Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for granting me early access! What a devastating but important book.

This is a timely and important book given we are in an election year. It is the stories of 4 pregnant women in states that are turning back the rights to reproductive access to women. The impact on women's ability to control their own bodies moves beyond news headlines and policy and law to seeing these women's lives and decisions as they navigate what to do. The impact of these laws impact reproductive health in general and as these stories illustrate can have devastating impacts on women's bodies and lives.

Thank you to Netgalley and Doubleday Books for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.

Undue Burden is an important read. I hate that this book needs to exist and we are talking about a post Roe world - but this is what we are living in. And this book helped me see some of the implications I hadn’t thought about - from states where abortion is still legal but are too overwhelmed by the increased demand coming from other states to impacts on doctors learning about abortion care in states where it is now illegal.

This was a tough read because it’s so frustrating but I think it’s important for all of us to hear these personal stories and know these impacts. Parts felt a little long and could have been tightened up but overall I would definitely recommend. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

An engaging and enraging book that combines medical and political reporting with the personal stories of many who found themselves in need of medical care that was denied to them by the Dobbs decision and its aftermath.

DNF 42%

I struggled with this book for more than one reason. At first, it was because the subject matter is a tough one, but that’s not what stopped me. It was because of the subject matter that I gave this more of a chance than I normally give other books.

The reason I stopped was because the book felt very disorganized and it became hard to follow. It isn’t a particularly long book, but the way it is written made it feel interminable. The author cites real people’s stories to show how certain legislation has affected people, which is a great method to get her point across, except we receive many of these stories piece meal and mixed in with other stories before going back to the original story. It jumped around so much that I often struggled to keep people and stories straight. Since none of those people’s stories really felt complete to me, I can only assume (since this was a DNF for me) that the author does come back around to them eventually. If not, then that, too, is problematic.

One of the other reasons I struggled with this book was because it was very obviously biased. Don’t get me wrong, my politics fully align with the author’s here, but who was her audience exactly? Who is she writing to, trying to convince? I failed to find, in the 42% I read, anything new to add to the conversation outside of giving us real people’s stories. I’ll admit that the way some of those stories were written made it difficult to be sympathetic even, which if I struggled with that, someone of an opposing viewpoint would ignore completely. The bias of this book only seems to appeal to people already aligned with pro-choice politics, only succeeding to tell people who agree with them more of what they want to hear, just like social media algorithms. If the author wants to make a difference and change someone’s mind, this book isn’t going to do it. But maybe that’s not her intent. Again, I have to ask who her audience is.

Case studies of the impact of a post Dobbs world are necessary to the conversation if we hope to improve women’s healthcare, but unfortunately, I don’t see this book doing that. It was a good attempt but poorly executed.

The downfall of Roe in the United States saw people with a uterus at a higher risk for unsafe abortions. Shefali Luthra makes this point while examining case laws, primarily in Texas, prior to and after the fall of Roe. She also brought forth the stories of some who were directly effected by their respective state's decision to completely eliminate or severely restrict access to abortions. What's important to remember is abortions are a form of reproductive health. Many of the laws do not take the medical needs of the mother into consideration or rape/incest cases. Some laws do take the medical needs of the mother into consideration, but only as the mother is literally knocking at death's door where it's unknown if she could survive. The laws in many states have become so restrictive that many won't know they're pregnant before their state will not allow she/them/him access to an abortion.

Although I thought Luthra portrayed the aspects revolving around abortion care in a delicate light, the information got extremely repetitive. Her focus point of Florida, Texas, and Arizona with a little bit of New York and California, did not provide a wide geographical breathe to see how it effects all states. Obviously not all states have strict abortion laws, but the majority of them do. Their laws are also so similar that it gets repetitive in that way. The subjects of the stories primarily came from Texas and I wish we could have gotten to know others from throughout other geographical areas of the United States. By being published so soon after the downfall of Roe, Luthra isn't able to show the long term effects of the law's removal. Obviously states with less strict abortion laws were being frequented more often by those living outside the state, but how does that effect the healthcare of those living in the state in the long-term. The restrictive nature of both time and geographical areas focused on this text are a downfall to the overall point I believe Luthra is trying to make.

Thank you to Doubleday and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

I normally love this kind of book, with facts and policies combined with personal stories. The stories and policies illustrated important realtors of the effects of the changes in abortion laws on women’s health and healthcare in general across the country. Unfortunately it became very bogged down and repetitive by the length and similarly of these situations. It was difficult to keep reading, which I realize is illustrative of the many, many situations the author reports, so I think a little tightening and variation of the stories would have strengthened the narrative. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced digital of this book, which did not affect my review. I also partly listened to it on audio through my library when it was released.

Undue Burden dives into the impact of the overturning of Roe v. Wade through the experiences of multiple people. Shefali Luthra makes it clear, the fall of Roe is a public health crisis and we (as a country) have not reckoned with the impact that it has had. Luthra follows people who where not able to obtain an abortion, the struggles of getting appointments out of state (and finding ways to pay for them), making life threatening time sensitive choices under 6 week abortion bans, and many more. I really appreciated the inclusion of trans men and nonbinary folks because it's something that a lot of books about this topic leave out. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about the implications of abortion bans.

Undue Burden is a compelling deep dive and reflection on the ramifications of restricting abortion access in the United States. Luthra's analysis and storytelling are done with care and intention.

I have been passionately prochoice since I was 13 years old. I also had fetal surgery to save my own unborn babies. Life is long and complicated and we need access to all our possible reproductive options. Had I been unable to obtain the fetal surgery I would have had to travel to Colorado for an abortion. I was 18 weeks along.
I have had friends who had to travel to abort for their own reasons. I have also had friends who needed fertility treatments. I have been sick over the overturning of Roe for nearly two years now.
It is hard to watch the OBGYNs leave Idaho. It has been hard to witness pregnant people suffer.
And it all feels hopeless.
I appreciate this book and how they humanized these cases. Not everyone will get it and not everyone will have compassion for the individuals in the story, but I do. I feel for them.
We need to fix this.

I really appreciated the idea and effort behind this book. I’m glad there is writing about post Roe abortion care. UNDUE BURDEN is too long, though. It is extremely redundant. It is detailed in ways that do not add to the story/information being shared. The book is one note.

Undue Burden is a very important book for the time and Shfali Luthra clearly put a lot of research into the book. I found the stories very moving and definitely understood their pain and worries. Luthra has a way of telling the story and weaving them between the medical and legal realities.

Shefali Luthra has written a thorough and compelling account of what life is like for Americans seeking abortions now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade. I appreciated that she focused on the stories of everyday people who were struggling to regain control of their reproductive rights, alongside interviews with abortion clinic staff, doctors, activists, and others. She also writes in detail about the patchwork of laws, court rulings, ballot initiatives, and efforts by citizens in many states to either increase abortion access or further restrict it, and the ripple effects of those actions. A must-read for those interested in abortion rights in the United States.

Love the premise, and it’s so important to talk about the fallout and the impact of the decisions. The book itself is heavily informative and factual, and it’s going to appeal to very specific readers, so while it won’t be a right fit for our little libraries, it absolutely belongs in every major library around the country.

Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the ARC.