Bodies on the Line

November 1, 2021

An expert on abortion rights in the United States, Rankin spent six years as an abortion clinic escort in northern New Jersey. Here she relates the little-known stories of those who volunteer as escorts, risking their safety and indeed their lives to assure continued access to abortion as a basic human right. Important reading with the current challenges to Roe v. Wade.

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 3, 2022
Abortion rights activist Rankin debuts with a powerful tribute to abortion clinic escorts, who help women access the healthcare they seek despite harassment, threats of violence, and legal barriers. Drawing on her own experiences as a volunteer clinic escort in New Jersey and interviews with activists and clinic staff, Rankin describes how the anti-abortion movement in the U.S. became increasingly hostile in the years after 1973, when the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in Roe v. Wade. She documents instances of extremist violence by anti-abortion activists in the 1980s and ’90s, including bombings and burnings of abortion clinics and assassinations of abortion providers, and contends that local police often sympathize with anti-abortion protestors and fail to enforce laws meant to prevent the harassment of patients and staff. Rankin also notes that as various states have passed more restrictions on abortion, the number of clinics has plunged (currently, only 10% of U.S. counties have one), leading pro-choice activists to set up networks to help patients who must travel long distances and go through extended waiting periods with transportation, information, and accommodations. Lucidly written and sharply argued, this is a sobering and timely dispatch from the fight to preserve abortion rights.

February 1, 2022
A history of the abortion-rights movement told through the lens of abortion clinic escorts. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, women's reproductive rights have been under attack. Much of the battle has occurred legislatively, particularly through bans at the local level. But as Rankin shows, another danger is the contingent of protestors who attempt to halt abortion by physically blocking access to services and whose ultimate goal is to shut down clinics. "If you live in one of the 10 percent of U.S. counties that still has an abortion clinic," writes the author, who served as an abortion escort for six years in New Jersey, "there is probably a group of picketers outside of it right now." As early as 1988, when a group called Operation Rescue "conducted 182 blockades" of clinics, a group of abortion-rights activists began to create the first "clinic defense networks," which ensured that patients could access important health services. This proved to be the vital beginning of the abortion escort movement. In the years that followed, escorts organized against everything from blockades and clinic closures to the murder of providers. When their local clinics were shut, escorts found new, behind-the-scenes ways to support patients needing abortions, including amassing funding for those who couldn't afford the procedure. Although the introduction of right-wing judges during the Trump administration has rendered abortion's legality more tenuous than ever, escorts remain active and ready to fight. Rankin's passion for women's health blazes on the page, and she is adept at connecting disparate events to create a cohesive historical narrative. At times, the plethora of profiles makes it difficult to keep track of the principals, but this is an important book nonetheless. A stunning, compassionate history of an overlooked element within the abortion-rights movement in the U.S.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2022
Writer and activist Rankin presents a fervent abortion-rights history from the clinic escort's perspective. Wearing colorful vests and a smile, escorts are tasked with being a calming presence and physical barrier for patients as they walk through the antiabortion protestors' cruel harassment to get inside the clinic. After Roe v. Wade passed, the need for escorts grew as alt-right religious groups such as Operation Rescue and 40 Days sought to circumvent the law and shut down clinics. Rankin depicts a long and taxing war, one largely fought on the ground by volunteers and clinic staff with little help from lackadaisical law enforcement, and half-baked legislation like FACE, which made blocking a clinic a felony but did little to deter "sidewalk counseling." She does not shield the reader from the "antis'" endless haranguing and uses clinic-escort and patient interviews from around the country--including her own experience as an escort--to stress the importance of this purpose-driven work. An ode to her fellow volunteers and a rallying cry for the fundamental rights that now hang so perilously close to abolition.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 1, 2022

This history of abortion clinic escorts in the United States by writer and activist Rankin is timely, engaging, and full of compassion. Clinic escorts help pregnant people seeking abortion care to safely enter a medical facility, often having to walk past aggressive anti-choice protestors. By taking on this responsibility to support health care, clinic escorts put themselves in harm's way and are vulnerable to harassment and even violence. Almost all clinic escorts are volunteers, and Rankin argues that their stories illustrate the harmful tactics by which anti-choice activists target people seeking abortions, and also that dedicated clinic escorts have been critical in maintaining access to abortion. The volunteers whom Rankin spotlights come from across the U.S. and span nearly 50 years, beginning in the post-Roe 1970s, continuing through the "Operation Rescue" demonstrations of the 1980s and '90s, and ending in 2021, when attacks on abortion access and the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic came together to create a uniquely hostile environment for abortion clinics. VERDICT This sweeping history will leave readers wanting to learn more. It is both a celebration of devoted volunteer clinic escorts and a call to action to improve the circumstances under which people seek health care.--Sarah Schroeder

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.