Jane Against the World: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights by Karen Blumenthal (review)

The politics of one of the more controversial U.S. Supreme Court decisions are contextualized in Blumenthal's examination of Roe v. Wade and the changing cultural dynamics around reproductive rights that led up to it. Although the majority of the book focuses on the 1960s and later, the first several chapters point out that the availability of birth control and abortion has been dogged by legal drama in the U.S. since the nineteenth century. From there, chapters touch on the usual points of Margaret Sanger, the development of the Pill, and the women's liberation movement but also highlight some of the more surprising advocates of birth control and family planning, including Baptist and Episcopalian minsters as well as proponents of the eugenics movement. Blumenthal is also careful to note the differences between the experiences of white upper-class women are those of lower class and/or women of color when it came to the choice of motherhood. The narrative dives a bit too deep in the weeds as it moves closer to the actual Supreme Court decision, introducing an unwieldy number of players and dipping into legal jargon that mutes the social fervor around the issue, but Blumenthal's knack for stage setting—particularly in the courtroom—buoys the storytelling. Insets titled "Pregnant Pause" effectively complement the main text, and an epilogue covers the more recent attempts to limit abortion services and access, noting that the increasingly rigid laws at the state level mean that "a woman's options today may depend on her bank account, her race, her age, and where she lives, just as it has for much of the past 150 years." A glossary, timeline, bibliography, and further resources are included.