You're the Only One I've Told

July 27, 2020
In this nuanced and compassionate debut, Shah, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic in New York State, analyzes the social, financial, and legal barriers to abortion through the stories of people who have dealt with those hurdles. Shah highlights the experiences of women of color, and incorporates the perspectives of a trans person seeking an abortion and the male partner of a woman who chose to end her pregnancy. Each chapter documents one individual’s backstory and evolving feelings before taking up such issues as the growing prevalence of “fake health centers” that attempt to “coerce” women into continuing their pregnancy, the use of “junk science” (e.g., unproven links between abortions and breast cancer) by antiabortion policymakers and activists, and the criminalization of self-managed abortions. Shah is a fierce yet empathetic advocate for her own patients and those who have confided in her, and provides a wealth of resources for getting involved in reproductive health activism. Readers who have felt isolated or stigmatized in talking about their own abortions will find stories that resonate, while others will have their concept of who seeks an abortion broadened. This is a moving and deeply informed argument for abortion as a human right. Agent: Kristyn Keene, ICM Partners.

Starred review from July 1, 2020
Women's candid stories bear witness to the state of reproductive health care. Family medicine physician and chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood, Hudson Peconic, Shah has long served as a reproductive health advocate. As in recent books such as Diana Greene Foster's The Turnaway Study and Annie Finch's Choice Words, Shah's profiles of 17 women--of diverse racial, ethnic, and gender identity--testify to the complexities of choosing to abort a pregnancy. The author contextualizes each woman's story with information about reproductive rights and access in different states, treatment in various facilities, and the challenges a woman faces within different cultures. "Being a woman of color, specifically Indian American, and a daughter of immigrants," writes Shah, "has given me some insight to the intersections and complexities that come with being pregnant." Her subjects include an unmarried woman in Austin, Texas, forced to undergo a mandatory 24-hour waiting period before an abortion could be performed; a teenage daughter of West Indian parents who sought an abortion in the 1990s; a biracial 15-year-old granted judicial consent so she could proceed with an abortion; several women who chose abortion when faced with evidence of the fetus's severe abnormalities; and a genderqueer individual whose experience made Shah aware that "gender diversity among patients should be matched with gender diversity among health care providers." For some women, abortion was proscribed by their religious background or family beliefs; others were unable to be helped at Catholic hospitals, which provided other medical services. Some women were forced to go out of their home state, incurring huge expenses besides the cost of the procedure. "Abortion is health care," Shah writes. "But there is no other form of health care that requires patients to face as many obstacles." These moving stories, taken together, sharply reveal the connections among "reproductive justice, gender justice, racial justice, and economic justice." A strong contribution to discussions of reproductive rights.

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August 1, 2020
Once Shah, medical director of a New York State Planned Parenthood center, decided that it was important to be specific about her job?not just saying she was a doctor, but that she provided abortion services?she found that many women would share their story with her. Shah believes that sharing these stories is necessary in destigmatizing abortion, showing it is not only one of the safest medical procedures, but also extremely common. After an introduction covering the ways abortion rights have been politicized, limited, and attacked, Shah shares the stories of 17 people. While individuals' racial, gender, age, and socioeconomic diversity make each story different, their stories' similarities highlight the difficulties of receiving abortion services. Many must travel, endure needless waiting periods, face the judgment of protesters as well as health professionals, and figure out how to pay for a procedure often not covered by insurance. Shah places each person's experiences into a larger discussion about attacks on abortion services, and the disinformation that comes with them. An important addition to the field of reproductive justice.Women in Focus: The 19th in 2020(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)