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Bodies on the Line
Bodies on the Line: At the Front Lines of the Fight to Protect Abortion in America | Lauren Rankin
16 posts | 1 read | 4 to read
A powerfully empathetic and impeccably researched look at abortion clinic escorting, which Rebecca Traister (New York Times bestselling author of Good and Mad) calls one of the most under-covered and crucial, lifesaving, rigorous forms of activism out there." Abortion has been legal for nearly fifty years in the United States, but with a new conservative majority on the Supreme Court and an emboldened opposition in the street, the threat to its existence has never been more pressing. Clinic escorts everyday volunteersare prepared to stand up and protect abortion access, as they have for decades, even in the face of terrorism and violence. They have lived, and sometimes died, to ensure that abortion remains not only accessible but also a basic human right. Clinic escorts have fought the abortion wars on the front lines, and it is clinic escorts who will win it, by replacing hostility with humanity. Collecting the stories of these brave volunteers from around the countryincluding the authors owninterviews with clinic staff and patients, and research and input from abortion rights experts, Bodies on the Line makes a clear case for the right to an abortion as a fundamental part of human dignity, and the stakes facing us all if it ends. Bodies on the Line is a celebration of the crucial, often unsung heroes of abortion access and an inspiring call to defend this basic health care before its too late.
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TheBookStacker
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This book should be required reading. Along with the documentary called The Janes on HBOMax. I am devastated and still trying to come to terms with what has happened and where we go from here

EKonrad That movie was so powerful. I watched it before Roe was overturned - still in shock. 😢 2y
31 likes1 comment
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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It is a dark day in America today.
If you care about womens health and safety I recommend these 2 books
Post Roe is in it's second edition and now has a teal cover that looks very similar

Readergrrl My daughter is reading Handmaid‘s Tale this summer for school. Hits differently now. But I refuse to be broken by this. 🗳💪🏼 2y
DGRachel Even though I knew it was coming, I‘m so angry I‘m literally seeing red through the tears. So. Angry. 2y
ChaoticMissAdventures @Readergrrl I would recommend she read a more accurate representation of it (and more racially aware as these laws most always affect Black and Brown people), if she is interested have her read Butler's 2y
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ChaoticMissAdventures @DGRachel I thought it was coming yesterday and then they added today as opinion day and I knew it would be today, last opinion then they are going to scurry out of town like the disgusting people they are. 2y
Readergrrl @ChaoticMissAdventures She‘s reading THT for school, but I love Octavia Butler and have both of those in my library. I‘ll point them out to her. 2y
dylanisreading Thank you for these recs! Snagged Bodies on the Line from Libby and requested Handbook from the library. 2y
19 likes1 stack add6 comments
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JenniferEgnor
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6/24/2022: SCOTUS has overturned Roe v Wade. Please remember: if you are using any period tracker apps, delete them NOW. Use the encrypted app Signal for messaging, and the encrypted email Proton for email. For a safe search engine, only use Duck Duck Go.
Avoid fake clinics (crisis pregnancy centers) at all costs—your info will be given to authorities and you will be tracked.

See ya‘ll down on the illegal road.

MoonWitch94 I‘m so sick & sad & angry & mad & pissed & livid etc etc etc. Today, I‘ll be mad. Tomorrow, I‘ll fight 💪🏻 2y
JenniferEgnor @MoonWitch94 stay energized. Fascists never rest—we can‘t either. Support abortion funds, aid & abet! And remember, you can have an abortion safely at home if you need it, with pills. 2y
Tera66 I've been sick to my stomach all day about it. 2y
JenniferEgnor @Tera66 let your rage fuel you. They want us to give up, lay down and take it. WE WILL NOT. 2y
15 likes4 comments
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JenniferEgnor
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FIGHT BACK!!!
May 3, 2022
SCOTUS

Darklunarose I can‘t believe this is happening in the USA. This will kill women. 2y
JenniferEgnor @Darklunarose I can. We‘ve been sounding the alarm for years. This has all been carefully planned by the religious right. We are headed straight into a totalitarian nightmare…Roe is only the beginning. 2y
Darklunarose @JenniferEgnor you are right about roe being on,y the beginning. The us is going backwards fast. 2y
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JenniferEgnor @Darklunarose it amazes me that there are still peoplx who say fascism isn‘t happening here right now. 2y
Darklunarose @JenniferEgnor I know. It‘s happening everywhere. We have a Neo Nazi group active near my area, they post disgusting racist and white power crap everywhere. In the state over they throw h@$*er a birthday party😡 it‘s happening. It‘s a huge bloody worry 2y
JenniferEgnor @Darklunarose it‘s scary, there are groups like this popping up all over the place. Report activity and new ones to SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) https://www.splcenter.org/issues/hate-and-extremism and ADF (Anti-Defamation League) https://www.adl.org/?Multi_page_sect= 2y
JenniferEgnor @Darklunarose we have had proud boys show up at our clinic and they were welcomed by city officials on the streets of Charleston. Some peoplx don‘t like the F word, but we are calling it out for what it is: fascism. 2y
Darklunarose @JenniferEgnor it is fascism. It needs to be called what it is. It‘s rising the world over:( 2y
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JenniferEgnor
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I remember when the author first put out her tweet for this book, asking for clinic escorts and defenders who had experience with it back in the really scary days, the 80s-90s. I immediately reached out to my friend and veteran escort (left), because I knew she had seen a lot. I‘ve read so much about those days, and it never gets any less scary. We may have FACE Act now, but it isn‘t really enforced. This book tells the story that isn‘t often

