A Spark of Light: Pro-the-Life-of-the-Woman

A Spark of Light, a novel written by Jodi Picoult, is a great story that I really enjoyed reading, and where I happened to learn the most about abortion clinics. In an interview on C-Span conducted in December in 2018 (it can be found on Picoult’s website) Picoult said that she loves the concept of the novel as a medium to educate people on social justice. This is what her books are known for and A Spark of Light is an exemplary illustration of educating without being didactic, and writing a balanced narrative where both sides of the debate receive a fair portrayal. This way the reader can choose sides.  

For the first time in Picoult’s novels, she writes the sequence of events backwards, opening the story in the throes of a hostage crisis where we find George Goddard, the gunman who fired shots inside a women’s reproductive services clinic named simply the Center (the only clinic offering abortion services in Jackson, Mississippi), and Hugh McElroy, the hostage negotiator attempting to rectify the situation. While the chronology of events dissipates some of the mystery, Picoult does cleverly dangle one curiosity over the reader’s mind until the end: the fates of George, Hugh, and Hugh’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, a hostage. The order in which the story is presented gives us more depth into why each hostage landed at the Center that day, which bolsters the narrative so that it doesn’t become tedious. I enjoyed watching the layers of the characters’ backgrounds peel hour by hour until we get to the heart of their motives behind their visits to the clinic. We pity and empathize with the hostages who are in this dangerous, undeserving situation all because they’ve made choices for their bodies and lives. It’s thrilling to uncover how these women in the Center become one in their quest towards survival, banding together to take down the gunman.  

There is a quote in the beginning of the novel from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that posits the question, “Will we be extremists for hate or for love?” I think of George, the gunman, who is angered by his seventeen-year-old daughter’s abortion and ironically takes the lives of other innocent people. George’s anger is misdirected and misinformed. No one forced his daughter to seek an abortion; that was a choice Beth was left with because the father of her child was nowhere to be found. What Beth didn’t know is that it’s against the law in Mississippi to have an abortion unaided by a doctor, which is heartbreaking because she took all the correct steps to get an abortion at the clinic: she obtained a judicial waiver to bypass her father’s permission but she couldn’t obtain a signature because the judge was on vacation. The clinic can’t perform abortions past sixteen weeks of pregnancy leaving Beth with little else to do. She had to take matters into her own hands because the law left her with no choice. Should a child be brought up on murder charges for terminating a pregnancy she wasn’t mature enough to handle? But this is the future we face.

I’ve never been inside a Planned Parenthood or a clinic where abortion services are offered but when I found out I was five to six weeks pregnant with my son, I was terrified that I wasn’t emotionally or financially ready and thought I didn’t want to go through with the pregnancy. I turned to my family doctor for pills to terminate the pregnancy, but she said there was nothing I could do now that there was life inside of me. Those words filled me with shame and I called my gynecologist instead but was informed that “we don’t do that here,” and was given the number to a women’s clinic in Allentown. I went as far as scheduling an appointment and was told that a counselor would call me back. I was shocked that I would be expected to undergo some sort of counseling session. Wasn’t it going to be as easy as walking into the clinic pregnant, and leaving it un-pregnant? I never did go through with the abortion and after reading A spark of light, I appreciate the inside look of a place many of us have never ever seen. Raised Catholic, I was told that I was pro-life and was taught to believe that clinics like the Center only provided abortions and that women were pushed into getting their desired abortions, which is the logic that leads one to defend defunding abortion clinics. I know from experience now that that is not true. I wasn’t given an appointment right away. A counselor was assigned to call me, which they did but I ignored their calls once I had made my decision to continue with my pregnancy. I was brainwashed to believe the worst about abortion clinics. Thankfully in this book we have two characters who are in the Center and not for reasons we might think. 

Sixty-year-old Olive and fifteen-year-old Wren are in the Center seeking—not abortions—but other services provided by the clinic: cancer screenings and contraception. It’s a false belief that clinics like Planned Parenthood solely offer abortion services. We also follow Janine, a pro-lifer who normally stands outside the walls of the Center, but who today is looking for evidence that the Center must be shut down. Interestingly, Janine has had an abortion before but irrationally thinks her needs are greater than any woman after her obtaining an abortion. In her undercover mission, Janine discovers that the Center does not coerce their patients into having an abortion. Instead, the prospective client needs to complete a two-day counseling session where they are walked through the two abortion options: the pill method and surgery. Janine is surprised to learn that the women then leave having chosen a birth control method; moreover, it shocks her that the social worker attending her is kind, warm, and does not in any way force her to have an abortion. Even after the ordeal of facing a shooter, Janine does not change her views on women’s rights, however, she at least now has the proper information of what occurs inside the Center.

