Description

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“The best book I have read on the politics of reproduction. It raises complex theoretical and strategic questions, in a clear and accessible way, and represents an important breakthrough in feminist thinking.”
– Leslie Doyal, author of What Makes Women Sick

This prize-winning study is the definitive work on the politics of abortion and fertility. Rosalind Pollack Petchesky provides overwhelming evidence against the anti-abortion forces and in the process takes up issues of teenage sexuality, the politics of eugenics, and women’s relationship to medical technology. The book’s continuing relevance is a tribute to the author and a sad indictment of contemporary politics.

About the Author

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Rosalind Petchesky is a political scientist and a leading theorist on international reproductive rights. Petchesky is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is the author of The Individual’s Rights and International Organization and Global Prescriptions: Gendering Health and Human Rights. In addition to her research contributions, she initiated and coordinates the International Reproductive Rights Research Action Group (IRRRAG) in its work of assessing, across cultures, women’s own views of their reproductive rights. She is also involved with the International Working Group on Sexuality and Social Policy in coordinating a multicountry, multisite comparative study of national and international policies affecting sexuality and sexual rights.

Praise For…

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"As I revisit this work, its relevance becomes even more apparent in the face of contemporary backlashes to women's rights. The book stands as a timeless testament to the ongoing struggle for reproductive justice around the world. Professor Petchesky's insights and advocacy for women's autonomy over their bodies continues to inspire and inform, and serve as an insightful guide to reproductive rights for the new generation."
—Shirin Heidari, Senior Researcher, Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute and Founder GENDRO, former director and editor-in-chief, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

"As one of the co-creators of the Reproductive Justice framework in 1994, I believe it would not exist if not for the pioneering work of Rosalind Petchesky, who was one of the first writers to use an intersectional lens to document the history of abortion activism. Insights from her book continue to inform global analyses of abortion politics, indicating what a timeless classic she offered"
—Loretta Ross, co-author of Reproductive Justice

"This is an important contribution to the debate over reproduction, and to political thought."
—Sheila Rowbotham

"This is the best book I have read on the politics of reproduction. It raises complex theoretical and strategic questions, in a clear and accessible way, and represents an important breakthrough in feminist thinking."
—Leslie Doyal, author of What Makes Women Sick

"Abortion and Woman's Choice is a major contribution to feminist theory and politics. Petchecksy's analysis of abortion and the broader issues of reproductive rights succeeds brilliantly in combining scholarly rigour with political analysis. She draws on a wealth of material from sociology, social history, law, ethics, demography and biomedical technology to provide an analysis of issues which are critical for women, and her analysis of a socialist-feminist politics of reproductive freedom goes way beyond the simplistic notions of rights and freedom which are common on both sides of the Atlantic."
—Veronica Beechey, author of Unequal Work