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

v t e Hugo Award for Best Short Story (2021–present)
"Metal Like Blood in the Dark" by T. Kingfisher (2021) "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker (2022) "Rabbit Test" by Samantha Mills (2023) "Better Living Through Algorithms" by Naomi Kritzer (2024)
Complete list Retro 1955–1960 1961–1980 1981–2000 2001–2020 2021–present

v t e Locus Award for Best Short Story
1971–1980	"The Region Between" by Harlan Ellison (1971) "The Queen of Air and Darkness" by Poul Anderson (1972) "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1973) "The Deathbird" by Harlan Ellison (1974) "The Day Before the Revolution" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975) "Croatoan" by Harlan Ellison (1976) "Tricentennial" by Joe Haldeman (1977) "Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison (1978) "Count the Clock that Tells the Time" by Harlan Ellison (1979) "The Way of Cross and Dragon" by George R. R. Martin (1980)
1981–2000	"Grotto of the Dancing Deer" by Clifford D. Simak (1981) "The Pusher" by John Varley (1982) "Sur" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1983) "Beyond the Dead Reef" by James Tiptree Jr. (1984) "Salvador" by Lucius Shepard (1985) "With Virgil Oddum at the East Pole" by Harlan Ellison (1986) "Robot Dreams" by Isaac Asimov (1987) "Angel" by Pat Cadigan (1988) "Eidolons" by Harlan Ellison (1989) "Lost Boys" by Orson Scott Card (1990) "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson (1991) "Buffalo" by John Kessel (1992) "Even the Queen" by Connie Willis (1993) "Close Encounter" by Connie Willis (1994) "None So Blind" by Joe Haldeman (1995) "The Lincoln Train" by Maureen F. McHugh (1996) "Gone" by John Crowley (1997) "Itsy Bitsy Spider" by James Patrick Kelly (1998) "Maneki Neko" by Bruce Sterling (1999) "macs" by Terry Bisson (2000)
2001–present	"The Missing Mass" by Larry Niven (2001) "The Bones of the Earth" by Ursula K. Le Guin (2002) "October in the Chair" by Neil Gaiman (2003) "Closing Time" by Neil Gaiman (2004) "Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire" by Neil Gaiman (2005) "Sunbird" by Neil Gaiman (2006) "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" by Neil Gaiman (2007) "A Small Room in Koboldtown" by Michael Swanwick (2008) "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (2009) "An Invocation of Incuriosity" by Neil Gaiman (2010) "The Thing About Cassandra" by Neil Gaiman (2011) "The Case of Death and Honey" by Neil Gaiman (2012) "Immersion" by Aliette de Bodard (2013) "The Road of Needles" by Caitlín R. Kiernan (2014) "The Truth About Owls" by Amal El-Mohtar (2015) "Cat Pictures Please" by Naomi Kritzer (2016) "Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar (2017) "The Martian Obelisk" by Linda Nagata (2018) "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" by P. Djèlí Clark (2019) "The Bookstore at the End of America" by Charlie Jane Anders (2020) "Little Free Library" by Naomi Kritzer (2021) "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker (2022) "Rabbit Test" by Samantha Mills (2023) "How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub" by P. Djèlí Clark (2024)
Best Novel (1971–1981) Best SF Novel (1980–present) Best Fantasy Novel (1978–present) Best First Novel (1981–present) Best Horror Novel (1989–1997, 1999, 2017–present) Best Young Adult Book (2003–present) Best Novella (1973–present) Best Novelette (1975–present) Best Short Story (1971–present)

v t e Nebula Award for Best Short Story
1966–1980	""Repent, Harlequin!" Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison (1966) "The Secret Place" by Richard McKenna (1967) "Aye, and Gomorrah" by Samuel R. Delany (1968) "The Planners" by Kate Wilhelm (1969) "Passengers" by Robert Silverberg (1970) "Good News from the Vatican" by Robert Silverberg (1972) "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ (1973) "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" by James Tiptree Jr. (1974) "The Day Before the Revolution" by Ursula K. Le Guin (1975) "Catch That Zeppelin!" by Fritz Leiber (1976) "A Crowd of Shadows" by Charles L. Grant (1977) "Jeffty Is Five" by Harlan Ellison (1978) "Stone" by Edward Bryant (1979) "giANTS" by Edward Bryant (1980)
1981–2000	"Grotto of the Dancing Deer" by Clifford D. Simak (1981) "The Bone Flute" by Lisa Tuttle (refused, 1982) "A Letter from the Clearys" by Connie Willis (1983) "The Peacemaker" by Gardner Dozois (1984) "Morning Child" by Gardner Dozois (1985) "Out of All Them Bright Stars" by Nancy Kress (1986) "Tangents" by Greg Bear (1987) "Forever Yours, Anna" by Kate Wilhelm (1988) "Bible Stories for Adults, No. 17: The Deluge" by James K. Morrow (1989) "Ripples in the Dirac Sea" by Geoffrey A. Landis (1990) "Bears Discover Fire" by Terry Bisson (1991) "Ma Qui" by Alan Brennert (1992) "Even the Queen" by Connie Willis (1993) "Graves" by Joe Haldeman (1994) "A Defense of the Social Contracts" by Martha Soukup (1995) "Death and the Librarian" by Esther Friesner (1996) "A Birthday" by Esther Friesner (1997) "Sister Emily's Lightship" by Jane Yolen (1998) "Thirteen Ways to Water" by Bruce Holland Rogers (1999) "The Cost of Doing Business" by Leslie What (2000)
2001–2020	"macs" by Terry Bisson (2001) "The Cure for Everything" by Severna Park (2002) "Creature" by Carol Emshwiller (2003) "What I Didn't See" by Karen Joy Fowler (2004) "Coming to Terms" by Eileen Gunn (2005) "I Live With You" by Carol Emshwiller (2006) "Echo" by Elizabeth Hand (2007) "Always" by Karen Joy Fowler (2008) "Trophy Wives" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (2009) "Spar" by Kij Johnson (2010) "How Interesting: A Tiny Man" by Harlan Ellison / "Ponies" by Kij Johnson (2011) "The Paper Menagerie" by Ken Liu (2012) "Immersion" by Aliette de Bodard (2013) "If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love" by Rachel Swirsky (2014) "Jackalope Wives" by Ursula Vernon (2015) "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong (2016) "Seasons of Glass and Iron" by Amal El-Mohtar (2017) "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™" by Rebecca Roanhorse (2018) "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" by P. Djèlí Clark (2019) "Give the Family My Love" by A. T. Greenblatt (2020)
2021–present	"Open House on Haunted Hill" by John Wiswell (2021) "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by Sarah Pinsker (2022) "Rabbit Test" by Samantha Mills (2023) "Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200" by R. S. A. Garcia (2024)