Behind Bulletproof Glass

Linda Rӧnn’s memoir of her experience in the culture of rapidly deteriorating reproductive rights, BEHIND BULLETPROOF GLASS, is both powerful and heartbreaking. Born and raised in Sweden, married to an American, she is eager for her second child. Then, a call from the doctor, with prenatal test results, shatters everything. Linda and her husband are faced with a heartbreaking decision, complicated by the judgement and rising anti-abortion fervor in the country. Rӧnn does not shy away from either the physical or emotional pain of the time leading up to the abortion, the abortion itself, the aftermath, and then the time around what would have been the delivery date. She has to juggle her own mental and physical health with her responsibilities to her job, her husband, and her toddler. Additionally, she has to deal with the trauma and stigma around the term “abortion” in the United States. She cites the security measures of the bulletproof glass in the health care organizations in the process, and the way her own profession (health care) shunted her off to a different organization to avoid controversy. She compares the health care system in this country to that of Sweden and the EU, setting out the sharp contrasts. Brave, sad, and relevant, BEHIND BULLETPROOF GLASS is a memoir that goes beyond helping the author heal; it helps anyone who has faced this decision.