts to dehumanize women dlk Yesterday #53
Hillary warned us LetMyPeopleVote 12 min ago #63
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