Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism [Hardcover]

Eleanor J. Bader (Author), Patricia Baird-Windle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2001

Targets of Hatred charts the development of the anti-abortion movement in North America. Beginning in the years preceding the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion, the book examines the roles played by the Catholic Church, Fundamentalist Protestants, and Republican and Democratic parties, and assesses points of overlap and divergence. The voices of more than 190 providers in the United States and Canada--clinic owners, doctors, nurses, technicians, and their families--give readers an in-depth look at what it means to work in a field in which arson, bombings, harassment, and killing are routine. Filled with dramatic, eye-witness accounts of anti-abortion terrorism, the book demonstrates law enforcement's failure to stem the violence and is a call to arms for concerned individuals.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While national prochoice organizations have focused on defending women's reproductive rights on legal grounds, they have largely sidestepped a major problem at the grassroots: terrorist attacks on abortion providers. But what use is the "right" to an abortion if there aren't enough clinics or doctors willing to endure threats and violence to perform them? ask abortion provider Baird-Windle and social worker Bader (who has written for PW). Their shocking, month-by-month chronicle covers acts of sabotage, bombing and murder over more than two decades. According to the authors, the "antis" (as the prochoice movement calls them) are usually white males of a paramilitary bent, informally ordained by fundamentalist Christian sects, led by skillful manipulators like Randall Terry and fueled by what Terry calls "righteous testosterone." To make matters worse, law enforcers are often unwilling to uphold the law when it comes to abortion, leaving clinic providers to defend themselves. Whether RU-486 can change the terms of battle is, unfortunately, too recent a question for consideration here. While the entries in this volume are startlingly repetitious, and the authors have made no attempt at elegant prose, they offer a piercing wake-up call and a useful reference work for any women's rights activist or civil libertarian. (May)Forecast: The recent election of an antiabortion president and the appointment of a U.S. attorney general whose antiabortion views are well-known have renewed anxiety about women's access to legal abortion that may spark some sales. The probable trial of antiabortion activist James Kopp for the 1998 murder of abortion doctor Barnett Slepian may also cast a spotlight on the book, though it's more likely to be talked about than bought.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This work chronicles events from the front lines in the anti-abortion movement in the United States and Canada over the past 40 years, describing major and minor crimes against family-planning clinics and personnel. The authors also review relevant court cases, laws, and law enforcement activity and provide excerpts from anti-abortion literature, news accounts, and extensive personal reflections on events. Professional anti-abortion activists, religious groups, political parties, and public officials all play a role. Much of the material consists of accounts from 190 interviews conducted by the authors with abortion providers. As owner of a women's clinic and plaintiff in a Supreme Court case on clinic access, Baird-Windle was also an active participant in many events. Coauthor Bader is a social worker, writer, and reviewer for LJ. This book is full of material of interest to activists and students, and its sources are well documented. The blow-by-blow recitation of events emphasizes the length and intensity of the ongoing siege on clinics. While there are other books on clinic violence, none covers such a broad time and geographic span. Recommended for public and academic libraries, public policy, criminal justice, and social sciences collections. Mary Jane Brustman, Univ. at Albany Libs., NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (May 4, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312239254
• ISBN-13: 978-0312239251
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,676,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen To The Truth!, May 24, 2001

By 

bobby deutsch (san francisco, ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism (Hardcover)

I found this book to be an excellent source of information about the abortion movement. The unsung heroes. The violence against the abortion providers is quite astounding. This book documented quite well the story. For me, it put the entire issue in perspective. I strongly recommend it.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blind Eyes Open!, May 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism (Hardcover)

So many people are averse to talking about how abortion providers are targets of domestic terrorism. Targets of Hatred proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is a part of the everyday lives of abortion providers and their families and vigilant, dedicated clinic defenders around the country. Shame on the pro life Christians who turn a blind eye to the outrage and the violence. Shame on the law enforcement officials of both political parties who through their negligence are complicit in an unprecedented crime wave of political violence. Anyone who has previously turned a blind eye to clinic violence may now see the long term pattern of harassment and violence against people practicing medicine entirely within their legal and constitutional rights.

The only limitation of this powerful and necessary work is that it is weak on the political context of the Christian Right and how anti-choice violence fits. For this corollary perspective, I recommend Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy by Frederick Clarkson, which does an outstanding job of explaining the theocratic vision behind much antiabortion violence and detailing connections to the militia movement. Also useful is Wrath of Angels, by James Risen and Judy Thomas for more on the history of Operation Rescue.

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Its long past time to stop the violence, May 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism (Hardcover)

I have just read this book back-to-back with Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy by Frederick Clarkson. I am convinced from these books that there is a serious effort underway to destablize constitutional democracy as well as to end access to abortion. The level of violence and harrassment documented and clearly presented in Targets of Hatred is just astounding and as Eternal Hostility shows, the terrorism is often aimed at casting doubt on the legitimacy and stability of democratic institutions even as it wreaks havok and carnage at women's health centers. But you wouldn't know it from the media, which reports the violence and interviews the leaders, but just can't seem to put it all together. But if you read Targets of Hatred and Eternal Hostility together the way I just did, you can put it together for yourself.