JenniferEgnor told: the story of escorts and defenders. While there aren‘t nearly enough books on abortion care, they are growing in numbers. Fewer still, however, are books about escorts. The work we do is so incredibly hard, but time and time again, I have seen that all of the emotional labor that we put into it is always worth it. If we can provide someone with empathy, compassion, dignity and respect— that is all that matters. (edited) 2y
JenniferEgnor Each week, I am asked, how are they allowed to do this? I read about this, I saw it on TickTock, but I didn‘t know it was actually real. Why are they out here? I tell them, it‘s definitely real. I stand up to these bullies, and I do it with a smile. 2y
JenniferEgnor I urge you to read this book, get involved with a clinic near you. Volunteer, donate to local funds, talk about abortion, center the persons who need it, and fight back. 2y
13 likes3 comments
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JenniferEgnor
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Abortion is, at its core, about life, just not in the way that abortion upon its claim. Everything that surrounds getting an abortion—from the decision to the cost to travel and getting in the door—is about someone‘s life, The course of that life, the value of that life. The life of the pregnant person is the point. The course of their life is the point. The realities and complexities and hardships and accomplishments: they matter. Their actual

JenniferEgnor embodied life transcends any philosophical debate in that moment, because I can see with my own eyes and feel with my own heart the weight of that life, the importance of that person‘s ability to determine what happens to their own life. That is the power of volunteering as a clinic escort at its most fundamental. 2y
JenniferEgnor It reclaims that space and centers the person having the abortion, rather than the people standing in their way. When we replace the face of abortion with a human being, rather than theoretical or political argument, it becomes clear what to do: support people‘s lives. 2y
JenniferEgnor Shown: we rallied at the SC Statehouse in Columbia on February 27th, 2022 to fight back against anti-abortion bills. Providers, ACLU, WREN, Planned Parenthood, Palmetto State Abortion Fund, NOW, and so many others. 2y
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JenniferEgnor
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The patients we serve stay with all of us, because that‘s the spirit of what we do. In those 60 or so seconds before they get inside the door, clinic escorts are possibly the only source of human connection and visible support that some of these patients and their companions experience. For that moment in time, the human connection supersedes everything. It‘s about a fundamental human need to be seen and valued, particularly in the face of

JenniferEgnor cruelty. It‘s about human dignity. It‘s about humanity. 2y
JenniferEgnor Shown: some of my best girls! 2y
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JenniferEgnor
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Every time I feel burned out or think about giving up on this fight, I remember that putting my body on the line for another person, as painful and difficult as it was on the worst days, has always been worth it. Every patient we get in the door is a woman‘s life, a person‘s life, that is going to unfold the way that person wants it to, no matter what choice they end up making.

Shown: one of the first bad days for me when I started doing this…

JenniferEgnor One of the protestors talked about legalizing rape that day. Since then, I have seen and heard SO much. I‘ve felt even more. But every time a patient tells me thank you, hugs me and cries? It‘s all worth it. 2y
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JenniferEgnor
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Everyone loves someone who has had an abortion. And if you think you don‘t, they just haven‘t shared their story with you yet.

Let‘s talk about it! Story-telling is the most powerful way to end stigma! Have you ever heard ‘my abortion saved my life‘? I‘m one of those peoplx 🌻

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JenniferEgnor
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Abortion is about more than just bodies on the line— it‘s someone‘s future, their dreams, their lives.

Shown: me telling my story at the SC Statehouse in Columbia, February 17th, 2022–to fight back against anti-abortion bills.

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JenniferEgnor
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The central theme of all these activities, from volunteering as a clinic escort to funding abortions to booking travel for abortion patients, is community. The work of community building around abortion care, of the destigmatizing and humanizing people who have abortions, can‘t be the sole responsibility of embattled clinics and providers. Telling stories, driving patients, paying for gas money, walking someone from their car to the clinic—these

JenniferEgnor may seem small, but they are profoundly meaningful to someone who needs them. Shown: community organizers! (edited) 2y
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JenniferEgnor
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This happens everywhere. This is not some random, a couple of crazy people at one clinic. This shit happens everywhere in every state and it will continue to happen until people decide that they‘re going to reclaim their communities.

Shown: Matt Brock and his bullies on a ladder to see and scream at pats over a 6 foot privacy fence at Greenville Women‘s Clinic in SC. UNFUCKING ACCEPTABLE!!!

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JenniferEgnor
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Because when I put it on, I thought, *This is my armor*. It‘s only made of polyester, and it‘s not bulletproof, but it‘s hate-proof and its judgment-proof.

This is what being a clinic escort is all about. Being the face of love in the face of hate. Shown: endurance at my local clinic

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JenniferEgnor
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You don‘t need a big group of protesters to do damage. We could be out there and have one aggressive protester who just says the most vile shit to someone and that will make them cry…that‘s the thing—one of them out there is too many.

It‘s WEIRD & CREEPY to stand around at someone‘s doctor appointment. Shown: Christians and Proud Boys outside my local clinic

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JenniferEgnor
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… more than sixteen years after Roe v. Wade was decided, a clinic in a liberal city like Ann Arbor had to covertly smuggle patients in through a side window, just to have a legal health-care procedure. And that was considered a victory, no less.

•It is truly astounding, the level of nightmare that pregnant peoplx endure just trying to access their medical appointments. Why is this allowed? This isn‘t ‘1st amendment‘, nor is it ‘support‘.

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JenniferEgnor
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Our first line of defense for protection of reproductive rights is self-defense. We cannot rely on the courts, police, or legislatures to protect our fundamental rights to control our bodies and reproductive options.

Shown: one of my escorts and a team of clinic defenders.