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Book cover of Pregnancy: Private Decisions, Public Debates
Medical & Biomedical Technology - General & Miscellaneous, Reproductive Medicine & Technology, Sex - Social & Political Issues - Contraception

Pregnancy: Private Decisions, Public Debates

by Kathlyn Gay
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Overview

This book covers the many controversies surrounding the issue of choice in pregnancy: birth control, abortion, surrogacy, medical technology, and in-vitro fertilization, and penalties for taking drugs during pregnancy. The author fairly presents both sides of the debates.

Synopsis

This book covers the many controversies surrounding the issue of choice in pregnancy: birth control, abortion, surrogacy, medical technology, and in-vitro fertilization, and penalties for taking drugs during pregnancy. The author fairly presents both sides of the debates.

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Superior writing and a well-organized, thoughtful presentation mark this volume. Controversies examined include abortion; fetal personhood; the impact of medical technology on individuals' choices; and the social mores affecting attitudes toward reproduction, surrogacy, and employment policies. The book concludes with a statement of some global reproductive concerns. For almost every issue, an attempt is made to state the problems on both sides of the argument. Anti-abortion proponents will most likely feel the definitions and explanations of abortion are euphemistic and not stated strongly enough. Additionally, the statement that ``nationwide polls have shown consistently that the majority of Americans favors a woman's right to an abortion'' is open for debate. Some sources appear to indicate that polls give mixed messages depending on the way questions are stated. Overall, though, Gay leads readers through the maze of complexities in a comprehensive, understandable manner about issues that will likely polarize the public for years to come.-Lois McCulley, Wichita Falls High School, TX

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Editorials

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Superior writing and a well-organized, thoughtful presentation mark this volume. Controversies examined include abortion; fetal personhood; the impact of medical technology on individuals' choices; and the social mores affecting attitudes toward reproduction, surrogacy, and employment policies. The book concludes with a statement of some global reproductive concerns. For almost every issue, an attempt is made to state the problems on both sides of the argument. Anti-abortion proponents will most likely feel the definitions and explanations of abortion are euphemistic and not stated strongly enough. Additionally, the statement that ``nationwide polls have shown consistently that the majority of Americans favors a woman's right to an abortion'' is open for debate. Some sources appear to indicate that polls give mixed messages depending on the way questions are stated. Overall, though, Gay leads readers through the maze of complexities in a comprehensive, understandable manner about issues that will likely polarize the public for years to come.-Lois McCulley, Wichita Falls High School, TX

Stephanie Zvirin

In this new entry in the Women Then, Women Now series, Gay goes way beyond the familiar pro-choice/pro-life debate to introduce a host of topics related to reproductive freedom. She does her customarily balanced, well-documented job (there are plenty of footnotes and a good bibliography for following up), dividing the overview into topical chapters that will facilitate research. Using plenty of examples from headline-making cases, she touches on a host of ethical, legal, and political questions relating to such concerns as reproductive technologies, global population growth, childbirth methods, and, of course, abortion, which she explores largely from the perspective of "personhood" and not strictly as a religious issue. Clearly "choice" is the operative word here, and Gay makes the difficulties of selecting wisely very clear.

Book Details

Published
January 1, 1994
Publisher
Scholastic Library Publishing
Pages
240
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780531111673

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