Dr. Shelley Sella, MD has published Beyond Limits: Stories of Third-Trimester Abortion Care with the Penguin Random House Press. The book is a powerful read packed with insights about abortion decision-making. The publisher describes the book as follows:
A compassionate perspective on late-term abortion that challenges preconceived notions of who gets abortions and why
Within both the anti-abortion and pro-choice movements, third-trimester abortion is often stigmatized and misunderstood. For 20 years, Dr. Shelley Sella saw patients whose diverse backgrounds and circumstances led them to the same difficult decision: to end their pregnancies.
Now, interweaving her own journey as a provider, Dr. Sella invites readers into a typical week at her clinic to demystify the experience. She shares the stories of people like
- Clarissa, a mother of 2 whose third suffered a massive stroke in utero with no chance of recovery
- Mary, a devoted Catholic whose fourth round of IVF offered a late-in-life chance at motherhood, only to be dashed by anomalous test results
- Laura, a mother to 4 already whose bruised arms tell a painful story, one she couldn’t bring herself to write a fifth child into
Beyond Limits is not just a testament to a standard of care grounded in competence, compassion, and sensitivity. It is also a call for a paradigm shift that moves beyond Dobbs, beyond Roe, beyond limits to provide care. And it is a tribute to the real people whose hearts, reasons, and stories are more complex than politicized conversations about abortion lead us to believe.
