Customer Reviews

I Am Roe: My Life, Roe V. Wade, and Freedom of Choice

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Only becoming familiar with Norma McCorvey after her conversion to Christianity, I wonder how she was so able to make a 180 degree switch regarding some of the things she said in the book. As I read more about her life after the book was written, I will probably understand.

The book was well-written. Everyone has a story, and McCorvey's story is not an uncommon one. Some parts of the book made me hurt badly for her, while others just made me angry at how she was so self-destructive and cared very little about those around her who did care (her father, for example). In light of her recent petition against the Roe decision, the conflicts between her and her well-intentioned lawyers are especially relevant. I think, to some extent, they knew that McCorvey would not have enough time to abort legally; had McCorvey had a little more anatomical and political savvy, she would have understood the same thing.

I suggest anyone who is interested in reproductive rights--regardless of their beliefs--to read this book. Check it out from the library.

This book was obviously written largely by "Roe's" cowriter, given her lack of education. However, it is well-written and quite absorbing. I never knew anything about this person who brought about legal abortion-I guess I always assumed she was a well-educated and self-sufficient woman who wanted to challenge the law's stance on a woman and her body. As it turns out, that is completely the opposite life circumstances of this person. She was poor, uneducated, abused, and spent time in reform school as an adolescent. She had her first baby taken from her by her mother (an absolutely horrible idea in this case), gave up her second one, and because the wheels of the legal system take so long to move, had to complete her third pregnancy (the one in question for the court case) even though she "won" eventually. Even then, it doesn't appear she realized the impact of this case. I wish her well and hope she has found peace in her life. The book gives you a clear look at a life that was definitely not conducive to sane motherhood. It does not have any religious tentacles to reach out and try to condemn the woman, just a troubling look at a troubling life. This is a good read, but be prepared to shake your head at the obstacles this woman has faced all her life.

Norma McCorvey's life was pathetic and she was repeatedly victimized by others including the lawyers who were looking for a way to take the issue of abortion to the U.S. Supreme Court. McCorvey became Roe and unwittingly set a landmark legal decision in motion.

Reading this book is important in understanding that there really wasn't a human side to Roe v. Wade, just feminist lawyers pushing their agenda.

This self-serving ghosted autobiography of the "real" Jane Roe does immense harm to the cause of women's reproductive rights. The decision to end a human life - and a growing human fetus is unquestionably a form of life - needs to be taken with the utmost integrity and responsibility. Both qualities are entirely antithetical to McCorvey-Roe's character.
Frequently portrayed as a "hero" and even a role model, Norma McCorvey nee Nelson is or was, by her own admission, a liar, a thief, an ingrate, a bawd, a drunk, a drug addict, a drug dealer and a leech. She told the lawyers who fought Roe vs Wade that she had been raped when her third pregnancy, like the second, was in fact the result of one of her numerous casual affairs, during which she evidently took no contraceptive measures despite their wide availability at the time (1968).
Is it any wonder that her mother, whom she excoriates, adopted McCorvey's first child (of her short-lived marriage) then acted to keep McCorvey at arm's length? The wisdom of this decision may be seen in the fact that the child, a daughter, apparently grew into a fine, responsible adult.
Parts of the book are a pro-abortion (as opposed to pro-choice) polemic. Some of this is well presented and is presumably the contribution of McCorvey's co-author; on the evidence here it seems doubtful that she has the intellect to understand let alone voice such arguments.
However, some unthinking phrases are no doubt vintage McCorvey. How about: "... the Roe decision ... was the beginning of a glorious era of women's reproductive freedom and happiness." Or her disdain over the fact that some people opposed to abortion as "a last-chance form of birth control" (in her own case it was first-chance) seek to regulate this commerce in feticide by having a wife require the acquiescence of her husband, and a minor that of her parents.
In McCorvey's view, all opponents of unbridled abortion on demand are "fanatics ... trying to inflict their own religious views on others, still trying to hide their anti-women feelings ..." What about all the women, and there are millions, who hold human life to be important, even sacred?
And how's this for sheer unadulterated, breathtaking hypocrisy: "If anti-free-choice forces are allowed to impose moral agendas on our society, we will lose the right to freely accept the responsibity for ourselves and our children."
Many today accept that there is a case for abortion under certain circumstances. But this squalid, vicious, whining harangue by one who appears never to have taken responsibility for anything in her entire life, including her own three children, utterly fails to make it.

The real message of this book is that no matter what you do, you don't have to take responsability for it. Ms. McCorvey fought for this right. Even if you use drugs for most of your life, get pregnanat and leave other people with the child, it's okay. Now, if you get pregnant, you can have an abortion. If you have a problem, and you work hard enough, no matter what it is our system can be changed just for you. Isn't it wonderful?

The idea of the book is to get across the nation that in some cases abortion is ok. If you don't want to have the baby, then use protecton. When you have abortion that kills the baby, abortion is a hard decision for all women to have to go through. Think wisely about your decision. You could always consider adoption. The book also talks about her childhood, it tells how her mother didn't want to have her, but hse did anyways. It says that her mother abused her and didn't care about her. Her father left the family a lot. Her mother had an affair with other men. She did not have a good childhood at all, she was raised up very poorly.
My true opinion about this book is, that I actually didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It is a good book for older women and some men maybe. It's not necessarily a bad book, it just isn't one I would reccomend. The theme of the book is why Roe (Norma McCorvey) did what she did, to have to take it all the way to court. I actually changed the mood I was in throughout the entire book. An example for instance is that I was sort of dissapointed in her when I found out she had her first baby at sixteen years old. Another example is that in one case in this book made me think she was stupid to do drugs. Also I felt sorry for her when she was born, because her mother abused her. That is just my opinion, of some of the moods I was in throughout the book.