Basic Book: Voices of Post-Abortive Women

Aborted Women: Silent No More by David C. Reardon. 1987: Crossway Books, ISBN 0891074511.  Reissued 2002: Elliot Institute, ISBN 0964895722

I have the older edition on my shelf. It was the first thing I ever read about post-abortive women, beyond a few brochures from an outfit called Women Exploited by Abortion. With WEBA's cooperation, Reardon surveyed 252 women in 42 states about their abortion decisions and the aftermath. The survey results would have fit into a short magazine article. What makes the book so enlightening and necessary are the many stories recounted by and about the women who agreed to speak to Reardon.

Reardon surveyed 252 women in 42 states. That's a fairly small sample, and to a degree it was a self-selected group, since the women were part of WEBA. The stories and the numbers are powerful nonetheless. All the women cited in the book were determined to be "silent no more". Their stories had, and continue to have, urgency and importance.

One of Reardon's statistics stands out even today: over two-thirds of the women surveyed felt rushed to make the abortion decision. It's ironic that New Hampshire's lawmakers are arguing now over whether a 24-hour waiting period is too great an imposition on a woman's right to choose abortion.

This book is available on Amazon but might be hard to find in bookstores. Look on your church's bookshelf. This one made a splash when it was first published, and a lot of faith communities with active pro-life ministries picked up the book.