Lucky Girl, by Bridget Potter

Lucky Girl, by Bridget Potter, is a memoir from 1962, during a time where abortion was illegal. Bridget was 19-years-old, and an illegal abortion was the only option for her unwanted pregnancy. Bridget accounts her hardships that she faced trying to acquire an abortion. She was rejected everywhere she went and finally, at some small village in Puerto Rico, with no anesthesia, the abortion was done. "Three years after my trip to San Juan, illegal abortion officially accounted for 17 percent of all deaths attributed to pregnancy and childbirth in the U.S." (Potter 154). Bridget writes this essay to recount a time in her life where she was extremely lucky. Prior to the Roe v. Wade in Supreme Court, abortions were illegal and many women took the risk to have them done. To have an illegal abortion was very dangerous because they could lead to infections, incomplete abortions, and in worst cases, death. Bridget was a very "lucky girl" that her abortion was complete and did not have any tragic effects. She was one of the few women that survived this procedure.

Bridget Potter earned a BA in cultural anthropology from Columbia University in 2007 and she is an instructor at the University Writing program. Potter is very credible because this is a memoir of a time in her life. No one can recount this story better than she because this happened to her. She was 19-years-old at the time, and till this day, it she will never forget it. 

This essay was written to raise awareness for women on how dangerous abortions were before and it is also written for the general audience to show what measures women were willing to go through to get an abortion. Also, this essay achieves a personal purpose for Bridget to recall a time in her life that she felt very lucky.

I believe that Bridget Potter accomplished her purpose in writing this essay because she wrote a memoir of something that occurred in her life. This story has a lot of pathos and takes an emotional appeal to the audience because you could really feel what Bridget went through and the hardships she took in order to get an abortion. You also sense how lucky she is that her abortion went well and that she is even alive. Bridget Potter has a very interesting way of writing this essay and uses many rhetorical devices.

            There are many rhetorical devices that Potter uses in order to make this essay achieve its purpose. Potter uses ethos to describe her actions that she takes in order to get an abortion. She does not describe her thoughts on whether is it wrong or right, but rather her actions that she takes. This essay is also very didactic because it teaches about life decisions and how risky they can be. Potter also uses her “voice” that lets us follow the story that she is telling. Finally, this essay is written in Potter’s perspective. Many years after the events, Potter gives her view on the events that transpired.

           

This picture from Guernica Magazine represents the women who allowed illegal abortions to be performed on them.