An Open Secret

The History of Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion in Modern Bolivia

By Natalie L. Kimball

Rutgers University Press

Many women throughout the world face the challenge of confronting an unexpected or an unwanted pregnancy, yet these experiences are often shrouded in silence. An Open Secret draws on personal interviews and medical records to uncover the history of women’s experiences with unwanted pregnancy and abortion in the South American country of Bolivia. This Andean nation is home to a diverse population of indigenous and mixed-race individuals who practice a range of medical traditions. Centering on the cities of La Paz and El Alto, the book explores how women decided whether to continue or terminate their pregnancies and the medical practices to which women recurred in their search for reproductive health care between the early 1950s and 2010. It demonstrates that, far from constituting private events with little impact on the public sphere, women’s intimate experiences with pregnancy contributed to changing policies and services in reproductive health in Bolivia.

An Open Secret illuminates with precision the logics governing women’s reproductive lives in La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia. With broad implications for understanding gender relations globally, Kimball shows how discourses about 'choice' and 'rights' fail to capture the competing impulses and complicated terrain that women must navigate, and why access to health care services is a critical component of economic and social development. Mala Htun, co-author of The Logics of Gender Justice: State Action on Women's Rights Around the World

Kimball’s remarkable book offers a sensitive analysis of oral histories by women from La Paz and El Alto; it connects individuals’ deeply personal, intimate reflections on sexuality and reproduction to shifting local cultures, national politics, and global paradigms. Jadwiga Pieper Mooney, author of The Politics of Motherhood: Maternity and Women's Rights in Twentieth-Century Chile

Historias 98 interview with Natalie Kimball
https://secolas.org/media/historias-98-el-embarazo-no-deseado-y-el-aborto-en-bolivia-con-natalie-kimball/ Historias 98

Abortion in Bolivia: An Open Secret,' by Beth Harpaz
https://sum.cuny.edu/abortion-bolivia-secret-law-college-staten-island/ SUM

This beautifully written book is a must-read for anyone interested in gender equality and reproductive justice. It serves as a model for how to write a book with sensitivity and rigor, defining the politically fraught topics of abortion and unwanted pregnancy 'as human experiences.' It is a powerful reminder that what is at stake – women’s lives – is not something that should be up for political debate. Nursing Clio

At the heart of Kimball's study are the voices of women speaking about their experiences with pregnancy, which are curated from 113 oral interviews conducted with women and men in La Paz and El Alto....By guiding us through the complexities of these attitudes and decisions, Kimball achieves their goal: readers will likely view these decisions and the women making them with ‘greater compassion and respect.' Gender & History

An Open Secret makes a case for narrative accounts as essential data for interpreting statistical and archival studies about how individuals navigate the complex avenues of reproduction. Moreover, Kimball's use of oral history elevates the intimate experiences of women as explicitly political.' Hispanic American Historical Review

Kimball’s book offers a rare insight into the most intimate details of women’s lives, through their own testimony of their experience. It is carefully and sensitively researched and provides a wealth of detail on the social norms, practices, and laws and around reproduction. Maxine Molyneux, The Middle Ground Journal

Natalie L. Kimball is an assistant professor of history at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York.

Table of Contents
List of Figures and Maps
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter One, Legislating Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion in Bolivia
Chapter Two, Double Discourses: Social Attitudes on Sexuality and Reproduction
Chapter Three, Feelings, Attitudes, and Decisions: Reproductive Decision-Making in the Urban Andes
Chapter Four, Navigating Unwanted Pregnancy in La Paz and El Alto, 1950s-1980s
Chapter Five, Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion in the Wake of Democracy, 1982-2010
Chapter Six, Abortion and the Law in La Paz and El Alto
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Appendix
Bibliography
Index

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