Freedom Writer - December 1995

BOOK REVIEW
Lader's latest focuses on RU 486

A PRIVATE MATTER: RU 486 and the Abortion Crisis by 
Lawrence Lader. 257 pp. Prometheus Books (1995).

In _A_Private_Matter_, Lawrence Lader, a leader in 
the fight for women's rights and for FDA approval of 
RU 486, spotlights the struggle for abortion rights, 
discusses the recent brutal clinic murders in Pensacola 
and Boston, and argues that RU 486 could markedly reduce 
the number of clinical abortions by making the termination 
of pregnancy a "private matter."

Lader writes: "Although this concentration on RU 486 
may be a gamble, almost every important strategy since 
the movement [women's movement] started has been an 
equal gamble. This book will analyze the early days 
of abortion rights to compare past strategies to the 
present campaign for the pill. It will conclude that 
the mounting pressure on clinics through assassinations 
and firebombings, as well as heightened anti-abortion 
sentiment in Congress, makes it essential to guarantee 
the privacy of all women. Privacy is the key to the 
future; it inextricably links RU 486 to the women's 
movement. It is the thesis of this book that success 
of each depends on the success of the other."

_A_Private_Matter_ is a well-written, well-researched, 
thought-provoking book. It is a must read for all who 
are concerned with how the Radical Religious Rights' 
anti-reproductive rights agenda impacts on the goal 
of women's equality.           

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Freedom Writer / ifas@berkshire.net

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