Synopses & Reviews
"If you read only one book about democracy, The Turnaway Study should be it. Why? Because without the power to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy. —Gloria Steinem
"Dr. Diana Greene Foster brings what is too often missing from the public debate around abortion: science, data, and the real-life experiences of people from diverse backgrounds...This should be required reading for every judge, member of Congress, and candidate for office — as well as anyone who hopes to better understand this complex and important issue." —Cecile Richards, cofounder of Supermajority, former president of Planned Parenthood, and author of Make Trouble
A groundbreaking and illuminating look at the state of abortion access in America and the first long-term study of the consequences — emotional, physical, financial, professional, personal, and psychological — of receiving versus being denied an abortion on women's lives.
What happens when a woman seeking an abortion is turned away? Diana Greene Foster, PhD, decided to find out. With a team of scientists — psychologists, epidemiologists, demographers, nursing scholars, and public health researchers — she set out to discover the effect of receiving versus being denied an abortion on women's lives. Over the course of a ten-year investigation that began in 2007, she and her team followed a thousand women from more than twenty states, some of whom received their abortions, some of whom were turned away.
Now, for the first time, the results of this landmark study — the largest of its kind to examine women's experiences with abortion and unwanted pregnancy in the United States — have been gathered together in one place. Here Foster presents the emotional, physical, and socioeconomic outcomes for women who received their abortion and those who were denied. She analyzes the impact on their mental and physical health, their careers, their romantic lives, their professional aspirations, and even their existing and future children — and finds that women who received an abortion were almost always better off than women who were denied one. Interwoven with these findings are ten riveting first-person narratives by women who share their candid stories.
As the debate about abortion rights intensifies, The Turnaway Study offers an in-depth examination of the real-world consequences for women of being denied abortions and provides evidence to refute the claim that abortion harms women. With brilliant synthesis and startling statistics — that thousands of American women are unable to access abortions; that 99% of women who receive an abortion do not regret it five years later —The Turnaway Study is a necessary and revelatory look at the impact of abortion access on people's lives.
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"Required reading for anyone concerned with reproductive justice." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
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"Foster's clearheaded account cuts through the noise surrounding this contentious issue. Policy makers and abortion rights activists should consider it a must-read." Publisher's Weekly
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"Foster listens to the 'turnaway women,' and lets their stories, even more than her own scholarship, disrupt the accepted moral and political narratives that regulate access to abortion." Library Journal
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"If you read only one book about democracy, The Turnaway Study should be it. Why? Because without the power to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy. There is no freedom and justice without reproductive freedom and justice." Gloria Steinem
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"Dr. Foster brings what is too often missing from the public debate around abortion: science, data, and the real-life experiences of people from diverse backgrounds. Dr. Foster's book offers the first in-depth look at the impact of being denied abortion on mental and physical health, economic wellbeing, relationships, and families. This should be required reading for every judge, member of Congress, and candidate for office — as well as anyone who hopes to better understand this complex and important issue." Cecile Richards, co-founder of Supermajority, former president of Planned Parenthood, and author of Make Trouble
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"The Turnaway Study demonstrates the power of narrative in illuminating why women seek abortions. I have always been a feminist, and I believe we have a responsibility to safeguard reproductive rights for women everywhere--and for future generations. In this book, statistics and stories meet to reveal the consequences of denying women this service, as well as what happens when they receive it. The Turnaway Study is an essential read." Isabel Allende, author of A Long Petal of the Sea and The House of the Spirits
About the Author
Diana Greene Foster is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences and director of research at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH). An internationally recognized expert on women's experiences with contraception and abortion, she is the principal investigator of the Turnaway Study. She has a bachelor's of science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a doctorate from Princeton University. She lives with her husband and two children in the San Francisco Bay Area