Abortionist [Hardcover]

Rickie Solinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 1995

The story of Ruth Barnett, who performed more than forty thousand abortions between 1918 and 1968 without losing a single patient, reveals how the antiabortion laws benefitted racketeers, syndicates, politicians, and the press, reestablished state control of women's bodies, and victimized women.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This compelling study of abortion as practiced before Roe v. Wade legalized it in 1973 focuses on the skillful, doctor-trained, compassionate Ruth Barnett, who allegedly performed 40,000 illegal operations between 1918 and 1968 without losing a patient. An empathetic Solinger (Wake Up Little Susie) records Barnett's career and life against the backdrop of the Depression and WWII-especially busy times for willing abortionists among physicians, nurses and midwives, along with "back alley practitioners" often employed by racketeers who exploited antiabortion laws. Portland, Oregon's "Queen of Abortionists," Barnett practiced openly in her clinic until post-WWII "crime hysteria" forced abortion into the shadows. Barnett, 74 and suffering from melanoma, was released from her third prison term shortly before her death in 1969. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The abortionist, Ruth Barnett, had an abortion herself as a teenager in 1911. This experience led her eventually into a 50-year career in which she performed some 40,000 abortions. Solinger has drawn on Barnett's unpublished memoir and diaries, her daughter Maggie's memoir, and many interviews to produce a lively and graphic account of abortion from the time when it was illegal but overlooked on into the 1950s and 1960s, when it was not only illegal but prosecuted. As an assistant to accomplished abortionists before she started out on her own, Barnett learned her business well. She developed a large and attractive clinic in an office building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Some 80 percent of her patients were referred by physicians (Barnett did not have an M.D.), and her lifetime earnings amounted to $17,000,000. But after World War II, she was in court and jail several times. Besides limning her career, Solinger shows how and why attitudes toward abortions and abortionists changed. William Beatty

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 253 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (May 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029298652
• ISBN-13: 978-0029298657
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,889,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars An Oddly Biased Book, August 13, 2011

By 

Londonderry (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Abortionist: A Woman against the Law (Paperback)

I found "The Abortionist" to be oddly biased in the extreme. The book is very well-researched with regard to the history of illegal, and therefore clandestine, abortions in America, pre-Roe vs. Wade. However, the author seems to rank the various reigning members of the abortion subculture of the time period in what, to me, was a highly strange manner. For example, Ruth, a chiropractor/abortionist wielding a metal instrument, is almost held up as an altruistic folk hero in the book, whereas a businessman named Rankin, who attempted to find trained and licensed MEDICAL DOCTORS to perform abortions, rather than chiropractors like Ruth, is depicted in an exaggeratedly harsh and derogatory manner. Since Ruth managed to earn several million dollars from her illegal abortion fees, I personally fail to see how a non-medical chiropractor like her could be considered a "better person" or more in tune with the needs of desperate pregnant women than a man who tried to get medical personnel involved. Had I been around then and in need of such a service, I'd have wanted to see a real doctor - not some fake one. All of this made for a very disconcerting read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting window into little-known history, November 30, 2010

By 

Sonoma's Davey (Guerneville, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Abortionist (Hardcover)

This book chronicles the life and work of a woman flying just below the radar of the legal system of the time. It's a difficult subject, and the book addresses it in a straightforward way. Some readers may find the treatment too frank. But it's well written, and if you can manage the subject matter, a riveting story.

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible and Moving, July 29, 2010

By 

Marilyn Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Abortionist (Hardcover)

This book was phenomenal. Before I read it, I had no idea this story was so close to home, either (set in Portland, Oregon.) This book gives a very clear look at what life was like for women before Roe v Wade, and before women were allowed to have control over their reproduction. For anyone who wants to make abortion illegal on either a federal or a state level, all they have to do is read this book. Those laws hurt women more than they help. I encourage anyone to read this.