The Murder of George Tiller

category: News

Published May 31, 2009 @ 06:37PM PT

This is terribly upsetting.

Dr. George Tiller, a physician in Kansas, was murdered today at his church. The motive of the murder is likely linked to his commitment of providing abortion services and other reproductive health care to women and their families.

Dr. Tiller's murder sends a chill down my spine. The professionals who are part of reproductive-health centers that serve women across this country are essential to protecting the right to privacy and the decision to choose whether or not to keep a child. I hope that Wichita does not become the beginning of a more aggressive wave of violence targeting abortion providers and the women for whom they provide care. Women who use their legal right to abortion and access to the providers who make this possible should never be targets of violence. I am tired of those who say that "abortion is murder" but then kill those who give women a choice over their destiny by supporting a variety of options when it comes to reproductive health care.

Here's more on the story from the Kansas City Star.

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Read about Dr. Tiller, in his own words: http://prch.org/george-r-tiller-md

Posted by Physicians for Reproductive Choice And Health on 05/31/2009 @ 06:55PM PT
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It's not just those who comit acts of violence, but those who promote the extreme rhetoric that incites people to commit those same acts.

Posted by Alex Edelman on 05/31/2009 @ 08:31PM PT
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A hero died today.

Please consider donating to a pro-choice orgination in Dr. Tiller's honor; see http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/05/31/in-honor-of-dr-tiller/ (and comments) for suggestions.

Posted by Kelly Garbato on 05/31/2009 @ 08:47PM PT
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The murder of Dr. George Tiller is domestic terrorism.

In 87% of counties in this nation there are no abortion providers because of harrassment and threats of violence and actual violence against providers. This is domestic terrorism.

Unable to change the law, they take it into their own hands.

If they would devote as much time, energy and resources to caring for unwanted children as they devote to ensuring that they are born ...

Posted by C D on 06/01/2009 @ 07:46PM PT
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Dr. Tiller. This man made a HUGE change in my life. I an GUARANTEE that my life wouldn't be this good if he hadn't help me during the hard decision to terminate my pregnancy. I can tell you 100% that when I left Dr. Tiller's office, I knew the correct decision had been made. He was such a caring man, professionalism and committment to his determination to help us woman who have no other option is like no other! He had the courage and guts to continue to help woman across the WORLD!!!! The week that I spent at WHC was of course a very hard time but also a good time since I met some wonderful woman who were in the same situation with myself. Without Dr. Tiller's professional assistance, MANY MANY woman would die out here trying to terminate a pregnancy illegally but thanks to him, we have the medical care we needed. And there was NO dissection of my fetus. It was a nautural birthing process - just like the births of my two other children. The entire WHC made a terrible time very bearable. If you don't believe in abortion....DON'T HAVE ONE! For me, it was the ONLY answer and I am so grateful that it IS LEGAL so that I didn't lose my life and my children need to grow up without the love of their Mom. Thank you Dr. Tiller!!!!! Rest now, your legacy will live on and we MUST keep abortion legal!!!!!!

Posted by Ann Smith on 06/02/2009 @ 05:33PM PT
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In the aftermath of the killing of Dr. Tiller by a rabid
anti-abortionist, I have to ask if anyone has considered what the large
and expanding wait-lists (in most states) for services for
developmentally-disabled (DD) adults, has to do with abortion.

A LOT. Mothers understand instinctively, even if they don't know the
details, that our society does not value DD persons. Mothers who are
not wealthy so that they can leave a huge trust behind, instinctively
understand that they do not want to leave a child behind who will need
long-term, lifetime care. That is why the population of persons with
Down Syndrome, for example, is decreasing in the USA; in a society that
values work and financial status above all else, mothers are choosing
not to bring the grief, hardship, and financial deprivation into their
lives, which having a child with DD brings.

Forgetting for the moment the personal freedom argument, i.e. that a
woman's decision to use abortion or not is nobody's business except
hers and her doctor's, anti-abortionists need to understand this. No
person who does not have a lifetime of hardships behind them, brought
on by providing care for a child who will never be self-supporting, has
the RIGHT to force any prospective mother not to use abortion when she
finds she is carrying a child who will have DD. When anti-abortionists
(most of whom are also fiscal conservatives) figure out that their
actions agitating against government social programs have helped sack
long-term care for those with DD, and find a way to fully fund
long-term care, parental lost income, etc. ... then, and ONLY then,
would they have any basis on which to ask women not to use abortion as
an exit strategy for a circumstance which can tear up lives, health,
and marriages.

Only when anti-abortionists finally understand that lack of social
supports is an important causal factor for abortion, will they have
the right to call themselves by the moniker they insist on using
anyway: "pro-life".

-Father of an adult child who requires 24/7 care

Posted by Edward Arnold on 06/04/2009 @ 10:52AM PT
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The anti-abortion groups have already started applauding the murder. They are sick, sick people...

Posted by Kristen Ridley on 06/04/2009 @ 02:33PM PT
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Are the anti-abortion/anti-choice/pro-life people whom are praising his death extremists? Or is this the majority of them? I'd hate to think that so many people - who supposedly value all life and believe it to be 'sacred' - would support the deliberate taking of one. Why is it OK to kill adults but not OK to terminiate cells?

Posted by Gabrielle B on 06/07/2009 @ 10:49PM PT
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I'm anti-abortion and I fully condemn the assasination of Dr. Tiller. I think it is an unfair assumption to consider that most anti-abortion people support this assasination. I would love to see in change.org a person defending the lifes of the un-born and trying hard to find a way to balance both interest: the one of the woman and the child.

Posted by E A on 06/08/2009 @ 05:46PM PT
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i hate to say this but i think his killing was justfyed .he was serail killer and wouldn't stop doing what is effevtively kiling babys if they were born that early would make it.to take one life to save thousands that he killed is justfyed to stop this abominnation .the only thing i object to is to strike him down in the house of the lord but, perhaps that is nessary to strike frear into the flock so they will repent .

Posted by jessica regnier on 11/04/2009 @ 10:19PM PT
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Jen Nedeau is a social media consultant, progressive activist, feminist speaker and writer. She currently lives in New York City, where she works full-time as the Director of Digital Strategy at Air America Media. In August 2008, Nedeau was selected to be the Editor of the WomensRights.Change.Org where she facilitates daily discussion about the feminist movement. Additionally, Nedeau volunteers as the Chief Technology Officer for New Leaders Council, a non-profit that offers exclusive training for young leaders. You can follow her on Twitter @HumanFolly or learn more here: www.jennedeau.com.