Tiller's Murder

[rayilynlee <rayilynlee@xxxxxxx>]

I'm submitting this suggesting that since the abortion issue has become
confused with that of embryonic stem cell research we need to understand our
opponents.  Some of us have been called baby killers - MJFox for one.
Ray

The Murder of Dr. George Tiller, A Foreshadowing

By Cristina Page, Birthcontrolwatch.org
May 31, 2009 - 8:59pm
Published under: Leading Voices | Maternal Health | Access to Abortion |
Women's Rights | murder of Dr. George Tiller | Dr. George Tiller |
anti-clinic violence | anti-choice violence
Cristina Page's blog | Printer-friendly version | ShareThis

For those who would like to think today's murder in church of Dr. George
Tiller, an abortion provider, is an isolated incident: here's the horrifying
news: You are wrong. The pattern is clear and frightening.

In March 1993, three months into the administration of our first pro-choice
president, Bill Clinton, abortion provider Dr. David Gunn was murdered in
Pensacola, Florida. That was the beginning of what would become a five-fold
increase in violence against abortion providers throughout the Clinton
years.

Today's assassination of Dr. George Tiller comes five months into the term
of our second pro-choice president. For anyone who would like to believe
that this is a statistical anomaly, a coincidence that doesn't portend
anything, again, you are wrong.
During the entire Bush administration, from 2000-2008 there were no murders.

During the Clinton era, between 1994-2000 there were six abortion providers
and clinic staff murdered, and 17 attempted murders of abortion providers
(one of these attempts was on Dr. Tiller who was shot in both arms.) There
were 12 bombings or arsons during the Clinton years.
During the Bush administration, not only were there no murders, there were
no attempted murders. There was one clinic bombing during the Bush years.

One can only conclude that like terrorist sleeper cells, these extremists
have now been set in motion. Indeed the evidence is already there. The
chatter, the threats, the hate-filled rhetoric are abundant.

In the last year of the Bush administration there were 396 harassing calls
to abortion clinics. In just the first four months of the Obama
administration that number has jumped to 1401.

And so the execution of Tiller, 67, is not only tragic but ominous. He was
born into an era when being an abortion provider meant saving women's lives.
And the cold-blooded murder in church and in front of his wife of this
stalwart defender of women rights and beloved physician, comes as a message
for others, as well as tragic deja vu.

Battered women are at greatest danger of being killed by their abusers when
they are most strong--that is, when they muster the courage to leave. The
same phenomenon may be true in the abusive political abortion debate. The
pro-choice movement, specifically our abortion providers, are in the
greatest danger of violence when we take power. When the anti-abortion
movement loses power, their most extreme elements appear to move to the fore
and take control. The murder of Dr. Tiller suggests that violence against
abortion providers may be far more linked to the power, or lack thereof,
anti-abortion groups have politically than to laws designed to increase
penalties against such acts.

History has another disturbing lesson for us. The escalation of
anti-abortion rhetoric plays a direct role in instigating violence. When
anti-abortion groups ratchet up the rhetoric, they know exactly what they're
doing and the results it will have. Even if they maintain deniability, as
Operation Rescue recently did saying, in effect, we wanted Tiller gone, but
didn't want him murdered, they have inflamed the rhetoric. And suddenly
people Like Dr. Tiller's murderer become inspired. On this issue, history is
instructive.

Eleanor Bader, author of Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism, in an
article in March for RH Reality Check about clinics bracing for an uptick in
violence after the election of Obama wrote, "immediately after Obama's
election, Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director of the National Right to
Life Committee, called him a "hardcore pro-abortion president." The American
Life League dubbed him "one of the most radical pro-abortion politicians
ever," and Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life warned that Obama will
"force Americans to pay for the killing of innocents." Americans United for
Life, the Family Research Council and Operation Save America quickly joined
the chorus."
Bader interviewed clinic staff -- many seeing a direct relationship between
the pro-choice victory in November and increased aggression against them and
their patients. Claire Keyes, of Allegheny Reproductive Health in
Pittsburgh, explained,

"Right after the election we saw a small upsurge in anti-abortion activity.
But since the inauguration, things have gotten measurably worse. There's
been an increase in picketing by students from Franciscan University in
Ohio. On Saturdays there are 60-plus protesters and there's been an increase
in screaming and aggression. We don't have a parking lot so people park on
the street. The antis have surrounded cars, trapping the women inside, and
in several cases the antis jumped into vehicles and touched or grabbed at
them. The police were called but so far they don't seem to be responding
appropriately." Bader also quotes Elizabeth Barnes, Executive Director of
the Philadelphia Women's Center, who explained, "When the pendulum swung in
the direction of protecting women's rights, we expected something. The way
the antis are reacting has changed, they're taking more liberties, pressing
the boundaries of legal, civil protest."

Many in the pro-choice movement believed that the Freedom of Access to
Clinic Entrances (FACE) law, passed in 1994 in response to Gunn's murder,
was responsible for reigning in violence against abortion providers. Clearly
that is not the case. Based on statistics on violence against abortion
providers compiled by the National Abortion Federation, even after the
passage of FACE in 1994, there was still considerable violence and threats
against clinic personnel, including six murders. As appears clear, the
pro-choice movement has looked through rose-colored glasses, assuming or
hoping that legalities can restrain terrorists.

In fact, it didn't abate after FACE, as we've seen. It was not until a
comforting anti-abortion president did they calm down and stop the murder,
bombing and harassment spree.

As a result of Bush's policies, recent reportings from clinics suggest that
we may be seeing a surge in abortions. That has failed to inspire
introspection from anti-abortion groups. That Clinton presided over the most
dramatic decline in abortion rates in the recorded history of our country
left them unmoved. That Obama has assigned his senior most staff to the task
of finding ways to reduce the need for abortion has not protected clinics
nor providers nor Obama. Holder and his Justice Department should take note
of the chatter and move aggressively against this form of domestic
terrorism. The hate-filled rhetoric against Obama from the anti-abortion
movement is at unprecedented levels, even for this reflexively inflammatory
group. They refer to him as the "Most Pro-Abortion President Ever" ignoring
the fact that he is the first to extend an olive branch in hopes that
together we can make abortion more rare.

Anti-abortion groups will put out carefully worded press statements
condemning the murder of Dr. Tiller, as became routine for them during the
Clinton years. But unless the rhetoric they choose from now on becomes
careful too--they may be the enablers of murder and terror.

Words do matter and all sense of moral culpability seems missing from the
rhetoric of the Right-wing responses today.
It's striking, isn't it? Since the Sebelius nomination and particularly
since the Sotomayor nomination almost every day has produced multiple
expressions of overt and truely vicious racism, sexism and, of course, a
chorus of right wing religious types trying to outdo one another in to prove
that they really ARE the worst of what America has to offer.

One cannot reason with them and the ones who post here appear to be
incapable of of self examination. I think it starts with a value system that
condones lying, distortions  and manipulation (see the Lila Rose threadin
case any proof is needed). This combined with 30 years of divisive
conservative politics in which overt expressions of overt racism, sexism,
homophobia, xenophobia and hatred of anyone who isn't white, male and
conservative has destroyed this county and enabled the worst that America
has to offer.

It's odd that the religious right don't seem to understand that they're
precisely the sort of men and women we want to protect our children from.
Submitted by colleen on May 31, 2009 - 10:01pm.

Rayilyn Brown
Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation
rbrown@xxxxxxxxx

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