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Argue Abortion and Other Reproductive Issues Like a Doc
“Argue Abortion (and other reproductive topics) Like a Doc� is here to dispel all the nonsense that’s thrown out in arguments about reproductive health. It’s not designed for academics; it’s designed for the politician who claimed a woman could swallow a camera to check on a pregnancy. Or the auntie who said eating papaya was as effective as oral contraceptives. This is the book that helps regular people sound smarter when they argue their point about birth control, Plan B, and D&Cs. It has pictures, analogies, and extra question boxes that make you think about your own opinions. To be clear, this book is not an argument for, or against, abortion rights. After all, everyone has seen enough of those. Instead, it’s an explanation of what happens in women’s bodies throughout the month (surprise � it’s ovulation and menstruation!), how contraceptives and emergency contraceptives work (not as abortifacients), and what the term abortion actually means in a medical sense. Written by a medical student and former EMT-B, this book will give you all the information you need to truly understand reproductive topics from a practical medical perspective, without boring you to death in the process.
199 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 12, 2023
4 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 16, 2023
The book's focus on providing factual, practical, and easy-to-understand information is its greatest strength. It aims to bridge the gap between medical knowledge and public discourse on reproductive health, making it accessible to a broad audience, including those not well-versed in medical terminology.
The book tackles common misconceptions and myths related to reproductive health, which are way too prevalent in the world! It takes a no-nonsense approach to dispelling falsehoods, making it a useful tool for individuals who wish to engage in meaningful conversations. Obviously, if you are arguing with someone who is beyond all reasoning, no book can help you. But this is a great resource for everyone who didn't get enough information about the medical aspects of reproductive health. This approach can appeal to a broader readership and facilitate more productive and fact-based discussions.
Nicole Ryan's background as a medical student and former EMT-B lends credibility to the book's content. Readers can trust that the information is grounded in medical knowledge and practical experience. I hope it can do a lot of good.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The book tackles common misconceptions and myths related to reproductive health, which are way too prevalent in the world! It takes a no-nonsense approach to dispelling falsehoods, making it a useful tool for individuals who wish to engage in meaningful conversations. Obviously, if you are arguing with someone who is beyond all reasoning, no book can help you. But this is a great resource for everyone who didn't get enough information about the medical aspects of reproductive health. This approach can appeal to a broader readership and facilitate more productive and fact-based discussions.
Nicole Ryan's background as a medical student and former EMT-B lends credibility to the book's content. Readers can trust that the information is grounded in medical knowledge and practical experience. I hope it can do a lot of good.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
January 1, 2024
Thanks to Book Sirens and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Requested this ARC from a new reviewing platform and I was pleasantly surprised! I think the title and cover don’t do this book any favors though. However, the content was SO GOOD! My school education on sex and reproduction was not good lol and there was so much I learned for sadly the first time, even about my own body. If you are someone who has tried to get pregnant or been pregnant before, then maybe a lot of this would not be new to you, but as someone who has never had any thoughts towards that process I really was blown away by how much I didn’t know.
The author takes you through exactly how human reproduction works, from ovulation and menstruation, to fertilization, and the growth and development of a fetus and what develops when and how. It was very accessible and she included lots of diagrams to aid in her explanations.
The ins and outs of reproduction were interesting, but what made this book great was that the author also walks you through all (at least the most common) things that can go wrong during pregnancy, to both the fetus and the mother, and why and when they occur in the fertilization or pregnancy process. She also goes through exactly how IVF works and compares the two processes, in addition to covering all of the types of abortion methods and how they work and when they don’t work as well. She covers birth control and how that works and why different methods are more effective than others, as well as Plan B. Did you know that Plan B won’t work if you have already ovulated recently?!
The author’s main goal with this book is to get people to understand the science of how reproduction and its associated issues actually work, and she poses ethical questions to readers throughout the book without making any statement of her own opinion on things like abortion and genetic screening, so this book should be accessible across political lines. She intersperses the text with quotes about the workings of women’s bodies and abortion from politicians that are so abysmally incorrect it is sad, and she addresses the scientific inaccuracies in them all. She is tired of people talking about things they don’t understand, so she really tries to explain all the relevant processes in a very clear way.
I found the ethical questions she poses throughout the book also interesting to reflect on, and appreciated the ways that this book has given me enough information to “Argue Abortion� Like a Doc!� (I still think the title is bad, sorry). Can’t wait to whip out this book whenever someone tries to argue some dumb shit like how a woman could swallow a camera to see her baby developing so that she won’t want to have an abortion (A real live American politician [Idaho representative Vito Barbieri] said this! These systems aren’t even remotely connected, Vito! Please read this book for the love of God!)
HIGHLY recommend to literally everyone, especially if your American (or otherwise) school system failed you in your understanding of your own body. And I will add a warning for sexual assault and pregnancy loss content.
Requested this ARC from a new reviewing platform and I was pleasantly surprised! I think the title and cover don’t do this book any favors though. However, the content was SO GOOD! My school education on sex and reproduction was not good lol and there was so much I learned for sadly the first time, even about my own body. If you are someone who has tried to get pregnant or been pregnant before, then maybe a lot of this would not be new to you, but as someone who has never had any thoughts towards that process I really was blown away by how much I didn’t know.
The author takes you through exactly how human reproduction works, from ovulation and menstruation, to fertilization, and the growth and development of a fetus and what develops when and how. It was very accessible and she included lots of diagrams to aid in her explanations.
