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Rabbit Test (short story)

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"Rabbit Test" is a 2022 science fiction short story by Samantha Mills, exploring the history of and future of access to abortion. It was first published in Uncanny Magazine.

Synopsis

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In 2091, Grace is 17 years old, and abortion is totally banned. When her government-mandated menstrual tracker implant automatically administers a pregnancy test, her life changes. The story follows her over the next several decades, interspersed with vignettes about the history of abortion and pregnancy tests, going back millennia.

Reception

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"Rabbit Test" won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story of 2022,[1] the 2023 Theodore Sturgeon Award,[2] and the 2023 Hugo Award for Best Short Story.[3][a]

Locus found the story to be "worthwhile reading", but noted that "some may find it too didactic".[5] Library Journal called it "frighteningly prescient".[6] In the Los Angeles Review of Books, Niall Harrison lauded it as "one of the most powerful recent examples of rapid-response science fiction" and "an incandescent and unashamed polemic that distills the bitter aftermath of 2022's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization [decision] into a few thousand words."[7] Strange Horizons praised it as "fierce and formidable" and "furiously sharp", and noted that in addition to being a story, it is also "an illuminating history lesson about abortion and reproductive rights".[8]

Mills has described the story's success as "wonderful, if bittersweet", specifying that she would "prefer if a story like this didn't resonate with anyone".[9]

Notes

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  1. ^ Mills subsequently disavowed the award due to the controversy regarding the ballot.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Rabbit Test at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved August 10, 2024
  2. ^ Mills Wins Sturgeon, in Locus; published August 25, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
  3. ^ 2023 Hugo Awards, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved August 10, 2024
  4. ^ Rabbit Test Unwins the Hugo, by Samantha Mills; at SamtasticBooks.com; published February 17, 2024; retrieved August 10, 2024
  5. ^ Paula Guran reviews Tor.com, Apex, and Uncanny, by Paula Guran; at Locus; published January 9, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
  6. ^ The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 , reviewed by Marlene Harris, at Library Journal; published September 22, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
  7. ^ The Year’s Best Is Dead, Long Live the Year’s Best: On the 2023 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalists, by Niall Harrison; at the Los Angeles Review of Books; published September 21, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
  8. ^ Short Fiction Treasures: Quarterly Fiction Roundup, by Maria Haskins, in Strange Horizons; published January 23, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
  9. ^ In Glorious Tones of Copper: An Interview with Samantha Mills, by Myna Chang, in Uncharted Magazine; published March 29, 2024; retrieved August 10, 2024
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