The Lie That Binds
Public support for the legal right to abortion in the United States is at an all-time high. Yet we're in the midst of an all-out assault on reproductive freedom, and Roe v. Wade is hanging on by a thread.
The Lie that Binds is the indispensable account of how the formerly non-partisan, back-burner issue of abortion rights was reinvented as the sharp point of the spear for a much larger movement bent on maintaining control in a changing world. Written by NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue and Research Director Ellie Langford, The Lie that Binds traces the evolution of some of the most dangerous and least understood forces in U.S. politics, offering an unflinchingly incisive analysis of the conservative political machinery designed to thwart social progress - all built around the foundational lie that their motivations are based in moral convictions about individual pregnancies.
This book introduces the colorful cast of characters behind the Radical Right - from anti-ERA protestors to men's rights activists - and explains how conservative political operatives intentionally targeted abortion as a rallying cry for their followers as their other prejudices fell from favor. Ultimately, opposing abortion rights was a Trojan horse to move a deeply unpopular, regressive policy agenda under the guise of "morality." Hogue and Langford's deeply-researched investigation is an essential primer for political observers, journalists, and engaged citizens, pulling back the curtain on how this radical operation drives our politics and threatens our democracy. Read it and learn the truth behind the lie.
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Praise for The Lie that Binds
"Ilyse Hogue provides a brilliant, systematic takedown of the extremist,
hypocritical forces that seek to control women's bodies. The Lie that Binds is a
clarion call for renewed American activism to protect a woman's right to
determine her own health care, including her right to abortion, at a time when
those rights are more at risk than at any point in the last 45 years."
Stacey Abrams, Founder & Chair, Fair Fight
"Hogue makes a powerful and disturbing contribution to the literature on historical
links between the domination of women and protecting white supremacy. The
'culture war'; the evangelical right mounted around abortion has it's origins as a
wedge issue to protect a privilege rooted in racial segregation. Women of color
and low income women are the most vulnerable to the abuses of both. It is an
important read that reminds us that the original sins of our founding will harm us
all until they are repented."
Maya Wiley, NBC News and MSNBC Legal Analyst
"This is a must read account of how the Radical Right's quest for domination
ultimately led to the country electing a race baiting, misogynist in Donald Trump.
Hogue unravels for the reader decades of careful machinations of a movement
hell bent on keeping women in their place and using abortion as a weapon to do
so. To all feminists who dream of overthrowing the patriarchy: start here."
Alyssa Mastromonaco, NYT Best Selling author and co-host of Crooked Media's #Hysteria podcast
"The Lie that Binds recounts the widely misunderstood history of the anti-abortion
movement;s origins with the right wing compulsion to resist social change and
instead strengthen the system of white male religious control. In this precarious
and eruptive American moment, it could not be more timely in its exploration of
fear, resentment, prejudice and the drive to cling to power in the face of righteous
fights for freedom."
Rebecca Traister, Author, Writer-at-large New York Magazine
"Hogue lays bare how far-right extremists have taken over our government all while
hiding in plain sight. This untold history details years of insidious schemes that enabled
a creeping right-wing corruption of our political system, court system, and information
systems and ultimately gave us a reality TV star in the White House. This book speaks
to the true endgame of the forces opposing reproductive freedom so that we know exactly how to arm ourselves and, ultimately, win our country back."
Joe Lockhart, CNN political analyst
"The Lie that Binds is an unflinching look at the true origins of the right wing obsession with keeping half of the population "in their place." From the very beginning, the purpose of anti-choice movement was to maintain and consolidate power in the hands of a few white men. Hogue sticks to the facts and lays out the only effective path forward. Fight like hell!"
Zerlina Maxwell, author of The End of White Politics; MSNBC Political Analyst, SiriusXM host
