Rabbit Test (short story)
"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
[edit]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
[edit]"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
[edit]- ^ Mills subsequently disavowed the award due to the controversy regarding the ballot.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Rabbit Test at Science Fiction Writers of America; retrieved August 10, 2024
- ^ Mills Wins Sturgeon, in Locus; published August 25, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
- ^ 2023 Hugo Awards, at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved August 10, 2024
- ^ Rabbit Test Unwins the Hugo, by Samantha Mills; at SamtasticBooks.com; published February 17, 2024; retrieved August 10, 2024
- ^ Paula Guran reviews Tor.com, Apex, and Uncanny, by Paula Guran; at Locus; published January 9, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
- ^ The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 , reviewed by Marlene Harris, at Library Journal; published September 22, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
- ^ 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
- ^ Short Fiction Treasures: Quarterly Fiction Roundup, by Maria Haskins, in Strange Horizons; published January 23, 2023; retrieved August 10, 2024
- ^ In Glorious Tones of Copper: An Interview with Samantha Mills, by Myna Chang, in Uncharted Magazine; published March 29, 2024; retrieved August 10, 2024
External links
[edit]- Text of the story, at Uncanny Magazine
- Mills's list of sources used in writing the story, at Mills's official site