Bodies Under Siege: How the Far-Right Attack on Reproductive Rights Went Global

by Sian Norris

An exposé of how far-right extremists across Europe use attacks on abortion to introduce broader fascist politics–and their connections to the American far right, from a leading investigative journalist

Think today's anti-abortion ideas are rooted in religious prohibitions or arguments about where life begins? today's anti-abortion movement is largely financed and planned by far-right extremists. Many of them are avowedly fascist and white supremacist, afraid of a "great replacement" of the world's white population by other races, who are working hard to reshape governments and policies across Europe, North America and around the world. Much of this far-right organizing and funding network, however, has been overlooked by today's feminist and left movements.

As investigative journalist Sian Norris uncovers here, it is through attacking abortion rights that fascist ideas from the dark web, incel chat boards, and fringe organizations comes to enter mainstream debate -- and to then shape governmental policy across Europe, from authoritarian regimes like Hungary's to liberal democracies like Britain. As Norris goes undercover at anti-abortion activist meetings, and pieces together the money trail linking American think tanks to far-right fascist groups, she maps out the pipeline by which fascism has become respectable across the Global North by taking away women's reproductive rights and autonomy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, Gender Studies, History, Womens

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2023

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for the message, but 1 star for presentation, so 3 stars is the result.
This book is disturbingly real and should scare the absolute fuck out of everyone supporting full reproductive rights for women, full body autonomy for everyone, and full rights for LGBTQIA+ human beings.
Almost without exception, the information here is already known to me because I read more than the average person, and am also absolutely becoming increasingly frightened of the direction the world is moving in with respect to the issues the book discusses.
For the new reader to this tale of woe, this will be a nightmarish wake-up call to how White Christian Nationalism has inserted itself into global power structures and will not stop until its adherents get exactly what they want.
The book made me sad, angry, and frustrated. Your mileage may vary.

[Milo · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. What a book! I have so much to say about it, so to start: Sian Norris’s ‘Bodies Under Siege’ is a fucking terrifying and infuriating examination of the global far-right’s relentless attacks on reproductive rights. Norris navigates the intricate web of far-right extremism, bringing to light the disturbing and shocking realities that underlie this pervasive issue, fr lack of a better word.

Norris doesn’t at all shy away frm the deeply unsettling truths about the extent of hatred directed towards women, queer people, immigrants, and POC, as she paints us a vivid picture of the horrific landscape where reproductive rights are under attack. It’s beyond scary, and Norris’s narrative style not only informed but truly emotionally engaged me, making me - and I’m sure every other reader who isn’t a fascist and also who is marginalised in some way - absolutely and acutely aware of the stakes involved. It’s a stark wake-up call, urging those of us who might not be aware of the extent to which anti-choice (and anti-immigrant, anti-Black, misogynist, queerphobic, etc etc) views are proliferating globally to confront the harsh realities of a world where the far-right’s hostility towards many marginalised communities is not only real but intensifying and resurgent, if it never went away to begin w.

One thing this book unveiled that truly rotted my brain, though there were many moments of brain-rot, was the deep-rooted network of funding, primarily frm the US, sustaining anti-choice, queerphobic, and anti-immigrant activism in Europe. The revelation of over $81.3 million (US) in dark web money frm 2009 to 2018 reflects a concerted effort by various orgs, notably, according to Norris, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Alliance Defending Freedom, and the American Center for Law and Justice (which has European and Slavic branches) to reshape global views on reproductive rights, and women’s, LGBTIQ, and civil rights more broadly.

Norris discusses the opacity surrounding these financial flows and how it raises concerns about the extent of influence wielded by external actors. Fr instance, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s substantial spending in Europe, coupled w a shift in tax status to evade reporting (like what the ruck !!!), highlights a deliberate effort to operate discreetly and to avoid scrutiny. The Alliance Defending Freedom, w a donation of £324,000 to AD International (UK) in 2020, exemplifies how foreign funds can significantly impact local initiatives, such as actions against abortion clinic buffer zones and research influencing government policies.

As well, the mention of anonymous donors to the National Christian Foundation further complicates the funding landscape, emphasising the myriad challenges in tracking and understanding the full scope of financial influence. The sizeable European spending footprint of $1.57 billion (US) by the National Christian Foundation between 2009 and 2018 also amplifies the scale and longevity of external contributions. This financial interconnectedness is not merely an economic exchange. Rather, it’s a strategic investment in shaping societal narratives and legal frameworks. The diverse range of recipients, frm religious-right orgs and even in some cases to radical feminist groups (aka terfs), and on to think tanks like the Federalist Society and the Cato Institute, indicates a very multifaceted approach to advancing specific and incredibly dangerous ideological agendas.

