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An Accidental Life by Pamela Binnings Ewen is a fiction writing of actual events. Trigger warning: this novel contains storytelling and recounts of real life events of premature babies being born alive after labor induced abortions. If you are sensitive to any of these subjects please stop here.
Peter and Rebecca enter into new unknown legal territory in their law careers in the 1980’s. Both aspiring successful lawyers focusing on the success of both their careers.
For Rebecca, she sees her new firm partnership role grind to a screeching halt when she realizes the unthinkable has happened. She’s pregnant.
In an age and time where women’s rights and success in the work place are rising, what will Rebecca choose? Her career or the life growing inside of her? Or can she have both?
Peter is presented with a possible prosecution case that will ultimately reveal the world’s best kept secret.
As a pediatric nurse myself I found this story of real accounts disturbingly enlightening. With nursing being such a large field, it can be easy to be unknowingly blinded to issues right in front of us. I cannot imagine the turmoil of being handed a birthed live micro preemie and being ordered by a physician not to provide medical care and instead take “it” to medical waste.
My heart is heavy for the babies that this happened to as well as the nurses who were shut down, declined to provide life-saving medical care and made to feel they had no choice but to hold these preemies until they died.
Whether you are pro life or pro choice, the issue presented is legally when does life begin? At what point is a baby viewed as a human with the same right to live vs. no rights as tissue within the mother’s body.
While my earlier trigger warning is a courtesy, I truly believe everyone should read this book. Just because a subject is controversial and makes our soul uncomfortable doesn’t mean we should continue life like an ostrich with his head in the ground.
I rated this book a 4/5 stars. I absolutely loved the medical aspects of the book since I’m a nurse. While I was easily distracted by Pamela Binnings Ewen’s style of writing and sentence structure, she did a remarkable job writing from law experience in a way that readers can understand. I did not feel lost in all of the law jargon. And truly, I consider this author very brave to write about a subject that can make many readers uncomfortable. I would like to thank this author for essentially honoring these infants who have passed on in this way as well as speaking up for nurses by shedding light to this well-kept secret of the 1980’s.
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