Without Exception: Reclaiming Abortion, Personhood, and Freedom

Pam Houston is perhaps best known for her writings on the West. In this collection of sixty short essays (one for each year of her life), she tackles a different landscape: the rapidly shifting politics around abortion. In the wake of the Dobbs decision that overturned much of Roe v. Wade, women have felt vulnerable and threatened, recognizing that their personal autonomy, their own decisions about their bodies and futures, are under attack. Ms. Houston writes passionately about her reproductive lifespan, from first menstruation through menopause, including the three abortions she was able to choose. In each instance, she chose “the working life over a life of raising children.” She recognizes, too, that the same forces that threaten the wild world she so loves and in which she makes her home are those that want “control over women’s bodies, the same machine that wants women pregnant and without resources and too overwhelmed to fight for a world in which we all can thrive.” The book includes excerpts from the dissenting Supreme Court justices (all women). These brief essays, full of grief, anger, and beauty, are like the ringing of a bell that clearly and compellingly sounds the alarm.