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Book Summary and Reviews of You Must Stand Up by Amanda Becker

You Must Stand Up by Amanda Becker

You Must Stand Up

The Fight for Abortion Rights in Post-Dobbs America

by Amanda Becker

  • Critics' Consensus (8):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2024, 272 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

The inspiring, on-the-ground story of the rising grassroots leaders in the abortion rights movement during the pivotal first year after Dobbs.

When the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization- overturning the constitutional right to abortion care-the country was thrown into chaos. Abortion providers and their patients faced sudden closures, new restrictions, and rapidly changing rules as nearly half of the states moved quickly to ban or severely curtail abortion access. Against this backdrop, an army of health care providers, lawyers, activists, and everyday people mobilized to protect what a majority of Americans want: legal abortion.

In You Must Stand Up, Nieman Fellow Amanda Becker provides a real-time portrait of the creative resistance that unfolded in America's first year without the protections of Roe v. Wade. Amidst daily shifts in health care access, new legal battles coming before partisan courts, and up-for-grabs state constitutions, Becker follows the leaders rising to meet these challenges-doctors and staffers turning to new financial and medical models to remain open and provide abortions, volunteers campaigning against antiabortion ballot initiatives, and medical students fighting to learn to provide what can be lifesaving care.

By depicting the splintered reality of post-Dobbs America, and by capturing how Americans have developed new ways to best protect their constitutional rights, Becker ultimately shows how outrage can beget hope, and give rise to a new movement.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"In this urgent chronicle of the year after Dobbs v. Jackson-the case that overturned Roe-Becker shadows a collection of individuals fighting courageously for reproductive rights...Her conversational tone and expertise on her subject matter render this...A beautifully crafted, thoroughly researched account of the state of reproductive rights after the Dobbs decision." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Writing in lucid prose, Becker covers complex legal battles in multiple states with elegance and efficiency, leaving the providers' own words ample room to breathe as they offer fascinating insights into what motivates them. It adds up to an inspiring portrait of persistence." ―Publishers Weekly

"Becker follows the compelling stories of abortion care providers, activists, politicians, and others as they fight to protect or regain the right to an abortion in states across the country…Clear, well researched, and timely." ―Booklist

"Amanda captures a critical moment in the history of abortion rights in the United States, and tells an astounding story about how outrage can be a vehicle for change even when the most powerful court in the country turns its backs on the most vulnerable of us." ―Camonghne Felix, author of Dyscalculia

"In this sprawling, enraging, and ultimately galvanizing book, Amanda Becker looks at post-Roe America: The devastation, but also the determination; the tsunami of challenges, and the many, many women and men who rose to meet them with unrivaled courage and creativity. You Must Stand Up tells the definitive story of what happened when the national right to abortion ended in America-and, more importantly, looks to some of the nation's most heroic women to show us all what comes next." ―Jill Filipovic, author of Ok Boomer, Let's Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind and The H-spot: The Feminist Pursuit Of Happiness

"Meticulously researched and compulsively readable, You Must Stand Up documents in searing detail the challenges and horrors of the post-Roe landscape. This is required reading for anyone trying to make sense of our current moment." ―Melissa Murray, author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Trump Indictments: The Historic Charging Documents With Commentary

This information about You Must Stand Up was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Amanda Becker

Amanda Becker is a 2023 Nieman Fellow and Washington correspondent for The 19th. She has covered the U.S. Congress, the White House, and elections for more than a decade. Becker previously worked at Reuters and CQ Roll Call. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Glamour magazine. Her political coverage has also been broadcast on National Public Radio. She lives in Washington, D.C.

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