Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale got some more free press Tuesday night, when Hillary Clinton used it to make a point during a speech at Planned Parenthood’s centennial event. Clinton urged women to stay vigilant when it comes to defending their rights, citing how Gilead’s restrictive society crept up on the characters. “What a time it is to be holding this centennial. Just ask those who’ve been watching The Handmaid’s Tale, a book I read and was captivated by years ago,” she said, according to The Huffington Post. “Now, I am not suggesting this dystopian future is around the corner, but this show has prompted important conversations about women’s rights and autonomy. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women’s rights are gradually, slowly stripped away. As one character says, ‘We didn’t look up from our phones until it was too late.’” (Just so you know: An amendment in Republicans’ American Health Care Act considers sexual assault a pre-existing condition that could prevent women from receiving coverage.)
Clinton also dropped her own, clean interpretation of the work’s rallying cry, “Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum,” saying, “To paraphrase Margaret Atwood, ‘We can never let them grind us down.’” (To be honest, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down” has a better ring to it.) This week’s episode of the drama series, which just got renewed, ends with voiceover from Elisabeth Moss’ Offred: “Nolite Te Bastardes Carborundorum, bitches.”