In essence, Norris underscores the intricate relationship between money and influence, revealing a complex maze of foreign funding shaping conversations around gender, culture, and laws not just in Europe and the US, but also across the globe. The implications go far beyond financial transactions, emphasising the imperative fr transparency and awareness in understanding how external forces impact the socio-political fabric of nations.

‘Bodies Under Siege’ has definitely earned my five-star rating through its chilling, plain fucking scary and enraging, and overall incredibly thoroughly researched exploration of a global crisis steadily getting worse and becoming mainstream. Norris’s unflinching commitment to shedding light on these issues makes this book a must-read that, to reiterate once again, urges us to acknowledge, understand, and galvanise against the challenges posed by far-right extremism to marginalised individual’s and communities’ rights on a global scale.

[Isidora Durán · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely important book to understand the contemporary far-right and why they target the rights and bodily autonomy of women, lgbtq+ women and poc. The analysis of the fascist mythic past and fabricated traditionalism are key ideas to get to grips with. That being said, it could probably be a bit shorter. Some of the chapters delve so deep into the different evil lobby groups and institutions that it detracts from the main point: fascism stems from capitalism in crisis, it entrenches every single division to attain white male supremacy and so must be met with resolute socialist feminist & anti-racist working class politics with urgency. Particularly useful paired with Doppelgänger.

[Helga · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️ - In reality this was more of a 4 star read for me, but I gave it an extra star just to balance against the inevitable 1 star review from right wing trashcans.

This book made me both furious and terrified. To see history repeat itself is hard, specially when people generally don't see it because they are too busy thinking of other things. This book didn't introduce me personally to a lot of new info, as I'm already down the rabbit hole and have taken of my rose tinted glasses.

That being said, I live in the most gender equal country in the world, but it is a slippery slope and we must hold on tight. Just this October I stood with around a third of my fellow Icelanders in downtown Reykjavik for a women's strike, trying to keep the fight for gender equality alive, and at the same time our neighbours are scaling back women's rights and pushing them back from the spotlight. Peddling this idea that our only value is in our wombs and that we need to go back into the homes (as if women haven't always been a big part of the workforce). I don't think a lot of women in Iceland realise we must hold on tight and keep pushing or we'll be next.

[Emily Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched, well written and utterly terrifying. The book is insightful from start to finish but I thought the chapter on ‘trad wives’ was particularly engaging as a look into the mentality of women in such far-right circles.

[Jessie (Zombie_likes_cake) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but a bit dry. I often enjoy my Non-fiction more with at least a bit of a personal angle to it, this reads closer to a text book. But it breaks down and explains the issue well, puts them in context, repeats information regularly so it sinks in without becoming to too grating. Norris introduces each chapter by telling what will follow and ends it with a quick summary of what you just went over, which adds to making the read a bit stilted but also truly lets her points find hold in my pea brain. I didn't love reading this but I am glad I did and while I didn't love Norris' style I have to admit that it worked in favor of bringing the points across.

Connecting fascism and the attacks on reproductive rights. I definitely wondered why saw such an uptick in recent years, even in places (like my home country Germany) where abortion had been safely established for decades where it rarely was an issue of dispute, suddenly it was a fought over topic again. I subscribed it to the general up rise of conservative concepts and traditional thinking, religious doctrines seeing more support within that, but the truth behind what is truly going is more frightening. Misogyny and the control of women is essential to fascism which in itself is the politics of white men: to stay in charge, to be in charge, to be the ruling class. But more so this book familiarized me with the Replacement Theory, a term I have seen around, a fear I have seen conservatives, Nazis and Trumpers express. But I wasn't aware that one element to combat this imagined concept of the white race being replaced by immigrants (shocking enough in itself) is to make women have more white babies. I mean, it's basically 2 birds with one stone: when more white women have babies they are forced to stay more out of public life and have to leave more to the men which helps stop all these progressive policies that presumably get in the way of men's reign.

