Ever since I had to do a debate in high school where I was assigned the pro-life stance and had no support from the teacher with how to handle a raging class full of teenagers who hated me for "my" stance, I've been nervous sharing any personal thoughts on the topic. It can be hard to share your feelings on controversial issues, but as soon as the choice is taken away, the need for voices standing up for what is right is essential. I am absolutely pro-choice, though what I did take away from my preparations for the high school debate was that informed choice is important. As a high school student I knew nothing about abortion, and though my classmates weren't too interested in hearing the information I had to share, I'm sure most of it was new to them too. Education about this choice needs to start at the same time as any sex ed conversation, and one way we can help keep this conversation going is by learning more about reproductive rights and sharing with others. It is my hope that as I read and review books on this topic, I can share my thoughts here and this can be just one more outlet to keep this important discussion going.
Peggy was Right
By: Dr. Pat Zehr
I read Zehr's memoir, The Beatles, Babies and Broken Bodies last summer and loved it, so when I saw she had a new book coming out, this time a fiction story, I reached out to ask her if I could review a copy. It is still very exciting when authors agree to let me read and review their books, and so I was very happy when she said she would send me a copy!
Peggy was Right tells the story of a number of women and their experiences with reproductive health in Canada and Texas after Roe v Wade was overturned. Peggy is a young nurse who is excited to try nursing in Texas after growing up and studying in Northern Ontario. She starts out on a Labour and Delivery ward, but when all of the OB-GYNs leave due to constraints around their ability to practice medicine in areas that might be considered a form of abortion (ie. emergency measures where the mother's safety takes precedence and fetal loss is a potential or intended result), she moves to the Emergency department at the same hospital. Meanwhile, a 13 year old girl named Becky is raped by her grandmother’s employer, and by the time Delilah realizes Becky is pregnant there are no options for abortion either in Texas or in the neighbouring states. Peggy is on the scene when Becky goes into labour in the ED and does everything she can to help save Becky and the baby, but without the proper prenatal care and no Obstetricians available to help with the delivery, both Becky and her baby's lives are in danger. Around the same time as Becky's pregnancy comes to an end, Peggy finds out she is pregnant as well, and while she is excited to welcome a new baby into her life, she finds herself coming up against some of the same challenges Becky faced in a time and place where women's reproductive rights are quickly disappearing.
I really enjoyed this book, especially how the author was able to contrast the health care situation in Texas with the one she is intimately familiar with in Canada. Peggy, Delilah and Becky are all really well crafted characters who are easy to relate to and empathize with, no matter what age and stage of life you are in. All three women are strong and independent. Delilah and Peggy both demonstrate the importance of advocating for yourself and loved ones, and standing up for what you believe in. Zehr's descriptive writing gives readers the opportunity to see the struggles Delilah and Becky face on a daily basis, and helps to frame the precarious financial situation they are in even before Becky becomes pregnant. It also helps you picture both Texas and Ontario, two very different climates, and places readers may not be familiar with.
Zehr also carefully timed when this book took place so that readers could get a glimpse of Texas as the new laws around abortion came into practice. The challenges both Becky and Peggy come up against in the Texas and Arizona health care systems are painfully realistic and Zehr does a great job painting this miserable picture for readers to understand. The decision to have an abortion is rarely a simple black and white decision, there are many difficult reasons someone may choose to have an abortion, and the cut and dry system in place in parts of the US right now does not allow any room for unusual or urgent circumstances, like some of the ones in this book.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is referenced throughout the story, especially nearer to the end of the book as it chosen for Peggy's book club. Atwood's book is really interesting because while it was written decades ago about a dystopian future, it is based on real places and events of the past, and is unfortunately not too far off of where we find ourselves today.
There is lots of really great information to unpack in this book. I could see it being a really great book club choice as there would be lots you could discuss. Peggy was Right is out now, so go grab a copy!
Thanks so much to the author, Pat Zehr for sending me a copy to read and review!
