The Abortion Controversy

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up A remarkably unbiased analysis of the facts and emotions surrounding the abortion issue, its proponents, and its opponents. Emmens includes a history of both legal and illegal abortion, an exceptionally broad look at the contemporary problems within the abortion question, a sweep at the status of the abortion issue around the world, and a look at the future of abortion. Her contemporary analysis includes the problems with abortion funding for low-income women; bombings and protests by the pro-life movement; the activities of the pro-choice advocates; and the continuing challenges to the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision, including states' rights amendments. One of the most informative features of Emmens' work is her use of demographic statistics in defining the support and dissent of different populations for the many complex questions surrounding abortion. The statistics are not footnoted, but the author's respectable bibliography of over 50 appropriate and timely sources more than fills that gap. (Her inclusion of IUD's as a birth control option is now null, however.) Recommended for most school and public library collections supporting curriculum-based research on abortion. Catherine vanSonnenberg, LaJolla Country Day School, Calif.