Absolute Convictions

<I>Absolute Convictions: My Father, a City and the conflict that divided America</i><br> By Eyal Press. <I>Henry Holt. $26.00</i>

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


February 1973: Dr. Shalom Press, a young Israeli doctor, arrived in Buffalo, New York, to begin his ob-gyn residency. Less than a month earlier, Roe v. Wade (which he’d not even heard of) had rolled across the land. Settling into his placid new home, he had no idea that he’d soon be, familiarly enough, in a battleground of clashing creeds, complete with terrorism and flying bullets, and that one of those bullets was meant for him.

Press became a close colleague of Dr. Barnett Slepian, the abortion provider murdered by a sniper in 1998. His death was the culmination of almost two decades of escalating antiabortion activism in Buffalo, which went from prayer meetings and clinic blockades to harassment and death threats. In Absolute Convictions, Eyal Press bears witness as his father, a modest but tough sabra, faces down his American-as-rhubarb-pie opposition, gets politicized, is tagged a “baby killer,” and winds up on a fanatic’s hit list.

Press, a journalist with an impressive propensity for investigation, goes beyond simple memoir to search for the tipping point between moral rhetoric and cold-blooded murder. Attending the trial of James Kopp, the man who shot Slepian and nearly killed his dad, Press realizes Kopp is not crazy but terrifyingly focused, a man at war with modernity, God’s own army of one.


If you buy a book using our Bookshop link, a small share of the proceeds supports our journalism.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate