PositiveJewish CurrentsBrown takes the reader through a succinct, fascinating history ... Without Apology’s grim account of the century of illegal abortions...will surprise even readers well aware that women died trying to end their pregnancies ... Without Apology derives strength and clarity from its omission of gruesome details about the relentlessness of the anti-abortion movement, which often dominate public conversations about abortion even within the left. It’s invigorating to read a book about abortion politics that makes feminists the protagonists. In this sense, Brown’s book performs the proactive, rather than reactive, stance it advocates. Yet Brown also weakens her own case by glossing over the factors behind many feminists’ choice to take a defensive strategy instead. There is no getting around the tension between the short-term goals of defeating an anti-abortion ballot initiative or keeping a clinic open, and the long-term goal of shifting our culture ... Without Apology delivers a critical message.
