Book Review: Matter of Choice
A Matter of Choice by Sara Weddington was one of the first I could get my hands on at the library. As previously mentioned, our illustrious local library had no books on abortion at all. A subject I'm sure they are unwilling to touch. Thank god for iPAC, our interlibrary loan system.
It took me 4 weeks to slog part way through this delightful tome, even though it was under 200 pages and large print. What can I say, she's a lawyer. I'm sure the effort of writing this in English that the normal person could understand was effort enough. Certainly, there was continuous plot. It was her own life after all, but I found myself rereading paragraphs because my brain had turned off from the total lack of appeal.
So what I learned was that she was really just at the right place at the right time. Do not come to believe that she was not a crack lawyer. Just trying a case at the supreme court will not be enough to win that case.
She was an abortion activist with a law degree. Her buddies in her activist group turned to her for legal advice. After all, they were skirting the law by giving women referrals to doctors who would provide safe (if illegal) abortions. They were nervous and needed to know just how illegal it was. (Turns out, only the doctors were really taking the risk.) What she learned from answering their questions was that the country was on the verge of maybe making some headway in this area. Laws in all 50 states were so extremely different and many states were seeing people contest the laws they had.
So Sara and her buddies decided to challenge the Texas law hoping that the challenge would create enough noise along with the other state challenges that someone would hear and take a serious look at the situation.
She was up against the good-ole-boys in Texas Politics. They made such fools of themselves that they lost the case and then continued to make fools of themselves by ignoring the results which made it possible for Sara, et all to go before the supreme court with the case.
Even in the supreme court case, the good-ole-boys of Texas couldn't take her (a woman), or the case (about women) seriously. And so she won. It helps that the supreme court was stacked with people who actually listened and thoughtfully reviewed the case.
Unfortunately, the good-ole-boys have changed. They are no longer sitting on their haunches expecting the world to go their way. They no longer see women as harmless gnats with silly little opinions. They know how to manipulate the media and wrap their arguments in the clothing of the flag and God. Upcoming judge nominations could have a huge impact on the future of reproductive rights in the us.
Reading the supreme court records of the trial is far more interesting than reading the book. The dialogue between Sara and the justices depicts their attitude toward her. The dialogue between the justices and the lawyer from Texas is also very telling. Another point in the trial that I found compelling was the lack of skewering a woman for this choice. The argument was done on such a professional level considering the possible economic effects of pregnancy on a woman and the existing law and precedent about when life begins. It was very interesting.
It took me 4 weeks to slog part way through this delightful tome, even though it was under 200 pages and large print. What can I say, she's a lawyer. I'm sure the effort of writing this in English that the normal person could understand was effort enough. Certainly, there was continuous plot. It was her own life after all, but I found myself rereading paragraphs because my brain had turned off from the total lack of appeal.
So what I learned was that she was really just at the right place at the right time. Do not come to believe that she was not a crack lawyer. Just trying a case at the supreme court will not be enough to win that case.
She was an abortion activist with a law degree. Her buddies in her activist group turned to her for legal advice. After all, they were skirting the law by giving women referrals to doctors who would provide safe (if illegal) abortions. They were nervous and needed to know just how illegal it was. (Turns out, only the doctors were really taking the risk.) What she learned from answering their questions was that the country was on the verge of maybe making some headway in this area. Laws in all 50 states were so extremely different and many states were seeing people contest the laws they had.
So Sara and her buddies decided to challenge the Texas law hoping that the challenge would create enough noise along with the other state challenges that someone would hear and take a serious look at the situation.
She was up against the good-ole-boys in Texas Politics. They made such fools of themselves that they lost the case and then continued to make fools of themselves by ignoring the results which made it possible for Sara, et all to go before the supreme court with the case.
Even in the supreme court case, the good-ole-boys of Texas couldn't take her (a woman), or the case (about women) seriously. And so she won. It helps that the supreme court was stacked with people who actually listened and thoughtfully reviewed the case.
Unfortunately, the good-ole-boys have changed. They are no longer sitting on their haunches expecting the world to go their way. They no longer see women as harmless gnats with silly little opinions. They know how to manipulate the media and wrap their arguments in the clothing of the flag and God. Upcoming judge nominations could have a huge impact on the future of reproductive rights in the us.
Reading the supreme court records of the trial is far more interesting than reading the book. The dialogue between Sara and the justices depicts their attitude toward her. The dialogue between the justices and the lawyer from Texas is also very telling. Another point in the trial that I found compelling was the lack of skewering a woman for this choice. The argument was done on such a professional level considering the possible economic effects of pregnancy on a woman and the existing law and precedent about when life begins. It was very interesting.
posted by dsimom @ 6:33 AM
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