REVIEW: The Family Roe by Joshua Pager

 

I was skulking around Gibson's Bookstore on a Monday, as I usually do, and I saw this one on the shelf. I remember consciously thinking to myself that right now was a good time to actually read this and remember that there were actual people, including a plaintiff, behind one of, if not *the* most controversial Supreme Court decisions in this country. Joshua Prager was also nominated for the Pulitzer as a result of this book as well. 

Joshua Prager delves into the lives of all of the protagonists surrounding this case from Norma McCorvey to the lawyers and the doctors who were providing abortions as well as those members of the public who were absolutely fighting against it. In rigorously reporting and meticulously researching the people involved, he animated them and then to look at them in a different light.  I was fascinated by the lives of the people involved and in particular I was curious about the lives of the children that Norma had given birth to, including the child that was the catalyst for the lawsuit that was such a lightening rod in our society. Norma McCorvey had two other children as well and Prager introduces us to them as well. 

I was very impressed by how deep his research was as well as how sensitively he portrays everyone involved. I was worried that the book would be heavy handed, but it was anything but that.  I loved that he seemingly urgently asked his readers to consider the lives of the protagonists before making judgments about the lives of the people involved. McCorvey came froma poor family with a history of unintended pregnancies.  Dr. Jefferson, a lightening rod Black female from the segregated south who was extremely anti-choice grew up in the segregated South and then was further constrained by the white misogynistic medical society in Boston when she became a doctor in the northeast.  She could be severe in her positions on abortion but was also suffering in her private life: she was a hoarder and sadly died without anyone by her side. She remained childless for her entire life and felt the need to lie about the reasons why. I found myself really feeling for her and wondering about the circumstances that led her on the path that she was on.  

In the end, we are given neither heroes nor villains: just people that are flawed but people nonetheless and the book reminds that we should treat them as they are: humans who we should be kind to. He does this brilliantly and easily, which in and of itself is a challenge. I highly recommend this book. It's an important one in this day and age.