On the morning of January 29th, 1998, nurse Emily Lyons had just arrived to work at The New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. It was one of the few clinics providing abortions in the state.
That day, terrorist Eric Rufolph set off a homemade bomb filled with nails and gravel, severely injuring Emily and killing the police officer working security that day. His name was Robert “Sande” Sanderson, and he was the first person to be killed in an abortion clinic bombing in the U.S.
You can hear more from Emily and Jeff on the StoryCorps podcast, or in their self-published book.
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Originally aired November 15, 2024, on NPR’s Morning Edition.