Summary: A young woman from eastern kentucky shares her story about the stigma and difficulty of navigating an unwanted pregnancy in a community where even the mention of abortion is taboo.
Abortion is a well debated issue, in life as we know it. In the piece "Abortion" the perspective given was very unique. A young man from Kentucky interviews a local woman about her view on abortion. She almost aborted her child, but was not successful. At the time that she got pregnant, she was experiencing difficulty with her husband, and was trying to get away from him. One day after crying and feeling low she decided to do something unthinkable. She squatted on the floor and inserted a coat hanger, into herself in a desperate attempt to abort the baby. She was not successful, but now she had to worry about having a healthy, child. She could have injured the child, because the object was sharp and pointy. She then speaks about the several challenges of having a baby at a young age, financially and emotionally. The narration was straight forward, but filled with feeling, which revealed that the piece was realistic. It flowed beautifully, but the ending was boring, it did not give the reader something to remember. Abortion is a well done piece. It is not going to end the debates on abortion but it gives a realistic insight on the activity, while providing good advice for young people.
This piece was interesting to me because to me abortion is an issue that I have two sides to. Although this piece didn?t make up my mind about abortion, I still strongly recommend it to everyone. The narration was very good because in the beginning the narrator described how pre-marital sex and abortion is looked upon from where he lives. When he says, ?Abortion is murder,? you really get the feeling that they believe abortion is wrong and when he talks about how nobody would even say the word abortion you can really feel the tension. Something the narrator could have done would have been to talk about his feelings on abortion, like does he follow his community?s opinions or does he stray to different feelings? Something that really set this story apart from other abortion stories is that the narrator interviewed someone who went through the process of being pregnant and stuck at a crossroads of what she should do. A very good thing about this piece is that ?Ruby? talks about her decision making process, like if she should follow her community?s opinions or follow her own conscience. When ?Ruby? talks about her pregnancy, you feel really sorry for her and you wonder what she is going to do. In conclusion, ?Ruby?s? dilemma shows us that there are more than two sides to the topic of abortion.
I have a lot of mixed emotions about this short piece. First up lets be clear about the fact that it?s a very important subject and a moving and important personal story.
A young girl brought up in Kentucky talks about her dilemma when she fell pregnant ? she?s in college and has a new not particularly happy marriage and knows the baby will foil her chances for a better future. But she fights with her husband who wants her to abort, saying she never will and then within the minute she?s describing her attempt at self abortion with a coat hanger.
How did she move from one point to another? What happens in the end? Does she keep her baby or not? Did she harm it when she tried to abort it? Why is there such a grey area about her life, marriage etc? This I feel is due to the narrator/producer. He has good instincts in selecting the story and persevering in his search for a personal point of view but I?m afraid the execution of it comes across as amateurish. His interruptions between the clips are just that ? interruptions rather than links between different points. The interview itself is done at a less than perfect quality and the edits spring out at you.
There?s a good story here ? both on a general as well as personal level. ?Ruby? has a story to tell that is of great interest, but she wasn?t guided in the right way. The interviewer needs to pin her down more to get that revealing anecdote or detail that will fill us in on her world ? it?s not enough for her to say that marriage wasn?t the same as dating. Hell who doesn?t know that? But if she said suddenly she?s alone every night with the dirty dishes, then we have an image in our heads. She talks well about her confusion about the baby ? but we need to know at the end how she resolves it and whether she?s come to terms with her decision.
This seems like a good first piece by a student who will make a good a good producer one day, but like Ruby, he needs more guidance.
WOW. Every so often, I come across a piece that just floors me, and this is definitely one of those pieces.
"Abortion" starts out by describing the community in which the story takes place. Listeners may stereotype the small town in which "the church is the community, and the community is the church", but even I, living in my Green-party dominated hippie haven, was surprised to hear that even the town's doctors wouldn't talk.
We then meet the story's protagonist, a young woman named Ruby with an unwanted pregnancy. Ruby starts out hopeful about her pregnancy, saying that she is willing to keep the baby, even if it means leaving her husband behind, but soon begins to have second thoughts, and in the most harrowing part of the story describes an attempted home abortion with a coat hanger.
This piece provides a timely and relevant look at an issue that is increasingly politicized, and its most effective quality is that both the narrator and the protagonist change their minds about abortion over the course of the piece. The very simple style adds greatly to the emotional gravity of the piece: instead of being edited into sound bites, Ruby's story is allowed to tell itself with no interference - the hallmark of an excellent radio piece.
