Feminists in the media are often portrayed as Birkenstock wearing, dread having, vegans, who hate all things religion and who will do anything, literally anything, for their cause.

A life-long abortion activist and founding member of the third-wave feminist movement, Jennifer Baumgardner should fit the stereotype, but walking into Joe's Coffee, a chic West Village java joint, she just doesn't.

Wearing a trendy black dress that fits loosely on her small frame, her strikingly blonde hair and fair skin pop. She types away furiously on her Blackberry, responding to e-mails and finding a table while answering a question, "I went to church my whole life and I still believe in God, I just believe that God wants me to have choices."

Besides running her own business, Soapbox, Inc., a booking agency for feminist speakers, Baumgardner is also a journalist, teacher, author and mother of a 4-year old son. She has written for Glamour, The Nation and Harpers. In total, she has penned 4 books.

Her just-released paperback, Abortion & Life, hit shelves this fall. It has three-parts, with sections being on the history of abortion, the true stories of women and their experiences with the process, and a call to action for young activists to protect the right to choose. The book is scorchingly hot in this election season with the media attention that has been focused on women's issues.

"The possibility of a Republican being able to choose a new justice would be horrible for the laws concerning women's health and the distribution of money for sexual education," said Baumgardner. If this does happen before January. Jennifer believes that her work, her fellow feminist causes, and women's lives in general would be changed.            

Baumgardner was born in the Midwestern town of Fargo, North Dakota. Her family was very liberal, but her mother always had a strong connection to the Lutheran faith, as a result the family attended church regularly, she noted. That understood, Jennifer says she always had her own opinions on national issues and "was politically intuitive from a very young age." 

Many political topics were discussed openly when she was little, especially abortion. "One day, when I was fairly young, my mother's friend graphically described to me the process of receiving an abortion and, to my surprise, it didn't really gross me out."

Soon after hearing that and being oddly interested, Baumgardner got first hand experience dealing with abortion.

"When I was 13 and my sister was 15 we went on a church trip to Europe. On the trip there was a really cool, long-haired boy who my sister thought was cute. She lied about being on the pill so that he would have sex with her and he did. She found out she was pregnant and finally told me after a trip to the lake when I noticed that she was watering skiing and obviously wiping out. I learned later that was her attempt to harm the fetus"

Baumgardner wasn't scared or shocked by the news. "I basically felt major excitement because it was something that was a big secret and she had chosen me to help."

Because of when her sister found out and when she finally told Jennifer, they only had a week to raise the money for the procedure. Jennifer was able to procure the money from a protestant friend and delivered it to the clinic at just the right time.

Protestant's have not only provided for Baumgardner's sister's abortion, but they have been the subject of her writing many times before and her new tome is no different.

The idea for Abortion & Life, came about when Jennifer realized that the newest wave of abortion-rights advocates didn't always know the entire history of the movement. She wrote the first section in a textbook manner to describe, through detailed facts, the pro-choice movement up until today.

The second section is the part of the book that connects the ideals to the real world and to the 'heart' of the issue. It tells the real abortion stories of Gloria Steinem, Ani DiFranco, and other women.

The last part of the book connects to the general message of empowering the new wave of abortion-rights advocates delivered in the first section. It is a call to action that warns the younger generation the decision of Roe V. Wade is in danger of being over-turned or under-written.

"Roe was a landmark decision, but it can't be the end of our activism on abortion. The past 20 years, Roe has been undermined continuously by the current administration and it needs to evolve."

The response to Baumgardner's book as been mixed. The pro-choice world has been very positive in their comments. Author Barbara Ehrenreich said that Jennifer is  "smart, fearless, and a formidable force for change." Members of the religious world have not looked on the book as fondly.

A year ago, she wrote another piece about evangelicals for Glamour centered on 'Purity Balls' and the growing chastity chic movement. She infiltrated the Wilson family Father-Daughter Purity Ball, the first and largest ball for sexual purity in the United States. She found out the ritual behind the father becoming the guardian for his daughter's purity and became understanding to a point. "I find that the issue is good, a father's desire to keep his girl free of predators that undermine their dignity, but I don't like the strategy."

Jennifer's ability to understand the evangelical view on the issue of purity and its nuances and choose to agree on some points is exemplary of the movement in the pro-choice world toward finding some common ground with the right.

When she was in college Jennifer says her opinions were knee jerk because feminism was and had always been defined in absolutes. Now that women's issues have become multifaceted because of a greater public education on each topic, the world of feminism is grey and its leader's opinions have become more nuanced, she says.

Jennifer hopes her book will allow people to be able to speak more freely about abortion. "This book can and should act as a conversation starter. It lets people know you are a safe person to talk to about personal issues and hopefully it will start the discussion of equality of women for the world.