Living in the Crosshairs is a rich and humane portrait of women's health professionals who persist in their work despite harassment because they believe in what they are doing. Drawing on ideas from the interviews, the authors propose several legal and societal reforms that could improve the lives of providers, foremost among them redefining targeted harassment as terrorism rather than protest. The response of law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels is spotty-though there are some strong laws on the books, especially at the federal level, abortion providers have had mixed experiences when it comes to legal recourse, and effectiveness varies. For some, being the victim of targeted harassment inspires significant fear and leads to changes in behavior for others, it has become a normal part of life and for yet others, it actively strengthens their resolve. This kind of targeting happens anywhere in the country, not just in more conservative areas, and can victimize all providers, not just high-profile doctors. Abortion opponents target not only the providers themselves but also may go after their families, neighbors, and others close to them. Abortion providers are targeted at home, at work, or in community spaces they can be harassed in person or online. Cohen and Krysten Connon conducted across the country. In Living in the Crosshairs, the voices of these providers are heard for the first time, through extensive interviews that David S. Those who seek help from the law are sometimes successful, but not always, either because there are insufficient protections built into the law, or because law enforcement officials fail to respond. Every day, men and women who are associated with abortion care are harassed, threatened, stalked, picketed, sent hate mail, and otherwise terrorized. Legislative and judicial developments dominate the news, but a troubling and all-too-common phenomenon-targeted vigilante action against individual abortion providers-is missing from the national discussion, only cropping up when a dramatic story like the murder of an abortion provider pushes it to the forefront. Wade was decided in 1973, anti-abortion forces have tried nearly every tactic to eliminate it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |