LEADER 00000pam  2200385 i 4500 
003    DLC 
005    20230601083243.0 
008    220708s2023    nyu      b    001 0beng   
010      2022032437 
020    9780306826795|q(hardcover) 
040    DLC|beng|erda|cDLC|dNjBwBT|dIMmBT|dUtOrBLW 
042    pcc 
043    n-us-ny 
082 00 362.1988/80973|aB|223/eng/20220708 
092    362.19888|bWRI 
100 1  Wright, Jennifer,|d1986-|eauthor. 
245 10 Madame Restell :|bthe life, death, and resurrection of old
       New York's most fabulous, fearless, and infamous 
       abortionist /|cby Jennifer Wright. 
250    First edition. 
264  1 New York :|bHachette Books,|c2023. 
300    xv, 334 pages ;|c24 cm 
336    text|btxt|2rdacontent 
337    unmediated|bn|2rdamedia 
338    volume|bnc|2rdacarrier 
504    Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-325) and 
       index. 
520    "Madame Restell is a sharp, witty Gilded Age medical 
       history which introduces us to an iconic, yet tragically 
       overlooked, feminist heroine: a glamorous women's 
       healthcare provider in Manhattan, known to the world as 
       Madame Restell. A celebrity in her day with a flair for 
       high fashion and public, petty beefs, Restell was a self-
       made woman and single mother who used her wit, her 
       compassion, and her knowledge of family medicine to become
       one of the most in-demand medical workers in New York. Not
       only that, she used her vast resources to care for the 
       most vulnerable women of the city: unmarried women in need
       of abortions, birth control, and other medical assistance.
       In defiance of increasing persecution from powerful men, 
       Restell saved the lives of thousands of young women; in 
       fact, in historian Jennifer Wright's own words, "despite 
       having no formal training and a near-constant steam of 
       women knocking at her door, she never lost a patient." 
       Restell was a revolutionary who opened the door to the 
       future of reproductive choice for women, and Wright brings
       Restell and her circle to life in this dazzling, sometimes
       dark, and thoroughly entertaining tale. In addition to 
       uncovering the forgotten history of Restell herself, the 
       book also doubles as an eye-opening look into the 
       "greatest American scam you've never heard about": the 
       campaign to curtail women's power by restricting their 
       access to healthcare. Before the 19th century, abortion 
       and birth control were not only legal in the United States,
       but fairly common, and public healthcare needs (for women 
       and men alike) were largely handled by midwives and female
       healers. However, after the Birth of the Clinic, newly-
       minted male MDs wanted to push women out of their space-by
       forcing women back into the home and turning medicine into
       a standardized, male-only practice. At the same time, a 
       group of powerful, secular men-threatened by women's 
       burgeoning independence in other fields-persuaded the 
       Christian leadership to declare abortion a sin, rewriting 
       the meaning of "Christian morality" to protect their own 
       interests. As Wright explains, "their campaign to do so 
       was so insidious-and successful-that it remains largely 
       unrecognized to this day, a century and a half later." By 
       unraveling the misogynistic and misleading lies that put 
       women's health in jeopardy, Wright simultaneously restores
       Restell to her rightful place in history and obliterates 
       the faulty, fractured reasoning underlying the very 
       foundation of what has since been dubbed the "pro-life" 
       movement. Thought-provoking, character-driven, funny, and 
       feminist as hell, Madame Restell is required reading for 
       anyone and everyone who believes that when it comes to 
       women's rights, women's bodies, and women's history, women
       should have the last word"--|cProvided by publisher. 
600 10 Restell,|cMadame,|d1811-1878. 
600 10 Restell,|cMadame,|d1811-1878|vTrials, litigation, etc. 
650  0 Abortion services|zNew York (State)|zNew York|xHistory
       |y19th century. 
650  0 Abortion|zNew York (State)|zNew York|xHistory|y19th 
       century. 
650  0 Women in medicine|zNew York (State)|zNew York|vBiography. 
650  0 Patent medicines|zNew York (State)|zNew York|xHistory
       |y19th century. 
650  0 Trials (Abortion)|zNew York (State)|zNew York|xHistory
       |y19th century. 
655  7 Biographies.|2lcgft