Belly Woman
Benjamin Black
I learned so much from this book about so many different things, don't you love when that happens? Belly Woman is a memoir about Benjamin Black's time working for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) in Sierra Leone at the heart of the 2014 Ebola outbreak. Black felt a calling to work as an OB-GYN in Africa, something that not all doctors would be willing to explore. During his first mission he experienced first hand why the maternal death rates in Sierra Leone and neighbouring/similar countries were so high. Access to prenatal care and contraception were limited, added to the health care risks such as malaria and Ebola, varied distance and limited access to transportation to and from health centres, and stigma and fear related to attending these health care centres further compound an already fractured and dangerous situation for pregnant women and their babies. By the time women arrived in his care, some had been in labour for over a day, many had a history of (pre)eclampsia or placental abruptions, and most were in unstable condition with a high risk of mortality. The challenging cases, lack of resources that are common place in developed countries and the climate (heat and torrential rains) which would make many doctors want to stay away, upped the adrenalin, excitement and critical thinking for Black. Of course, when Ebola arrived at his health centre's door, everything changed, and the fear of this deathly epidemic led to some extremely difficult decisions, including closing the health centre to obstetric admissions. That being said, after a short break at home, Black found himself back in Sierra Leone learning and growing as a doctor, but more importantly, saving lives.
Prior to reading this book I knew almost nothing about Ebola or Sierra Leone, had a very limited knowledge of MSF and high risk pregnancies/causes of maternal and fetal deaths, and a working knowledge of reproductive rights and the importance of access to health care in developing countries, especially when it comes to the advancement of women's and girl's rights. I can say I have a better understanding of all of those things, and so many more things I want to learn about as a result of reading this book!
The scene was already set; the actors of a peripheral state government, egotistical international organizations and an impoverished population were in position. The stage had been built on a history of pillage: slavery, colonialism, civil war, corruption, plunder and disenfranchisement. The Ebola epidemic might have begun in December 2013, but the legacy of injustice stretched back centuries. Seeds of mistrust had been planted in a collective memory, with ample time for the roots to take hold.
Benjamin Black. Belly Woman (Kindle Locations 240-243). Kindle Edition.
One of the things I loved most about this book were the parallels Black was able to create in respect to both health care in the UK vs Sierra Leone, and between the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ebola epidemic. The London interludes at the beginning of several chapters were some of my favourite parts of the book because they so clearly identified the differences in medical care in the two countries. The things that we take for granted in developed countries were demonstrated so subtly and fluidly by these sections, without it being an intrusive call for action.
Reproductive rights were a huge part of this story, despite that sometimes it was a difficult call for the health care providers because of the emergency state of some of their admissions. Things like access to contraception and education around prenatal care were sentiments that were woven throughout. Beyond that there were echos of some of the issues described in Peggy was Right, such as access to abortion in second trimester high risk pregnancies. Black's decision to include of these types of issues in his writing calls for both a better understanding of abortion rights, as well as the importance of looking more critically at these health care organizations who are coming in and imposing beliefs on the patients they are trying to support. Black emphasized the importance of careful thinking and planning when coming in to developing countries throughout the book.
The exit plan needed to be considered before entry – how to leave better systems in place, rather than absent supply chains, income and support.
Benjamin Black. Belly Woman (Kindle Locations 4738-4739). Kindle Edition.
Without careful planning, these aid organizations risk leaving a situation significantly worse than it was when they arrived. The importance of training, capacity building and continued access to resources is critical in any aid effort, but when a group is going into a situation where we are talking about unnecessarily high levels of mortality, these plans become a life or death situation.
If you have any interest in medical memoirs, epidemics, obstetrics or MSF you should definitely read this book! As I mentioned, I learned a lot and it gave me a lot to think about. The complicated situations left me reflecting on the health care I take for granted in my country. Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher Neem Tree Press for giving me the chance to read and review this excellent book!
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