Page, Cristina 1970-

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Page, Cristina 1970-

PERSONAL:

Born 1970; married; children: a son.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Institute for Reproductive Health Access at NARAL Pro-Choice New York, former vice president; BirthControlWatch.org, spokesperson; consultant to several national pro-choice groups. Previously worked in the editorial departments of Glamour and Ms. magazines and ran a campaign for a woman candidate for governor of New York.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) The Smart Girl's Guide to College: A Serious Book Written by Women in College to Help You Make the Perfect College Choice, Noonday Press (New York, NY), 1997.

How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics, and the War on Sex, Basic Books (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

In her book How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics, and the War on Sex, Cristina Page explores the opposition to women's abortion rights from a pro-choice viewpoint. The author focuses on "pro-life" and Christian right groups as she details what she sees as deceptive and fraudulent practices, such as fostering confusion between contraceptives, which prevent pregnancy, and other devices or pharmaceuticals that cause abortion. In her argument against "pro-lifers," Page makes her case that the pro-choice movement and its support of an individual woman's right to choose has played a major role in improving women's lives throughout the United States and the world in terms of both economic and social standing. In contrast, writes the author, the philosophy of pro-lifers would be a hindrance to these advances; one of the goals of pro-lifers is the reinstitution of the idea that a woman's primary—and perhaps only—duty is to stay and home to take care of the house and family. In a review of How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America in Publishers Weekly, a contributor noted that the author's "defense of the sexual revolution in upbeat—even patriotic—terms makes this a spirited, thought-provoking addition to the culture wars." Vanessa Bush, writing in Booklist, called it "an excellent resource for young women concerned about reproductive rights."