Comments for Abortion
Produced by Russell Wright
Other pieces by Appalachian Media Institute
Rating Summary
4 comments
Kyra Joseph
Posted on December 10, 2006 at 04:44 PM | Permalink
Review of Abortion
Abortion is a well debated issue, in life as we know it. In the piece "Abortion" the perspective given was very unique. A young man from Kentucky interviews a local woman about her view on abortion. She almost aborted her child, but was not successful. At the time that she got pregnant, she was experiencing difficulty with her husband, and was trying to get away from him. One day after crying and feeling low she decided to do something unthinkable. She squatted on the floor and inserted a coat hanger, into herself in a desperate attempt to abort the baby. She was not successful, but now she had to worry about having a healthy, child. She could have injured the child, because the object was sharp and pointy. She then speaks about the several challenges of having a baby at a young age, financially and emotionally. The narration was straight forward, but filled with feeling, which revealed that the piece was realistic. It flowed beautifully, but the ending was boring, it did not give the reader something to remember. Abortion is a well done piece. It is not going to end the debates on abortion but it gives a realistic insight on the activity, while providing good advice for young people.
Janie Shorty
Posted on March 29, 2006 at 08:14 AM | Permalink
Review of Abortion
This piece was interesting to me because to me abortion is an issue that I have two sides to. Although this piece didn?t make up my mind about abortion, I still strongly recommend it to everyone. The narration was very good because in the beginning the narrator described how pre-marital sex and abortion is looked upon from where he lives. When he says, ?Abortion is murder,? you really get the feeling that they believe abortion is wrong and when he talks about how nobody would even say the word abortion you can really feel the tension. Something the narrator could have done would have been to talk about his feelings on abortion, like does he follow his community?s opinions or does he stray to different feelings? Something that really set this story apart from other abortion stories is that the narrator interviewed someone who went through the process of being pregnant and stuck at a crossroads of what she should do. A very good thing about this piece is that ?Ruby? talks about her decision making process, like if she should follow her community?s opinions or follow her own conscience. When ?Ruby? talks about her pregnancy, you feel really sorry for her and you wonder what she is going to do. In conclusion, ?Ruby?s? dilemma shows us that there are more than two sides to the topic of abortion.
Dheera Sujan
Posted on March 20, 2006 at 02:49 AM | Permalink
Review of Abortion
http://www.prx.org/pieces/9739
I have a lot of mixed emotions about this short piece. First up lets be clear about the fact that it?s a very important subject and a moving and important personal story.
A young girl brought up in Kentucky talks about her dilemma when she fell pregnant ? she?s in college and has a new not particularly happy marriage and knows the baby will foil her chances for a better future. But she fights with her husband who wants her to abort, saying she never will and then within the minute she?s describing her attempt at self abortion with a coat hanger.
How did she move from one point to another? What happens in the end? Does she keep her baby or not? Did she harm it when she tried to abort it? Why is there such a grey area about her life, marriage etc? This I feel is due to the narrator/producer. He has good instincts in selecting the story and persevering in his search for a personal point of view but I?m afraid the execution of it comes across as amateurish. His interruptions between the clips are just that ? interruptions rather than links between different points. The interview itself is done at a less than perfect quality and the edits spring out at you.
There?s a good story here ? both on a general as well as personal level. ?Ruby? has a story to tell that is of great interest, but she wasn?t guided in the right way. The interviewer needs to pin her down more to get that revealing anecdote or detail that will fill us in on her world ? it?s not enough for her to say that marriage wasn?t the same as dating. Hell who doesn?t know that? But if she said suddenly she?s alone every night with the dirty dishes, then we have an image in our heads. She talks well about her confusion about the baby ? but we need to know at the end how she resolves it and whether she?s come to terms with her decision.
This seems like a good first piece by a student who will make a good a good producer one day, but like Ruby, he needs more guidance.
Emily Raymond
Posted on March 18, 2006 at 12:14 PM | Permalink
Review of Abortion
WOW. Every so often, I come across a piece that just floors me, and this is definitely one of those pieces.
"Abortion" starts out by describing the community in which the story takes place. Listeners may stereotype the small town in which "the church is the community, and the community is the church", but even I, living in my Green-party dominated hippie haven, was surprised to hear that even the town's doctors wouldn't talk.
We then meet the story's protagonist, a young woman named Ruby with an unwanted pregnancy. Ruby starts out hopeful about her pregnancy, saying that she is willing to keep the baby, even if it means leaving her husband behind, but soon begins to have second thoughts, and in the most harrowing part of the story describes an attempted home abortion with a coat hanger.
This piece provides a timely and relevant look at an issue that is increasingly politicized, and its most effective quality is that both the narrator and the protagonist change their minds about abortion over the course of the piece. The very simple style adds greatly to the emotional gravity of the piece: instead of being edited into sound bites, Ruby's story is allowed to tell itself with no interference - the hallmark of an excellent radio piece.