It's devastating, and worse: all these former fringe ideas are now mainstream. Politicians discuss them openly without dancing around terms like "traditional" or whatever they label their mythic past (another fascist concept that is well explained in here and was for example a corner stone in the MAGA campaigns). Voters rush to it because they don't want to live in the modern world anymore where they have share their wealth. Yes, of course it all boils down to money. I wish this book's last chapter "The Tipping Point: Which Future Do We Choose?" was longer because that went into how the financial crisis of 2008 triggered a lot of our current movements which I would have loved a bit more on, and it culminates in the simple strategy of staying strong and resisting as the key to overcoming this. Which I find so depressing because we tried to resist for over a decade with no use. Even though Norris wanted this to be a book of hope, equipping people with information to resist, yet it all sounds so hopeless to me. The desire for money and power is hard to conquer with ideals of equality and kindness....

Some new interesting details for me personally:
1) About the red-pill movement of men that we as a society of equate with Incels, here she shares fellow journalist Paul Mason's devastating but eye opening quote:

"misogyny as a gateway drug t modern fascism [...]. Few racists have had their jobs taken by a migrant. But every heterosexual man can feel [...] the reality where women are increasingly free to define their own norms of beauty and sexual behavior. And while only a minority of racists have physically attacked a person of color, most violent misogynists have physically attacked a woman."

A bit of truth bomb for me.

2) About the need for fixed order for fascism to work and flourish and with that the hate of progress and change, all this connected to the hate of Marx and connected ideas:

"Marx argued that humans have the power to change and the freedom to change society - and crucially, he argued that people could be changed by society. This idea is intolerable to fascism because it undermines the belief that there is a fixed natural order."

An order where white men are the top of the food chain.

3) The way how the right created fictitious science and language to push the debate on reproductive rights, for example the widely used term "partial birth abortion" or "birth day abortion" are not medical terms but it sound more terrifying, triggering and create false ideas of what is happening, and they get pushed heavily into the discussions to the point that media reuses them. Misinformation at its best.

4) Something we've seen in abundant firings in the recent Trump administration: "the far-right promise to end corruption is predicated to on removing progressive forces from power." It is never about corruption.

5) This: "Capitalism's dirty secret: The Willingness of those benefiting from the system to support far-right beliefs and movements in order to protect their wealth and entrench their supremacy."

The US has a disproportionate, concentrated amount of wealthy people and a disproportionate amount of poverty which makes it the perfect feeding ground, it is easier to create polarisation and extremism.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bodies Under Siege is an interesting look at extremism in relation to reproductive rights. As someone somewhat knowledgeable about rightwing extremism, I still learned quite a bit from the first chapter (ideology) as well as chapter 5 (the money). It is extremely easy to read and highly recommend it!

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Biggest issue: no actual definition of fascism though she gives three defining elements. The author assumes the reader knows what fascism is and how to define it. This is not the first book I've read/come across that uses the word fascism without defining it.

I would argue that this was a book about white male supremacy and far right groups that want abortion and other rights to be illegal. Not that these tactics or beliefs are new (they've been around since the 1970s in the US) but they are relatively new in Europe.

There are some quibbles:
-history: abortion was illegal in the US in the 19th century but rarely enforced unless a death occured and could be proven to be the result of an abortion. All Christian sects at that time forbade abortion.
-Opus Dei and Redemptiorists are Catholic religious orders. Opus Dei certainly has issues and probably the Redemptiorists as well but they aren't political organizations.
-repetion of ideas or statements made previously

Otherwise, if you know little about far right ideology or white male supremacy and it's impact on abortion laws, this is a decent read. For me, I knew a lot before going in so there wasn't anything new here except for Slovakia and what was going on there.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having previously thought, like Norris, that objections to abortion and contraception were primarily rooted in theological arguments and/or philosophical moral debates around the boundaries of life, this comprehensive exposé of ‘far-right creep’ is simultaneously terrifying and enlightening, demoralising and galvanizing.
Although I was becoming more aware of the resurgence of fascism and white supremacy, and the rise of ‘Trad Wives’ I had not ‘joined the dots’. Siân Norris does just that, and what she reveals cannot be unseen.
Nevertheless, she also offers choice and hope, which we can all grasp by taking this opportunity to learn more about these orchestrated attacks on our freedoms and equality.

[b · Rating 5 out of 5]

i thought this book was a really great encapsulation of attacks on reproductive rights and autonomy by not only the far-right, but the mainstream right as well. although i knew a lot about the issue going into the book, i still learned a great deal, and i especially valued how the author (correctly!) linked fascist thought processes on the female body and reproductive labour to other topics such as environmentalism and economic theory. i really enjoyed reading this, and definitely recommend it for people interested in the ties between fascism, the modern far-right, and attacks on reproductive rights.

