The outline and a timeline for the novel have been written. So now there are just a few things to decide.
I need to decide where this will take place. I will make up a small town, but it needs to be geographically located near a larger city. It needs to be in a state that was forced to approve of abortions via Roe v. Wade. The major contenders are just so filled with stereotypes that the reader may just be able to pass off the message as applying to just those geographic areas. For example, Louisiana. It's easy to get lost in the very different culture of Louisiana and not apply what is happening to the whole country. Texas. Well, I need say no more. Texas has stood out as a very backward state toward women from day one. Florida? Well, Florida is also a state with quite a reputation for forcing adoptions on unwed mothers, but I don't want the whole novel to take place in the south. So I think a character will end up in a home for unwed mothers there. Now Arizona has been one of the more conservative states on abortion, so that is a possibility. And I believe Ohio would also be on the list. I need to take a look at dates before continuing. But what are your thoughts? Do you think that setting it in a southern state might just lose the "this is about to happen to all of us again" message? Or do you think that Ohio or Arizona would make good settings given that neither has a well known reputation throughout the country for just about anything let alone abortion rights?
