Southern Exposure is an award-winning print journal and magazine published by the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, from 1973 until 2011. Southern Exposure earned a national reputation and won several awards, including a National Magazine Award and two George Polk Awards, for its writing and investigative reporting on a broad range of political, economic, and cultural issues in the South.

Vol. 18 No. 2 - Summer 1990
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Magazine cover with photo of young girl pulling small shopping cart with baby, text reads "Birth Rights"

Birth Rights

  • Dateline: The South

    Compiled by John James

    2

  • Southern News Roundup

    4

  • Dark Days at Gulf Power

    A burly foreman, a charming president, death threats—this public utility sounds like a Dallas episode. By Ginny Graybiel.

    8

  • Killing Kittens, Bombing Clinics

    Anti-abortion vigilantes have created a climate of fear at clinics across the South. By Julie B. Hairston.

    14

  • Of Babies and Ballots

    How a Supreme Court setback sparked a pro-choice groundswell. By Barbara Barnett.

    20

  • "Why Weren't You There?"

    A black woman recalls her abortion—and wonders why the pro-choice movement remains primarily white. By Evelyn Coleman.

    24

  • Baby Boycott

    Doctors refuse to deliver uninsured babies in Alabama, putting mothers and infants at risk. By Sandy Smith.

    28

  • Grannies & Granolas

    Midwives offer a safe, low-cost alternative to hospital births. So why is it illegal to catch babies in most states? By Sandy Smith.

    32

  • Children of the Mines

    One of the unions with the fewest female members has become the strongest advocate for family leave. By Martha Hodel.

    36

  • The "Good" Mother

    Government has a long history of sterilizing women deemed "unfit" for motherhood. By Siobán Harlow.

    40

  • Hard Labor

    Expectant mothers who check into the hospital risk being busted by the pregnancy police. By Eric Bates.

    42

  • Southern Books

    53

  • Ruffling Feathers

    A year after our special report on the poultry industry, farmers and workers are winning some major victories. An Institute Report.

    58

  • The Second Coming

    How a poor boy from Memphis has the Holy Land all shook up. By Rhoda Elovitz.

    62

  • The Last Word

    64
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