She doesn't pull punches in her descriptions of abortion procedures. That ended when she spoke up and threatened to go to the press. Wicklund quickly realized that women coming in for gallbladder surgery and other non-ob/gyn related surgeries were being used without their consent to teach pelvic anatomy. She tells a tale where she discovered during medical school that med students were learning pelvic anatomy and the attending physician 'told us that the best way.was to do an exam on a relaxed pelvis and that a woman under general anesthesia was ideal.' Dr. Wicklund's courage is not isolated in her performing abortions. If you plan to read this book and you should, grab a box of tissues, you will need them.a lot.ĭr. They printed the first chapter of This Common Secret, which I've read many times, yet rereading it a few days ago still made me have to put the book down and weep. I first learned of this book through the Fall 2007 issue of Ms.

These are heart-wrenching stories of despair, rape, incest, and eventually hope. After becoming a doctor she weaves in stories of the women and girls she met in the clinics she worked in. Wicklund tells her tale starting just before she decided to go to college AFTER being a young mom and eventually heading off to medical school. Them and their loved ones go through a gauntlet that most of us could not survive.ĭr. Wicklund and by proxy every abortion provider in this country are heroes. After decades of following the reproductive rights movement and being an activist for the past decade, I thought I had an idea of what was going on. Susan Wicklund paints in This Common Secret. They sat on my keyboard unsure of what words to type out as my mind was paralyzed by the harrowing picture that Dr.

This Common Secret by Susan Wicklund