Abortion Politics in American States [Paperback]

Mary C. Segers (Author), Timothy A. Byrnes (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 279 pages
• Publisher: M E Sharpe Inc (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563244500
• ISBN-13: 978-1563244506
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,539,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential research source for reproductive policy battles, August 3, 2003

By 

Robin Orlowski "political activist" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Abortion Politics in American States (Paperback)

The rapid current pace of state politics and interrelated developments (for every action there remains an opposite reaction) would initially make inclusion of this particular work in reproductive policy cannons both inconsequential and redundant upon initial evaluation by a harried reader, even if they themselves are students of this particular policy area.

Because there is no shortage of other texts to delve into and analyze over an exotic cup of cappuccino, a reader's initial conclusion might be to simply consign this comparatively early individual work to the ever-growing list of past works (by implication previously but not currently helpful with anything) and skip over it entirely in exclusive focus on newer research which theoretically addresses today's policy environments more accurately. Decidedly not uncommon, activating and following this binary would be a profound injustice for both the individual reader and the larger society.

Since the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade completely legalized abortion in the first three months of pregnancy, abortion has been a perpetual favorite of all political viewpoints who clamor for their representation at the state and federal levels. This same climate however means several 'current event' research compilations on state politics (as opposed to historical perspectives) run the risk of themselves appearing dangerously outdated only a few years after publication precisely because of the rapid pace of legislative history in 21st century politics. Even by the time the book has been printed, the issues (barring the truly unique circumstances) have been debated and votes cast, leaving opponents the recourse of passing counteracting legislation or attempting various legal maneuvers to reverse the policy effects.

Politics is supposedly about thoughtful long-term planning for the greater common good, but it's modern incarnation also includes carefully strategized moments for the benefits of potential voters---and unfortunately political action groups from all sides of the political spectrum. Because votes are the only method by which each group can truly discern whether elected officials have lived up to their position on an issue (and figure into support or opposition) it is in each official's best interest to undertake abortion votes early enough and often so those same votes can promptly become recorded for posterity as evidence.

Unfortunately for the casual reader not intending to do expansive research, this same dichotomy is frustrating and may ironically be one of the many factors contributing to a noted decline in general citizen satisfaction with the political process. If people are more concerned with going through the motions of public participation as opposed to actually doing it, potentially interested individuals may internalize the same process as closed and/or inherently difficult to keep up with, thereby shutting themselves out of very critical debates governing their own lives and health.

A set of political statistics, no matter how compelling in their own time may eventually find itself unable to contribute as fiercely to modern portraits, themselves replete with equally pressing challenges. Both scholars and lay public need not fear however because this 1995 book transitions itself nicely (however informally) into the latter category without any problems. The wealth of information contained within the collection transcends time, thereby imparting powerful lessons for today's researchers who coincidentally would otherwise have a difficult time locating the same information from multiple obscure sources and several newspapers of record.

Particularly of interest to this approach is the chapter on Arizona state politics and how initial party identification is not always correspondent to political ideology of the individual. In, 1992 the late arch conservative Barry Goldwater, considered the godfather of the New Right (which made attacks on abortion one of its many defining hallmarks) personally opposed a state constitutional measure which would have banned most abortions.

Goldwater's reasoning strangely echoed that which 'liberal/radical' feminists had previously used for years (including initial campaigns for abortion rights) directly tying women's reproductive access into their larger stake within society---and gendered opposition as large-scale and systematic. It was both hypocritical and fundamentally anti-conservative to oppose international threat of intrusion into citizen's private lives via communism, and then attempt to carve out a special caveat exemptor for women and other historically subordinated communities (including GLBT Americans) precisely because they were also traditionally defined as mutually exclusive to the status quo.

Because America still likes to pride itself on freedom and tolerance, exposure of the dichotomy from within the proverbial ranks no less set off a storm of controversy. Mr Conservative himself ultimately did the previously unthinkable and endorsed a pro-choice Democratic female over a fellow Republican who had earnestly attempted to campaign to voters using Goldwater's previous internationally-recognized likeness without fully bothering to understand the genuine political sincerity behind these same pronouncements. Rather than talking about how conservative he was, Goldwater was able to demonstrate it to the voters by his words and actions.

Still vehemently disagreeing with him on the importance of the great society and other social welfare programs, I personally came away from the chapter with a greater appreciation of his own political positioning and background. Because the term 'conscience' is also freely tossed about by people of all political parties (including former Goldwater associates who abandoned conservatism in favor of promoting fascism) seeing an actual account was refreshing.

Well worth it's featured acquisition price, this book is a mandate for social scientists from all perspectives. Even if it does transgress policy of spending valuable public monies on only recently published non-fiction books (to guard against inaccurate statistics) an exception should clearly be made for this title since the work featured within is not likely to be found else where.