Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom

If you are a staunch pro-lifer, this book is not for you. If, however, you believe lack of reproductive freedom to be the single greatest obstacle to women’s equality, and you fear the recent push to roll back abortion rights legislation, then Kathryn Kolbert and Julie F. Kay’s book Controlling Women may be the hope you’ve been looking for.

Kolbert and Kay’s genius lies as much in the organization of the book as in the content. Their history as litigators allows them a closer view of some of the most important aspects of the fight for reproductive rights, and they use that view to craft a narrative that considers more than Roe vs. Wade. Beginning the book with a chapter titled “Gender, Sex, Race, and Power” frames their argument and subsequent strategies as a fight that, while rooted in the right to reproductive freedom, is really a fight for bodily autonomy.

There is no room for arguing against Kolbert and Kay in this book; their informed, expert take is the road map for those millions of Americans who support access to safe, legal abortion. They outline how this freedom is under attack and what to do about it. As a teacher, I was particularly impressed with how they discuss the detrimental effects of the nearly non-existent sex education programs in the country and how, through small and simple changes, great progress may be made.

Controlling Women sugarcoats nothing and expects its readers to be ready to hear the truth. It is necessary and important and should be required reading for everyone who calls themselves a feminist or an activist in the field of reproductive freedom.