A fourth character I found fascinating was Dr. Louie Ward, the doctor who performs the abortions and who was based on a real person. What’s interesting about Dr. Ward is that he’s a doctor who flies all over the country to perform abortions and is a devout Christian. His mother died after she sought the assistance of a local witch for an abortion because her shame did not allow her to go to a clinic. Dr. Ward knows that when a woman doesn’t want to be pregnant she will do everything not to be, even risk her life, so why not provide women a safe way to terminate their unwanted pregnancy? If his mother would’ve had that opportunity, she would still be alive. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Dr. Ward is in the airport waiting for his flight and he sees a protestor he knows by name and treats him to a meal. Dr. Ward explains to the man that he is also pro-life…pro-the-life-of-the-woman. Brilliant.

I learned from Picoult’s interview that if we truly defund clinics then the only service they will be able to provide are abortions, because abortions are self-funded! It’s futile for legislators to push for laws that cut budgets for women’s clinics because all they will accomplish is that all other government funded services will be impacted. We desperately need education on the multitude of services and rights these clinics provide to women and that’s why I’m so glad for this book. I’m also grateful for the Netflix Original animated series Big Mouth, a show that explores puberty through humor. There’s an excellent episode titled “The Planned Parenthood Show,” where the viewer is educated on the real facts of Planned Parenthood (no, it’s not an abortion factory!) and the history of contraceptive methods. It takes a comical approach by having a sixteen-year-old girl select her method of contraception The Bachelorette-style, showcasing the various forms of birth control throughout history. I had never seen anything so entertaining and informative that I thought I was inside of a dream as each birth control stepped out of a limousine, explaining how the woman is to use that contraceptive and we’re given the year of its invention. My personal favorite? “The Pull-Out Method”: Invented two years after sex started.

Growing up, I heard the worst things about Planned Parenthood, how it was a sinful place where they killed babies, and I blindly believed that it was a bad place I hoped I’d never have to enter. Reading A Spark of Light and watching Big Mouth led me to visit the website to the Planned Parenthood in my hometown, wanting to de-mystify the place and learn real facts instead of the horror stories. I was surprised by all the excellent services they offer besides abortions, such as STD-testing, the Morning-After Pill, annual exams, and so many other things no wonder they can boast that they are the largest provider of sex education. Both the novel and this episode (through Beth’s story and the skit, respectively) envision a future where women’s healthcare is in imminent danger of being outlawed—not a far stretch. Through the two mediums, we learn we need to protect women’s reproductive systems from white men who want to control our bodies. We need to protect facilities where women can get treatment and we need to speak out against laws that intend to criminally limit their access.

A Spark of Light granted me entry into the activities of the Center where the people working inside it, and the women on the other side seeking its resources, risk their lives every day. Their free will is challenged by protestors who want to make their ideas and opinions louder than the woman’s needs. I had no idea escorts were needed to guide patients stepping into the clinic…all because they need to see a doctor! But the sad reality is that escorts are used because protestors yell and confront patients to thwart their actions. It makes me sick to know that anyone thinks they need to push their beliefs onto someone else without even considering their situation. I cancelled my appointment at the women’s clinic in Allentown because I didn’t want my negativity and nerves to get the best of me. I have a supportive partner whom I’ve been with for seven years so the only thing in my way was me. But what about other women who face dangerous situations like rape, incest, or their socioeconomic status? I agree with Picoult when she stated in the C-Span interview that abortion is always a last resort; it’s not what anyone wants to do. To make a woman feel guilty about what she feels she must do is repugnant. I don’t think it should be anyone else’s business what a woman chooses to do with her body. It isn’t about debating whether a woman has the right to end a life, or when conception starts. It is a woman’s right to do what she wants with her life; no one else is going to live it for her so why should anyone have an opinion? Although Picoult does a great job of keeping opposing views balanced in A Spark of Light, she is pro-choice and her stance comes across strongly in Dr. Ward when he defends what pro-life really stands for.

Picoult, Jodi. A Spark of Light. Hodder & Stoughton, 2018.