Hellen

3,5 stars.

I det tysta is a very solid book about Europe's abortion market, in particular the countries that currently consider abortion to be illegal and/or only allow it in very specific situations. Ireland, Poland and Malta are the European countries with the most limitations. In this book you'll find out how and why abortion laws in these countries have stagnated as opposed to the rest of Europe. Besides details on politics and society there's personal stories of women who chose to have an abortion (but didn't always actually get to have it) and how they experienced it. It's very clear that the low abortion numbers these countries strive after aren't low because their policies work, but because women go to illegal practises outside the country to have an abortion anyway, with all sorts of risks.

I think I was hoping for a bit more philosphical book about abortion, in that it would be a bit more about why abortion is such a problem to some people, but that's not what this book is about. It is a very strong overview of how restrictive abortion laws are being maintained, how society views them and most importantly, how they affect actual human beings.