Dangerous Pregnancies: Mothers, Disabilities, and Abortion in Modern America

“Dangerous Pregnancies is the story of how people came to realize that rubella causes birth defects. It was actually mothers who noticed first…It took a significant amount of time between moms noticing that if they had rubella while they were pregnant, their child might be born blind or die for people to pay attention. They said it enough times to enough people. The first person who really believed them seems to be a doctor in Australia, Norman Gregg. This book is so powerful because it shows how important it is to respect people when they say ‘No, something’s wrong. I don’t care what your tests say. I don’t care what your belief is about rubella being a minor disease. This is wrong.’ And it’s because of this that the rubella vaccine was able to be fast-tracked, and implemented as quickly as it was.” Read more...

The best books on Menstruation

Kate Clancy, Anthropologist