Talk about a timely book! The Turnaway Study takes on abortion and gives insight in to actual women who have had to face such a decision - then what happened to them. It follows them for ten years and illustrates what has happened in their lives. Very interesting!

A fascinating must read for both men and women. Especially those trying to make a decision as to a woman's right. Diana's 10 year study brings to the forefront information that has been missing for anyone to take a real stand on the issue. Real women, real results proving that it is more detrimental for women to be denied an abortion, than it is for women who are able to have one. The data substantiates the fact that women do not make a hasty and rash decision, but think long and hard before the decision is made. Those who are denied the right to an abortion suffer both emotionally and financially. The socioeconomic and mental impact are real and can be felt for years to come, if not for a lifetime.

THE TURNAWAY STUDY, aka the well-designed, longitudinal abortion research study we all needed. This multi-site, 21-state study directly compared outcomes for three groups of people who needed abortions: first-trimester patients, patients just below the gestational limit, and patients just above the limit. Participants were interviewed twice a year for 5 years about many aspects of their lives: their emotional, mental, and physical health, their feelings about abortion, their finances, their parenting decisions, and their children’s well being.

PURPOSE OF THE BOOK: This book isn’t about moral arguments. It is just directly comparing women’s outcomes in these parallel situations. In a debate that has long depended on gut instincts from the anti-abortion side -- e.g. the incorrect anti-abortion argument that women probably feel long term shame and regret after having an abortion-- it is refreshing to hear facts that can directly disprove these claims. This is evidence that we need for court cases and political decision-making, even if the feminist arguments work for most pro-choice people. Will this change people’s minds if they are on the anti-abortion end of the spectrum? It may depend on why they actually hold those views. I think it is naive to say that statistics like these are enough to dramatically change the tides, especially when we have to consider some of the more fundamental reasons why politicians don’t want people to have abortions (like capitalism).

TARGET AUDIENCE: As a scientist, I really appreciated the research design (so solid!) and discussions of things they wish they did differently (e.g. the researchers and I both wish they had included trans and non-binary participants, and people terminating pregnancies because of health risks). But, the target audience isn’t limited to scientists: the points are made clearly and concisely, and often repeated to ensure that people are able to come away with the key results of this multifaceted study.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE: This was less impressive than the research design. Between each section of the book, there is a long-form narrative from the POV of somebody in the study who had an abortion or was turned away from an abortion. These were a diverse group of narrators with different ethnic backgrounds, ages, employment statuses, and relationship and family situations, pro- and anti-abortion. I didn’t love that the same quotes were interspersed throughout the research chapters of the book: Foster still had to provide context about their backstories because we hadn’t always gotten to their long-form narrative yet, and it made things seem repetitive at times.

AUTHOR'S PERSONAL ELEMENTS: Since they were limited, I felt like Foster’s own anecdotes and personal perspectives often felt out of place. There is one line about how we can’t blame “our growing waistline” on our children, an anecdote of waiting for an anti-abortion person to leave a party before sharing personal stories, etc. Near the end of the book, Foster shared stories of abortion from her own family, but this long personal story almost felt like an afterthought, especially in combination with its odd placement in between additional POVs and the concluding research chapters.

I’ll leave you with some findings from the book that I’ve been telling everybody who will listen:
-No evidence was found that abortion hurts women: in fact, short-term mental health harm came from the denial of abortion services. It was most common to have no emotional long-term response to having had an abortion.
-Women should be trusted: “We find that the reasons women give for wanting an abortion strongly predict the consequences they experience when they are denied that abortion.”
-95% of the women who had abortions said having the abortion was the right decision for them.
-Women who were denied abortion services experienced worse financial outcomes: after being denied, their credit scores significantly decreased and financial events like bankruptcies increased, and throughout the 5 year period, they did not catch back up to those who received an abortion.
-Women who were denied an abortion were more likely to have poor emotional bonding with the child.
-Women who received the abortion experienced a dramatic reduction in the incidence of abuse, unlike those who were turned away.

This is an important book. A review of the first study to look at the impact having or not having an abortion when faced with an unwanted pregnancy, this book fills an important gap in our documentation of the effect laws and regulations have on women's lives.

The subtitle of The Turnaway Study says it all: "Ten Years, a Thousand Women, and the Consequences of Having -- or Being Denied -- an Abortion."
The author alternates chapters on research and reasons for/against abortion with women telling their own experiences.
A paragraph speaks volumes: one-fourth to one-third of women in the U.S.A. will have abortions during their lives. Consequently, it is likely that a strong anti-abortion Republican has at least a friend, relative, colleague, neighbor, or patient who has had an abortion. The chances are slim that one of them will ever explain to this Republican the reasons.
I am curious if any people who are strongly against abortion will read this book and even more curious if it will change their opinions.
Highly recommended book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

This is an essential book for anyone wanting a comprehensive understanding of abortion in the United States. Foster takes an academic study, analyzes it in lay terms, and intersperses data with the words of the women who took part in the study. She looks at abortion from so many different angles, and really considers the impact of both receiving and being denied an abortion. The issue is humanized with the women's narratives, but Foster also does a phenomenal job of doing so simply by writing in an understanding way that evokes compassion. This is a must-read.

Diana Greene Foster opens the conversation about the abortion debate and its effects on women with first hand testimonial and data from a 10 year study. This book shows the positive and negative aspects of both an abortion and being turned away from a clinic due to being too late in the pregnancy. No matter what side you are on, the data doesn't lie and you might change your perspective even a little bit.

Amazing book, based on the findings Dr. Diana Green Foster's landmark study of the impact of abortion in the United States. I really appreciated the multiple angles this book took, without any type of political bias or undertone, as most literature on abortion tends to feature. The author focused purely on data interpretation and not just attitudes and beliefs around abortion, but the impact that abortion has on those who have had them and those who have been denied access. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a comprehensive education about this issue, without bias or judgement.

A tough but completely necessary read, The Turnaway Study is culturally significant in that it looks at the lives of both women who have abortions and those who have been turned away due to being past the first trimester. Both a longitudinal study and a personal reflection by the women, this book is both timely and deeply needed in this day and age.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.