THIS COMMON SECRET My Journey as an Abortion Doctor SUSAN WICKLUND WITH ALAN KESSELHEIM

"An invaluable contribution, a clear-eyed account that rises above the incessant squawking that characterizes our national obsession."
—San Francisco Chronicle

"This heartfelt book provides welcome personal stories on the frontlines of the contentious abortion debate."
—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"A rare glimpse into the life of an abortion provider…. In setting down her story, Wicklund has done something brave, not only by refusing to cower in the shadows but also by recounting experiences that don't always fit the conventional pro-choice script…. Wicklund may never convince the protesters who demonized her that women should be free to make such decisions on their own. In sharing her secrets she has shown why there is much honor in having spent a lifetime attempting to ensure they do."
—New York Times Book Review

"Wicklund tells riveting stories about patients she has treated during nearly 20 years as an abortion provider. Her book is effective, perhaps that's because she's not claiming to prove one objective truth, just conveying her own experience—and because she has good, multifaceted stories to tell. Clear-eyed depictions of abortion services, and the close-up descriptions of the women Wicklund has treated, are the source of the book's power. And Wicklund's sensitivity to the fraught nature of abortion, as some women experience it, makes her stories of the damage wrought by the "antis," as she calls them, more credible and vivid."
—Washington Post

"Gripping, deeply moving . . . a compelling memoir."
—Christian Science Monitor

"Too often the abortion debate is framed in abstractions about the ‘unborn' and their rights. This Common Secret puts flesh and blood on the issue and gives it a woman's face. Thank you, Susan Wicklund, both for your amazing courage as an abortion provider and for your wonderful honesty and openness as a writer."
—Barbara Ehrenreich

"Ms. Wicklund's book, This Common Secret, is a rarity in this day and age – the odyssey of a courageous woman who refuses to compromise her morality and is willing to pay an enormous price for acting on her compassion and sense of justice without ever stooping to a flicker of self-pity. This book is at times funny, often horrifying, and, like Ms. Wicklund herself, always inspiring."
—Margot Kidder