Book Review: Deep Care

Image: The cover of the book is a purple background with a black line illustration of three people locked arm in arm in protest and two more harms holding each others hands at the bottom. In large gold lettering are the words Deep Care and in smaller white lettering between those two words is the byline: the radical activists who provided abortions, defied the law, and fought to keep clinics open. At the bottom in tiny white letters is the author's name, Angela Hume.

 Angela Hume's Deep Care is a gorgeous ethnography of resilience and resistance. Hume's focus is predominantly on "Self Help" movements and other abortion activism and defense in the Bay Area from the 1970s-90s, which allows for a lot of interesting specificity and a deeper understanding of what it was like to be involved in feminist movements during these times in that area. "Self Help" in its original use and context was not a "get healthy with these 5 easy steps" book. It was a form of community healthcare and mutual aid based in knowing ourselves and each other and providing for all of our needs. She described her intent to create a work of historical scholarship and political theory in order to "educate, agitate, and inspire." Growing up conservative, she describes this book as "the biggest no of her life," after a life where she often wasn't allowed to say no.

Hume's writing style is accessible and inviting. I often felt like I was in the room with the people whose history she described (even to the point of having a little too much of an empathetic reaction during descriptions of procedures.) Hume uses materials and story telling from the time period to show the kind of education and practice that was going on in circles of the womens movement both before abortion became as politicized as it is now and after. There is a lot of focus on the legacy of Pat Parker- stellar organizer and poet- who is no longer with us to be interviewed. The people who were able to be interviewed varied greatly in both demographics and ability to be exposed, so pseudonyms are used at times. Some of my favorite people were anarchists using pseudonyms that I hope I can run into some day by accident. 

I thought frequently during this book about how we discuss medical history- these brilliant white men and their knowledge and discoveries, sometimes bravely testing things on each other, sometimes horrifically practicing on enslaved and marginalized people. These men end up in history books and medical texts. I do not see the history of abortion providers and their amazing ingenuity, persistence, brilliance, and bravery in general texts.

There is more inclusion of racial justice and sexuality in this book than other texts I have read about abortion. I had never heard of the group RAW (Roots Against War) before this book and they were one of my favorite organizations. As with any movement that spans identities and struggles, there is also much discussion of the struggles and infighting that occur in many radical movements. How do we pay for things while also not being profit driven? Is there an ethical way to use capitalism to pay for clinic services so they do not disappear? How do we get the word out while also staying safe? Race, sexuality, and class disparities resulted in conflict at times- much of which was solvable, some of which was not. The reality of sacrifice is very present through the entire book- people barely holding it together while making abortion and other gynecological healthcare their entire life. Lots of fear and burnout, especially when antis were showing up to beat and murder people. I know from my own experiences that many of them use anti-abortion as a smokescreen for misogyny and bloodlust. I have met anti-choicers who have said and done some of the most vile things I have ever seen, making it near impossible for me to believe any of them cares about wittle babies- especially the men.

There are also age-old disagreements about tactics and level of risk. Clinic defense was obviously a critical part of the movement keeping clinics alive at all- this book made me see this as even more prevalent than I realized. Yet, today some people (usually admirable and hard working clinic workers and volunteers from Planned Parenthood) argue that no one else but the antis (and clinic escorts) should be out there in order to reduce the commotion around the clinic. I very much understand this perspective and also disagree with it. The history in this book made me disagree with it even more. 

When I was involved in clinic defense in the past, it worked best when we worked with those who worked and volunteered at the clinic, rather than just show up and do our own thing. We did things like distract the "counselors" from harassing patients, created large affirming signs of support that we used to cover antis' grotesque and misinforming imagery, and found ways to drown them out while keeping things as chill as possible. Patients actually liked it as did escorts. We all learned about each others strengths and weaknesses. But, there came a time when it did get too rowdy outside as each side amplified their level of aggresison and we backed off. I still think it was and is the right thing to do to find ways to combat antis while showing support for patients. The kinds of clinic defense described in this book were creative and inspiring. After the repeal of Roe v Wade, and after reading about clinic defense against operation rescue (christo-fascist anti-choicers willing to kill abortion providers,) I wonder if clinic defense needs to hardcore come back into style. How much has seeing only anti-choicers with giant gory signs at clinics and never any dissenting voices affected abortion access overall? What I would like to see even more is organizing against fake clinics that pose as abortion clinics then lie to and abuse patients into staying pregnant. 

 Another discussion I liked was an opposition to the characterization as "just a medical procedure." I had not thought of it this way, but we can discuss how abortion is healthcare without trying to hide it as being exactly like anything else. It is a valid form of healthcare regardless of its similarity to other procedures. Lori (not her real name) was a favorite of the book as she talked frankly about death and complications. We don't need to pretend that abortion care- or any healthcare- never has complications (I am writing this while suffering cancer surgery and treatment complications despite having skilled and caring practitioners) nor do we need to pretend there is never any death involved in human life. 

Those who moved on from Self Help to become trained nurses and doctors caution against seeing this history as a simple explanation of how things can be for abortion access. While these people created amazing Self Help movements out of necessity, abortion is still done ideally by medical professionals in a society where healthcare is free or at least affordable and in a setting that meets the medical needs of whatever the procedure is (be it pills to take home or an in office procedure.) I think the history in this book is important to understand how we got to more accessible abortion and how to get back to that and beyond, rather than as a call for everyone to learn and start practicing menstrual extraction. However, it may come to that and in the worst case, of abortion continuing to become less and less accessible, these types of groups may be the only option. 

Hume includes various ideas for actions we can take going forward that are helpful and thorough. The only thing I yearned a bit more for in this book is a discussion of clinic defense today with the activists involved in clinic defense in the 80s and 90s. We do hear the perspective of a person who designed the (brilliant, necessary) clinic escort system. She suggests that patients don't want to walk through an even larger protest, which I understand. But, to the clinic defenders from RAW and BACAOR (Bay Area Coalition Against Operation Rescue,) do they believe the same kinds of actions should be taken today? What new tactics could be used to match things we have learned and diverging opinions about protesting antis and defending clinics? I could listen to anyone in this book talk for hours and never get bored.

Overall, this is one of the best texts of abortion history that I have had the pleasure to read. While the focus on the Bay Area limits the knowledge of the Self Help movements at large, it also allows a more intimate understanding and experience of part of the movement- something equally valid and important. This book is well written and absolutely did educate, agitate, and inspire me. 

This was also posted to my goodreads.