In parts scholarly work, memoir, and polemic, Escorting for Jesus: Why Religious Fundamentalists Need to Crawl Back to Their Caves recounts the circus adventures of a volunteer escort at a family planning clinic. The inevitable collision among race, class, gender, religion, and philosophy issues inherent within this cultural caldron is sometimes hilarious, sometimes tragic, and pretty much always compelling. Through this work, the author examines her own understandings of life, religion, racism, sexism, and reproductive justice.
Escorting for Jesus is a no-holds-barred commentary on the reality faced by those who undergo horrific verbal abuse at the hands of religious fanatics at a clinic in the South, a place where the political climate for people seeking to terminate their pregnancies is among the most hostile in the nation. The author eviscerates pro-life arguments based mostly on biblical interpretation. She goes on to fervently defend reproductive justice, that is the right of everyone to determine whether or not to have children, when to have them if desired, and the resources to raise them in healthy environments.
Roe vs. Wade is seriously threatened by death from a thousand microcuts. To fight back against the inherent misogyny and injustice of the pro-life movement and to reclaim our secular heritage, the author calls for progressives to stand up politically to the squeaky wheel, religious fanatic minority attempting to stuff their beliefs down the throats of everyone in our country. Should we continue to sit idly by, we risk losing a lot more than simple access to safe and complete healthcare.
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CONTENTS
Preface vii
In the Beginning 1
Abortion, Abortion, Abortion! Arguments and Laws 4
Pregnancy 101 15
When Life Begins—One Woman’s Opinion 21
Oxymoronic Unborn Children 26
Learning to Escort 28
My First Anti-Abortion Protests 38
The Naming of Protesters 43
Close Encounters of the Worst Kind 48
Unspeakable Words 57
Conversing with the Enemy 62
Sinning for Jesus 79
Beat Me, Whip Me, Make Me Write Bad Checks 87
The Bible as the Word of God, or Not 95
Abortion in the Bible—Spoiler Alert: God Is Not Pro-Life 102
On Bodies 109
The Existence of God, or Not 113
Why Legal Abortion is Necessary 127
Growing Up Unwanted 135
Unwanted Pregnancies Should Be Aborted, or Mother Teresa Was a Stupid Cunt! 148
Reproductive Justice Is Social Justice 154
Smash the White Supremacist Patriarchy 166
Run, Heifer, Run! 177
The Last Word 189
Notes 211
Acknowledgments 223