The Fall of Roe

July 8, 2024
Roe v. Wade was brought down by “an elite strike force of Christian lawyers and power brokers” who, galvanized by the 2012 reelection of Barack Obama, enacted “a transformational decade” of behind-the-scenes change in American politics, according to this sweeping debut account. New York Times journalists Dias and Lerer recap how—in a departure from the “grassroots” tactics used to combat Roe since 1973, which mainly involved attempting to sway voters—this new, smaller coalition “methodically and secretly” worked to enact “a strategic, top-down takeover” that involved getting anti-abortion judges appointed, lobbying state legislatures to pass tighter abortion restrictions, and (in the wake of Missouri congressman Todd Akin’s use of the phrase “legitimate rape,” which lost him his seat in 2012) cleaning up how Republican candidates talk about their anti-abortion views. “They were far more organized than their opponents... ever knew,” Dias and Lerer assert, tracking the group’s tenacious leaders, including Susan B. Anthony List founder Marjorie Dannenfelser, and juxtaposing them with Planned Parenthood head Cecile Richards, whom the authors depict as caught playing defense. Dias and Lerer astutely highlight that, once Roe was overthrown, this same coalition moved on to other avenues for litigating the role of women in society, including promoting an anti-trans agenda. It’s a devastating postmortem of a resounding conservative political victory.

Starred review from July 15, 2024
A thorough investigation into howRoe v. Wade fell. "The antiabortion movement succeeded because most people did not believe it would." So write Dias, national religion correspondent for theNew York Times, and Lerer, aTimes political reporter, who interviewed hundreds of people and reported from 16 states and the District of Columbia. The authors organize the 36 chapters into four chronological parts. "The Righteous Fight" begins with the huge influence of Marjorie Dannenfelser, an antiabortion activist who viewed the movement as "a spiritual battle about what it means to be human." The authors go on to chronicle the history of Planned Parenthood, long supported by Republicans. In the second part, "The Political War," Dias and Lerer delineate how that support turned into opposition as the organization came to represent "the diminished power of traditional religion, gender roles, and families in American life." In a culture where Democratic voters proved to be unmotivated by abortion, the antiabortion movement was reemerging and gaining momentum among Republicans, especially social conservatives. "For more than forty years, the antiabortion movement was David, fighting Goliath," write the authors, "but the country had shifted, and they were giants." The third section, "The Chessboard," covers Trump's election and details how he garnered support among antiabortion voters. Following his victory, liberals were caught off guard; they had no planned response to the threat against abortion rights. In "The Fate of the Nation," the authors examine Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation and how the Supreme Court became "more conservative than at any other point in modern history." At that point, antiabortion leaders were able to flip the court. The book's greatest strength is the authors' comprehensive and incisive approach to explaining that "Roe did not just fall once, on June 24, 2022. Roe collapsed over a transformational decade." Devoid of rhetoric, this evenhanded work exemplifies outstanding reportage.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.