4 Key Takeaways from the 17th Annual WOMEN’S WAY Book Prize
This reflection was written by Debbie Buchwald, a member of the WOMEN’S WAY Board of Directors and volunteer Book Prize Committee member. Drawing from the 2025 Book Prize conversation with honoree and author Jessica Valenti, Debbie identifies four key takeaways from Valenti’s book “Abortion. Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win,” which explores how reproductive justice is central to advancing gender equity and democracy.
It takes but a moment to conceive and not much longer to terminate, yet this fundamental right to bodily autonomy has faced unrelenting attack for centuries. In her 2024 book, Abortion. Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win, New York Times bestselling author Jessica Valenti walks readers through the conservative assault on women’s freedom — exposing misinformation, political maneuvering, and other tactics, overt and concealed — and how we can respond to them.
WOMEN’S WAY awarded Valenti its 17th Annual Book Prize following an open call for nominations and a multi-stage selection process led by volunteers. The prize, which honors the legacy of WOMEN’S WAY founder Ernesta Drinker Ballard, recognizes an author whose work addresses issues that directly impact the health rights, opportunities, dignity and freedom of women, girls, and the gender-expansive community.
Valenti recently joined WOMEN’S WAY in conversation with Beulah Oseuke, Executive Director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice, to share her powerful manifesto for advancing reproductive justice at this critical time in our lives when abortion is dominating the national conversation.
Diane Cornman-Levy, Chief Disruptor at WOMEN’S WAY, introduced Valenti, underscoring how her trailblazing, award-winning journalism on topics ranging from rape to abortion epitomizes WOMEN’S WAY’s core mission to advance gender equity collectively with respect, love, and dignity through grantmaking, research, education, and advocacy.
Throughout the discussion, Valenti spoke from a position of expertise, shaped by over a decade in the reproductive-rights movement, her authorship of a daily blog called Abortion Every Day, and her lived experiences as a woman and mother. She highlighted the need to:
1) Arm abortion advocates with accurate information to support their position;
2) Adopt a new narrative based on the human right to bodily autonomy;
3) Increase support for local and community efforts; and
4) Develop a long-term ‘build, not block’ strategy that removes government interference and relies on self-determination.
Valenti’s conversation offered valuable kernels of wisdom for those working toward gender equity. You can explore each of these four key takeaways in depth here and catch the full conversation on the WOMEN’S WAY YouTube channel here.
