Marcy Bloom joins as a guest blogger, sharing moments with a new book (cover at right) and its author, Dr. Susan Wicklund, an abortion doctor. Marcy, a reproductive health activist in Seattle, writes for RH Reality Check, drawing upon her unique experience as the former executive director for Arcadia Women's Health Center and as the U.S. rep for the Mexican-based GIRE. Marcy writes:
There are countless books written about abortion, abortion rights, and reproductive rights—and Dr. Susan Wicklund has managed to craft a truly unique story. Dr. Wicklund came to the Pacific Northwest in February to speak to audiences in Seattle and Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon about her compelling book.
This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Provider (written with Alan Kesselheim) is an emotionally powerful story of Dr.Wicklund and the many women she has helped during her two decades of flying and driving hundreds of miles every week as one of the scarce providers of safe abortion care for the women of four Midwest states (Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Dakota). At the same time, she has also fled from anti-choice vigilantes who have threatened her and her family, tracked her down ,and blockaded her, at home, chased her at clinics, and harassed her at airports. She has been forced to wear elaborate disguises in her attempts to outwit and outrun them and arrive at the clinics without being harmed or killed.
Being an abortion provider is risky work in this country.
At the several bookstores, university classes, and house parties where Dr.Wicklund movingly spoke of her life and book, I was continuously impressed by her bravery, her absolute commitment to her work, and her desire to bring the issue of abortion out into the open by encouraging women to tell their abortion stories as she also tells her own
.
The Pacific Northwest “No More Secrets!” Book Tour was spearheaded by the Seattle chapter of the National Organization for Women, and co-sponsored by fifteen diverse community organizations, all committed to improving access to safe abortion care and destigmatize abortion. Dr. Wicklund’s eloquent words and her dedication remind us, yet again, of the increasing crisis in abortion care provision in the US and how keeping abortion “a common secret” harms and shames women by attempting to silence women’s experiences and lives.
Eighty-seven percent of US counties do not have an abortion provider—that number rises to 97% in rural areas. One-third of US women travel more than 50 miles to access safe abortion care—all of this in a country where abortion has been legal for 35 years.
This is a disgrace, and Dr.Wicklund passionately addresses these issues as she also tells the stories of the women she has seen and how she came to this important work in the first place.
She describes her work as an abortion provider as a privilege and an honor. It’s also her job and her calling, and it is can be dangerous. She wears a bulletproof vest and often carries a gun; in fact, she has been known to keep a gun under her pillow. These are chilling images.
I have worked in the field of reproductive health and justice for many years and have received several death threats in my life. “Several” is the operative word. I am not confident that I could have successfully coped with the nature and number of threats that Dr.Wicklund has received, which has caused enormous disruption to her health, well-being, and personal life. Her dedication to women is admirable and she is truly a hero for all of us.
Hers is a story for all time. Read and recommend This Common Secret—you will not easily forget Sue Wicklund, the women she helps, the dedicated staff women of the clinics where she works, her beloved daughter Sonja, and her supportive family and friends.
The story of her beloved “flower” grandmother, who harbors a tragic secret for more than fifty ears, will break your heart. It reminds us of the days when women died for attempting to control their lives and futures. This moving memoir reminds us that we must never return to that.
by Marcy Bloom
Pictured above: Book jacket, This Common Secret
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