Feminist Looking Glass

This week, as we sadly all know by now, Dr. George Tiller, brave provider of a woman’s right to choose, was gunned down as he entered his church. Though it happened now 4 days ago, many of us are still reeling from his assassination, and reality that anti-choice violence is still a very real threat.

Dr. Tiller was one of very, very few who provide an option for ending a late-term pregnancy. Though the O’Reillys of this world will have you believe that this always involves Jezebels and their “evil doctors” murdering babies for the hell of it, the realities of these situations involve painful, hard, & brave decisions to end the pain of a fetus that will never have a chance at real life. From all accounts  of women and couples who have stepped forward to tell their stories in light of Tiller’s death, he was a compassionate, kind, extremely generous man who not only performed a necessary medical procedure, but provided emotional comfort as well.

What concerns me the most in the aftermath of Tiller’s murder is not necessarily that one man with a history of vigilantism committed a violent act– but that many, many choice opponents have excused the act because of Dr. Tiller’s line of work. From simply anonymous commenters on the internet who feel Roeder, his killer, should “get the purple heart,” to Roeder’s fellow protester who called the murder ”absolutely justified,” these so-called “pro-lifers” have made excuses for his assassination. Anti-choice organizations have declared he “reaped what he sowed,“ and O’Reilly, who coined the term “Tiller the Baby Killer,”  said it is liberals who are exploiting his death, without addressing the venom he spewed about Tiller on his own show.

The anti-choicers want you to believe that this is a lone man committing a single act of murder than is unrelated to their cause.  For many people, this may be true. But the truth is there are many other anti-choice activists who do not feel the murder of Dr. Tiller was wrong, and who perpetuate violent and incendiary calls to action against abortion providers and the women who need them. And this should scare you.

Will this act of violence make it less likely for more Tillers to step up to fill his necessary place? Will more women feel more shamed and frightened to seek to exercise their freedom of choice? What I know is that there is a great shortage of abortion providers all of the country already. The good news is that over $15,000 was donated to Tiller’s memorial abortion fund in one day. Let us hope this goes to great use.

Filed under: Reproductive Rights, Violence