“Abortion Knows No Strangers”
Mary Ann Sorrentino, author,
Abortion -- The A Word
Mary Ann Sorrentino, former executive director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island and author of the newly published Abortion: The A Word, introduces us to the women she has known who have faced the decision whether or not to terminate their pregnancy. She helps us understand that these are not ‘loose women’ as many people like to think; they are our sisters, our mothers, our best friends, our neighbors, super achievers in the business world, students at the local college. They are people we know and love. In Future Choices production, “Abortion Knows No Strangers,” Mary Ann provokes each us to engage proactively in the movement for abortion rights, for the sake of the woman or women in our own circle who will need to make a difficult choice about their pregnancy.
While Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun expressed his admiration by writing: “Your personal experiences are remarkable and resulted in an exercise of great courage on your part. I am in your debt,” the Catholic Church publicly declared Mary Ann Sorrentino excommunicated and called her “public enemy number one of the unborn.” She is a leading abortion rights advocate, former Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island, and she comes to Future Choices in "Abortion Knows No Strangers" provoke each us to engage proactively in the movement for abortion rights, for the sake of the woman or women in our own circle who will need to make a difficult choice about their pregnancy.
Mary Ann Sorrentino's book, Abortion: The A Word, puts a face on abortion, reminding us that women seeking to terminate their
pregnancy are not ‘loose women’ as many people like to think. They are our sisters, our mothers, our best friends, our neighbors, super achievers in the business world, students at the local college. They are people we know and love.
"HERE'S A BOOK THAT ONLY SHE COULD WRITE -- There were the death threats. There were mornings she felt uneasy about starting her car. There was the church official who called her public enemy number one of the unborn. She could handle it. It came with the territory. It came with being the most outspoken advocate for abortion rights in Rhode Island. Mary Ann Sorrentino was executive director of Planned Parenthood in the most Catholic state in the country. She knew there would be ugly, sometimes vicious fallout. She was a Catholic working to provide women with a choice her church considered the darkest sin." READ FULL EDITORIAL REVIEW ON AMAZON.COM .
Mary Ann Sorrentino says that a major reason she has written this book is that "we want young people to have a fire in their belly about this right" to make their own choice about a problem pregnancy. Her book is not an academic tome. Rather, she has written a lively anecdote-driven and eloquent tribute to the cause she believes in. "The niche for this book," she asserts, "is college campuses because it is written for these women."
Sources of additional information about reproductive and abortion rights referenced during "Abortion Knows No Strangers:"
- NARAL -- especially to receive their emails which keep you up to date with the ever-changing complex of this issue.
- Catholics for Free Choice -- the foremost authority on the religious perspective of abortion issue. Their superlative magazine, "Conscience ," published 3-4 times per year, is alone worth the 'price of admission.' Not surprisingly this magazine recently ran a very favorable review of Abortion: The A Word.
Beware, she warns, of corporations whose profits are poured into efforts to stop women from exercising their freedom of choice. Particularly offensive to Mrs. Sorrentino:
- Curves, the exercise chain
- Domino's Pizza
- Marriott Hotels
And do be very aware of who you are going to vote for. Be sure you understand where these candidates stand on issues which might severely impact those people who are most affected by any change in laws which restrict their access to freedom of choice.
Buried among prairie dogs and amateur animation shorts on YouTube is a curious little mini-documentary shot in front of an abortion clinic in Libertyville, Ill. The man behind the camera is asking demonstrators who want abortion criminalized what the penalty should be for a woman who has one nonetheless. You have rarely seen people look more gobsmacked. It's as though the guy has asked them to solve quadratic equations. Here are a range of responses: "I've never really thought about it." "I don't have an answer for that." "I don't know." "Just pray for them." Read this compelling article by Anna Quindlen in the Aug. 6, 2007 issue of Newsweek.
Mary Ann Sorrentino was Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of RI, from 1977-1987 when it opened the first outpatient abortion clinic in RI, the most Roman Catholic state in the union (65%.) Predictably and of necessity, Sorrentino became, and remains, a leading advocate for reproductive rights and women’s rights in general. In 1985, the diocese of Providence tried to prevent her then 15-year-old daughter from being confirmed, and publicly declared Sorrentino excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church in a first-ever such declaration. Her case is still widely cited by legal and religious scholars and is a benchmark in canon law. Read further about her energetic career fighting for reproductive freedom!