the incalculable loss
Dr. Tiller didn’t break any laws, and now not only do women of Wichita suffer (the next nearest provider is in KCK) but women around the country. Dr. Tiller helped women; he did not make loads of money off their emotional struggle. Kansas laws are strict, and he did not break them. He was brave enough to go up to the line and HELP WOMEN. He stood up to 20+ years of violent threats plus legal threats concocted by groups like Operation Rescue West to slow him down, waste his time and money, and make Wichitans and Kansans hate him more (thus filling their coffers).While I try not to get too deep or political on this blog, I am a wichitan, and so I have been touched by the tragedy of Dr. George Tiller’s assassination. I think many people don’t understand exactly what Dr. Tiller did. This sums it up nicely.
Late-term abortion is often spoken of as the most morally dubious aspect of the abortion debate. Many people who are nominally pro-choice, particularly politicians, are quick to condemn it, to treat the work that Tiller did as repugnant even if it’s legal.
Ironically, though, many of the procedures Tiller did were as far away from the much-reviled concept of “abortion on demand” as one could get. Unwanted pregnancy can, to some extent, be prevented. A pregnancy that goes horribly wrong cannot. Almost anyone of child-bearing age could end up needing Tiller’s services. And now some of them will be forced to carry pregnancies to term against their will even when their fetuses can’t survive outside the womb.
Tiller’s death is an incalculable loss to women’s health care. There are two other clinics that do late-term abortions, but neither are known for taking patients regardless of their ability to pay or for ministering so comprehensively to their emotional needs. Tiller’s murder leaves a void that could imperil women across the country. (american prospect)
