Reviews for Life's work : a moral argument for choice
Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
*Starred Review* Parker was happily practicing and teaching obstetrics at the University of Hawaii when he was surprised by his outrage that, due to a new administration, the university hospital would soon limit abortions. Until then, Parker's Christian faith (which remains strong today) inspired him to leave abortions to his colleagues. At this crossroads, Parker determined that the truly Christian thing to do regarding unwanted pregnancy is to give women the help they need. He became an itinerant abortion provider, preaching the truth about reproductive rights, and traveling weekly throughout the South. The powerful story of his past emerges, too: an African American raised by a fierce mother in an impoverished Alabama town, he nurtured equally abiding loves for God and science and earned placements at college and medical school. With strong ethical arguments and firm moral footing, Parker calls on the words of Dr. King and the legacy of the civil rights movement to right himself in searching times; advocates tirelessly for women; and tells their stories here, paying special attention to often underserved women in poverty and women of color. Not all readers will be open to Parker and coauthor Miller's chronicle of women's at-risk rights, but those who are will find his perspective uniquely informed, extraordinarily empathic, and faith-deepened.--Bostrom, Annie Copyright 2017 Booklist
Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
"I believe that as an abortion provider I am doing God's work"a small but insistent red flag waved in the face of an angry political opposition.A fundamentalist Christian as an African-American youth in the Deep South, Parker had a road-to-Damascus moment when he "became enraptured with the idea of God's radical, egalitarian love"though, he adds, it took him time to sort through a lifetime of biblical literalism to gauge that while Scripture might be the work of God, it is also the work of a patriarchal culture in which men call the shots. As his medical practice with plenty of elements of ministry developed, Parker became an activist in defending women's reproductive rights up to and including abortion, which has put him squarely in the path of a well-funded, powerful anti-abortion lobby. Some of this book is polemical, some an aspirational memoir that speaks of his hard struggle to achieve a medical education in the face of institutional resistance: "Poor childrenare raised without a clear sense of their own horizons," he writes, "but rather with a systematic suppression of possibility, and a literal lack of access to pragmatic information about how successful people get things done." The polemical portion of the program is generally modestly argued, without much in the way of inflammatory rhetoric, though Parker is fully aware of what he's up against; the 2009 murder of his friend and colleague George Tiller, as he recounts, was a pointed reminder, but not the first. Throughout, Parker writes without irony on the depth and authenticity of his own Christian belief, which he insists allows for his medical practice, especially as a means of providing health care to underprivileged women. Valuable as both moral testimonial and as a medical memoir and sure to inspire heat as well as light. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal
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Parker, a Christian reproductive rights advocate and abortion service provider, provides an insightful view of the relationship between faith and medical services. Early in the book, he notes, "Experience is what you do with what happens to you," and builds his narrative around his life as a "materially challenged" African American growing up in the South in the 1970s. By weaving his own story with theory and practice, he helps dismantle the stereotypes that surround individuals in need of abortions and the practitioners who risk their lives to offer these women services. The text begins with moments from Parker's life, and he ultimately uses his autobiography to open up larger philosophical and political questions, all inflected with the Christian perspective. Two of the final chapters- "Preaching Truth" and "Black Genocide and the White Majority"-build strong theoretical arguments that deconstruct myths about abortion. VERDICT Parker writes from a place without judgment, and his voice resonates with compassion that is far too often lacking in discussions of abortion. A thought-provoking read of many sides of the issue.-Emily Bowles, Appleton, WI © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
