Abortion: Debating the Issue

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-After describing three incidents in which abortion clinic workers were murdered, Day inappropriately juxtaposes two positions as if they were of equal weight. On one hand, she says, abortion rights leaders ``claim'' a campaign of terror is underway; on the other hand, anti-abortion leaders say pro-choicers are ``Using the killings to their own political advantage.'' This is typical of the approach taken throughout the book. Following the narrative line (``on one hand...on the other hand'') is like watching a tennis match. Equally problematic is the author's tendency to repeat opinions of others without quotation marks as part of her text. Many of these statements, some of them inflammatory, seem to represent her point of view, with the source identified only by footnotes kids will not read. Because the author's integration of information is inadequate, her recitation of facts and positions is often confusing. Her treatment of the legal reasoning in Roe v. Wade is offhanded and misleading. Photos were poorly chosen, at best, and may reveal a bias. The only one of pro-choice demonstrators shows them angrily shaking their fists, while pro-lifers are shown as benign in several shots. Claudia Caruana's The Abortion Debate (Millbrook, 1992) is a better choice for middle school and junior high. For young adults, The Abortion Controversy (Greenhaven, 1995) contrasts viewpoints and promotes critical thinking.-Claudia Morrow, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Anne O'Malley

Each year, approximately 1.5 million legal abortions take place in the U.S., actually, a slight drop from the 1980s. Just how is the word "abortion" defined medically and what are the historical, legal, and moral aspects of this highly charged contemporary issue? Day tackles these questions in this Issues in Focus series title--a brisk, well-researched, well-organized, and very well balanced presentation of the abortion question. From an update standpoint, the book is especially strong on recent developments in the anti-abortion protest movement. Public and school libraries needing lower reading levels than similar titles in the Opposing Viewpoints series and the Lucent Overview series, to mention a few, will find this a popular addition to titles on this popular research topic. Black-and-white photos; extensive chapter notes; glossary.