The ins and outs of reproduction were interesting, but what made this book great was that the author also walks you through all (at least the most common) things that can go wrong during pregnancy, to both the fetus and the mother, and why and when they occur in the fertilization or pregnancy process. She also goes through exactly how IVF works and compares the two processes, in addition to covering all of the types of abortion methods and how they work and when they don’t work as well. She covers birth control and how that works and why different methods are more effective than others, as well as Plan B. Did you know that Plan B won’t work if you have already ovulated recently?!
The author’s main goal with this book is to get people to understand the science of how reproduction and its associated issues actually work, and she poses ethical questions to readers throughout the book without making any statement of her own opinion on things like abortion and genetic screening, so this book should be accessible across political lines. She intersperses the text with quotes about the workings of women’s bodies and abortion from politicians that are so abysmally incorrect it is sad, and she addresses the scientific inaccuracies in them all. She is tired of people talking about things they don’t understand, so she really tries to explain all the relevant processes in a very clear way.
I found the ethical questions she poses throughout the book also interesting to reflect on, and appreciated the ways that this book has given me enough information to “Argue Abortion� Like a Doc!� (I still think the title is bad, sorry). Can’t wait to whip out this book whenever someone tries to argue some dumb shit like how a woman could swallow a camera to see her baby developing so that she won’t want to have an abortion (A real live American politician [Idaho representative Vito Barbieri] said this! These systems aren’t even remotely connected, Vito! Please read this book for the love of God!)
HIGHLY recommend to literally everyone, especially if your American (or otherwise) school system failed you in your understanding of your own body. And I will add a warning for sexual assault and pregnancy loss content.
October 23, 2023
I’ve finished this book within two days. The author has a wonderful writing style (highly informational, non judgemental, factual) and I appreciate the tone of the book. She sometimes includes warnings, because the topics aren’t necessarily easy to read or think about. The book as a lot of helpful images, but as an ebook reader that doesn’t come across that well. If you think you know plenty about the reproductive process, you will be happily surprised with a few things you probably didn’t know. For instance: pregnancy is counted from the last period, not from the moment the egg is fertilized. The book is highly information dense and I wish it existed when I was in high school and learned about these topics (a lot seemed familiar, thankfully) and had to enter into discussion about the ethics. The thought provoking questions are really helpful. I’ve read this book for free through Booksirens.
August 27, 2024
Very useful chart with embryological development by timeframe.
July 19, 2024
Thank you to BookSirens, who provided me with an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The difficulty of rating this book fairly is that the author has undertaken the virtually impossible task unpacking the topic of abortion in a way that is not only politically and religiously neutral, but also understandable to people without a medical license. While the author never discusses a personal stance on the topic, it is clear through their careful, fact-based presentation of this topic that all logic and reason point to abortion being a necessary medical procedure which should not be legislated away by politicians who are in no way qualified to practice medicine.
The problem with taking this neutral approach is that it assumes that the reader will ever actually be able to engage in a rational, reasoned discussion of abortion with a person who is anti-choice. The long history of "pro-life" talking points in America has proven time and time again that those against choice are deeply unserious adversaries who have no actual interest in biological, medical, or legal facts. In a debate with someone guided entirely by their religious "morality", facts are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
I also want to commend the author for taking on the extremely labor-intensive task of breaking down reproductive biology for laypersons. As wonderful of an effort as it was, it still read like an advanced textbook at times and became difficult to follow as the book progressed. The human body is extremely complex and I'm sure it's nearly impossible to explain these things without using medical jargon, but it was often still too jargony for me to follow as someone who does not work in the medical field. I truly appreciate the effort though! The drawings helped simplify many concepts immensely.
If you are looking for a book of zingers to fire off at the anti-choice crowd, this will not be the book for you. I have to confess, I believed that was where the book would be heading, based on the title. It wasn't! However, if you'd like a fairly short and well-cited book to deepen your medical understanding of how abortion works and how the medical facts of the procedure apply to the abortion debate in its broader context, this is a really good place to start. I learned a lot. Unfortunately, I doubt that presenting any of this information to a group of people committed to intentionally misrepresenting facts in support of their religious moral high ground will change many minds.
The difficulty of rating this book fairly is that the author has undertaken the virtually impossible task unpacking the topic of abortion in a way that is not only politically and religiously neutral, but also understandable to people without a medical license. While the author never discusses a personal stance on the topic, it is clear through their careful, fact-based presentation of this topic that all logic and reason point to abortion being a necessary medical procedure which should not be legislated away by politicians who are in no way qualified to practice medicine.
The problem with taking this neutral approach is that it assumes that the reader will ever actually be able to engage in a rational, reasoned discussion of abortion with a person who is anti-choice. The long history of "pro-life" talking points in America has proven time and time again that those against choice are deeply unserious adversaries who have no actual interest in biological, medical, or legal facts. In a debate with someone guided entirely by their religious "morality", facts are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
I also want to commend the author for taking on the extremely labor-intensive task of breaking down reproductive biology for laypersons. As wonderful of an effort as it was, it still read like an advanced textbook at times and became difficult to follow as the book progressed. The human body is extremely complex and I'm sure it's nearly impossible to explain these things without using medical jargon, but it was often still too jargony for me to follow as someone who does not work in the medical field. I truly appreciate the effort though! The drawings helped simplify many concepts immensely.
If you are looking for a book of zingers to fire off at the anti-choice crowd, this will not be the book for you. I have to confess, I believed that was where the book would be heading, based on the title. It wasn't! However, if you'd like a fairly short and well-cited book to deepen your medical understanding of how abortion works and how the medical facts of the procedure apply to the abortion debate in its broader context, this is a really good place to start. I learned a lot. Unfortunately, I doubt that presenting any of this information to a group of people committed to intentionally misrepresenting facts in support of their religious moral high ground will change many minds.
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