Lovejoy: A Year in the Life of an Abortion Clinic

This book is quite an eye opener. As a long time choice supporter, this book takes an objective and insightful look at the inner workings of an abortion clinic. This book doesn't sugar coat anything, it lays it all out there, from the doctors, patients, clinic employees and the procedures that are performed there and the counseling that also occurs. I work for the nation's largest provider of abortions, but as an administrative worker I have never seen this side of the business. This book really underscores whatever position you have on this issue. It truly did reinforce my beliefs despite the details and sometimes uncomfortably descriptive language. It made me realize what abortion truly is and how I am proud that I live in a country where women are free to chose, and to control their reproductive rights. This book is a great read, wonderfully written, and very informative. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be informed and to gain knowledge about freedom of choice and abortion in this country. This microcosm of a story, truly illustrates the national debate in full light. A great book.

It's nuts that this book isn't reviewed or better known. Shame on Atlantic Press for not marketing it better. Peter Korn has written a page-turner about the people who worked at Lovejoy Surgicenter in Portland, and the protesters outside the doors, in the mid-1990s. That was a time when clinics were being blown up and doctors shot. So there's tension - you come to care about the people inside the clinic, and don't want to see them hurt. Even more compelling are the stories of the girls and women who come in. People who don't believe that abortion should be legal seem to think that abortion providers work to convince women to have abortions. In fact, at Lovejoy, in any case, the staff worked to help women make the choice that would be best for them. A third of the patients chose to give their babies up for adoption or to keep their babies. For all those who think they know better than those women, this book might shake that certainty. Between the schizophrenics, the drug addicts, the high school girl with an abusive boyfriend and a mother and grandmother who had their own first babies at her age, 17 - Lovejoy gives a glimpse into the realities behind the rhetoric. Great book.