Unbearable
Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America
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- $299.00
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- $299.00
Descripción editorial
From the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Notorious RBG and award-winning journalist Irin Carmon, an ambitious and “gripping page-turner” (The Boston Globe) of what’s gone wrong with pregnancy in America, through the lens of history, politics, and the searing experiences of five women.
Award-winning journalist Irin Carmon follows five women in New York City and rural Alabama through an American system that can turn the most ordinary human event—pregnancy—into a fight for your life, your freedom, and your dignity. What happens as these women seek respectful, high-quality medical care for their pregnancies, whether wanted or not, is a uniquely American story, one that also includes a heroic doctor fighting for the better reality that everyone deserves.
Eight months pregnant herself when the Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion, Carmon spent years reporting what she felt in her bones: that the typical story of pregnancy had been radically incomplete—and that the story is bigger than one court case or one experience of pregnancy. Going beyond the headlines and any one experience or choice, Unbearable illuminates the buried history of American obstetrics, the disappearance of pregnancy care options across the country, and the ever-proliferating laws that treat a fetus as a person and a woman as a vessel.
A profound call to action, “Unbearable exposes the devastating reality: that in today’s America becoming pregnant can mean losing your basic human dignity and autonomy. With meticulous reporting, riveting storytelling, and profound compassion, Carmon reveals how our healthcare system fails women at their most vulnerable moments, and why we must do better” (Hillary Rodham Clinton).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This disquieting exposé from New York Magazine reporter Carmon (Notorious RBG) reveals the inadequacy of maternal healthcare in the U.S. Partially inspired by her own pregnancy during the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, the author highlights the "neglect, infantilization, and criminalization" endured by patients within the healthcare system via the experiences of four women who are either pregnant, postpartum, or trying to conceive, as well as an ob-gyn who seeks to open a birth center in post-Roe Alabama. Carmon follows each individual as they navigate the strained, impersonal, and at times punitive medical systems in New York and Alabama: one woman is jailed after giving birth for "chemical endangerment" of her fetus; another is "robbed of her options" for managing a miscarriage due to abortion restrictions; the two New York women, Maggie and Christine, are both subject to botched C-sections by the same surgeon, causing internal bleeding—only Maggie survives. Carmon poignantly reports on the grief and subsequent activism of Christine's fiancé, whose concerns were dismissed by the hospital before her death. Emphasizing these stories of neglect by hospital staff, as well as indifference from politicians, Carmon presents a vision of a healthcare system where "no matter who you are, or what privileges you enjoy, nothing can guarantee your personal safety or security." It's a passionate and potent wake up call.