[Jacob Vernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a newly initiated to the topic of understanding the plight of women, non binary, queer folk. and pregnant peoples struggle for equality. I found this book enlightening, informative and agitating. To learn the "supposed" opinions of the ignorant privileged people was rooted in dangerous white supremacists fascism. I have had my world rocked once again. This book gave me good cause to continue with the uncomfortable conversations and push back to the family and friends in my community, who perpetuate harmful ideology from a place of "well intentioned" ignorance. Add Sian Norris to the long list of heroes I idolize in the struggle towards enlightenment and smashing the patriarchy.

[Ems · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well researched look at how anti abortion movements in the US and Europe grow and are funded by far right extremists.
Some content I was familiar with already, some not, either way very informative. I was especially unsettled by the insight into how some influential transphobic feminist orgs work with far right groups. The trad wife section was also wild.
This book really drives home the fact that the attacks on reproductive rights are always rooted in white supremacy.

[Grace Pellegrinelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars rounded up. The contents of this book are absolutely terrifying and very eye opening. This book felt incredibly well researched and thought over and covered a lot of different areas of the main topic, bringing them all together and linking them all back to the underlying facial thought architecture, as the author refers to it. Sometimes it felt there was overlap in a few of the chapters but overall such a brilliant read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ton of research has gone into this book. To explain and show how men and especially white men have tried to take control over women. To impact their rights over their bodies, to support and maintain and white male dominance and to undermine and take away any power or abilities from women other than child bearing.
She connects countries and how influential and wealthy people are supporting these efforts and sharing strategies all with the common goal. It’s pretty horrifying

[Stephanie Mathivet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Galling and gut wrenching. We tend to grind of the far right in terms of racism but Norris takes us into the 360 degree understanding of fascism as a complete package. The extent to which the new far right is funded and organised to worm its way into liberal democratic spaces to whittle away at our rights is a matter of great concern and we must fight back.

[Luke Mizzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really revealing.
Unfortunately, this is the sort of book which won't be read by those who need to. Other than that, it helped connect more dots for me.
Quotes some good material I previously read. Coupled with Gareth Gore's 'Opus' and Naomi Klein's Doppelganger, it can really outline the *actual* dark financing of agenda pushing from the right as they complain about wokeness or whatever.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here is a quick summary:

1. Fascists oppose abortion.
2. Everyone who opposes abortion is a fascist or a fascist-ally if she is a woman.
3. The end.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT and essential. Find this book and read it.

[Léane · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a very interesting and scary dive into the politics and dynamics of the far-right. There were lots of names and lists of people though, which made it a bit hard to digest at times

[Josephine · Rating 5 out of 5]

scratch the surface of a pro-lifer, what you get is a fascist

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrifying! Eye opening - so many situations have underlying hate roots - I think all should read this. I have dipped into this book many times - it was too hard to read straight through

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book written before the US went back on Roe, but that was published after, so there are some places where the author quickly writes in about that ruling, but it’s mostly written from a fear something like that will happen. Bodies Under Siege is a book that identifies and explores different groups that are anti-abortion, what they say, how they get their information out there, and how they influence society.

The book starts by exploring Reddit and 4chan where men group together and discuss not just abortion but also their general dislike of “females”. I would have liked to see an even deeper dive into these people, especially as celebrities then go on to take these talking point and spread the misinformation further. The book explores all the way to how groups and politicians then take these talking points to then make laws that endanger people who can get pregnant lives.

The book also explores the ideology these people have whether they recognize it themselves. And not just that they’re right wing but specifically facist. In many ways this is an uncomfortable book to read as it has already shown how much power these groups gain despite what they say being provably incorrect, and gives us an unsettling idea of what very well could be our future.

[Rosa Gudny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal, eye opening and brutal. We live in scary times when reproductive rights are under attack. Just a year after the publication of this book, things got even worse with Trump becoming the president again, securing the prevalence of the far-right.
Complacency is dangerous. Fight back!

[Gemma Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers a captivating exploration, at times even chilling, into the operations of the far right and their disturbing agenda to oppress and enslave women under the guise of white supremacy. I highly recommend this book, particularly for those interested in LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights. It delves into the collaboration between various extremist American organisations like the so called 'Alliance Defending Freedom,' Russian oligarchs, and European anti-abortion groups, revealing their concerted efforts to strip away the rights of women and LGBTQ+ individuals. The concluding chapters also provide thought-provoking analysis on the influence of the Tory government and the manipulative forces of the far right. Sian Norris is clearly an expert in this field and her investigations and insights are essential anti-fascist reading.