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Defenders of the unborn : the pro-life movement before Roe v. Wade

Title: Defenders of the unborn : the pro-life movement before Roe v. Wade / Daniel K. Williams.
Author: Williams, Daniel K.
Publication: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016]

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person.	Text	Use in library	JFE 16-8766	Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description

xiv, 365 pages, 15 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

"On April 16, 1972, ten thousand people gathered in Central Park to protest New York's liberal abortion law. Emotions ran high, reflecting the nation's extreme polarization over abortion. Yet the divisions did not fall neatly along partisan or religious lines-the assembled protesters were far from a bunch of fire-breathing culture warriors. In Defenders of the Unborn, Daniel K. Williams reveals the hidden history of the pro-life movement in America, showing that a cause that many see as reactionary and anti-feminist began as a liberal crusade for human rights. For decades, the media portrayed the pro-life movement as a Catholic cause, but by the time of the Central Park rally, that stereotype was already hopelessly outdated. The kinds of people in attendance at pro-life rallies ranged from white Protestant physicians, to young mothers, to African American Democratic legislators-even the occasional member of Planned Parenthood. One of New York City's most vocal pro-life advocates was a liberal Lutheran minister who was best known for his civil rights activism and his protests against the Vietnam War. The language with which pro-lifers championed their cause was not that of conservative Catholic theology, infused with attacks on contraception and women's sexual freedom. Rather, they saw themselves as civil rights crusaders, defending the inalienable right to life of a defenseless minority: the unborn fetus. It was because of this grounding in human rights, Williams argues, that the right-to-life movement gained such momentum in the early 1960s. Indeed, pro-lifers were winning the battle before Roe v. Wade changed the course of history. Through a deep investigation of previously untapped archives, Williams presents the untold story of New Deal-era liberals who forged alliances with a diverse array of activists, Republican and Democrat alike, to fight for what they saw as a human rights cause. Provocative and insightful, Defenders of the Unborn is a must-read for anyone who craves a deeper understanding of a highly-charged issue"--Provided by publisher.
"Abortion is the most divisive issue in America's culture wars, seemingly creating a clear division between conservative members of the Religious Right and people who align themselves with socially and politically liberal causes. In Defenders of the Unborn, historian Daniel K. Williams complicates the history of abortion debates in the United States by offering a detailed, engagingly written narrative of the pro-life movement's mid-twentieth-century origins. He explains that the movement began long before Roe v. Wade, and traces its fifty-year history to explain how and why abortion politics have continued to polarize the nation up to the present day"--Provided by publisher.

Subject

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction -- Chapter 1: A Clash of Values -- Chapter 2: The Political Fight Begins -- Chapter 3: Initial Losses -- Chapter 4: National Right to Life -- Chapter 5: "Abortion on Demand" -- Chapter 6: A New Image -- Chapter 7: Progressive Politics -- Chapter 8: National Battle -- Chapter 9: After Roe -- Epilogue.

Call Number

JFE 16-8766

ISBN

9780199391646
0199391645

LCCN

2015017478

OCLC

907657620

Author

Williams, Daniel K., author.

Title

Defenders of the unborn : the pro-life movement before Roe v. Wade / Daniel K. Williams.

Publisher

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2016]

Type of Content

text

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Research Call Number

JFE 16-8766

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