FUCK!

[neadods]

George Tiller shot dead walking out of church.

Doctor George Tiller survived clinic bombings, being shot in both arms, and years of violent threats. Women would come to him from all across the country, as he was the one of the very few who would perform late-term abortions.

Operation Rescue's smarmy obituary claims that it worked through peaceful channels (read: screaming at women, blocking the clinic, picketing his home and targeting his children) to stop him and fails to note that its many attempts only made him more convinced that his services were needed. OR's press release adds insult to injury by removing his title and claiming that the family needs to find Jesus, somehow missing the fact that the man was killed on the steps of a church. A church they claim they have the right to picket.) Priests for Life is apparently saying that the shooter may well be a woman angry over an abortion.


The police are looking for a powder blue Ford Taurus, license plate 225 BAB. A suspect has been arrested. It also turns out that he was not shot coming out of church, the killer went in and shot him as he handed out bulletins to people going into church, one of several ushers that day.

A grass-roots movement is already beginning to urge people to donate to Medical Students for Choice in his name.

Comments

[lagilman]

May his memory be for a blessing, and his life an inspiration.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Especially the inspiration. There are so few who do what he did, and it's needed.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Bastards!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

It was a bit like the first few minutes of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" - all I could say was "Fuck! Fuck!"

And in a church! Yet we all know the killer is going to claim that God told him to do it.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

And in a church! Yet we all know the killer is going to claim that God told him to do it.

I hate that kind of feeble-minded excuse for being a horrible person.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Terrorism. Just sayin'.

[nemo-wistar.livejournal.com]

Amen.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

The T word is already being thrown around on blogs, but we need to get it out in the open and used in a court of law.

Mind you, Operation Rescue'll really wet themselves if they get labeled - legitimately, in my view - a terrorist sponsor.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

No homegrown groups ever get labeled as terrorist unless 1) they're Muslim or 2) their big issue is environmentalism or animal rights. So don't hold your breath.

[lagilman]

except they incite not terror, but a determined anger and a resolute spine.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

... and a whole bunch of unstable, armed wingnuts, but it's amazing how fast the blowhards clutch their pearls when people point to them as inciters.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice.

... WHUT. What the hell is this 'justice' bullshit? Did I blink and miss the US making abortions illegal?

Their statement actually makes me want to barf a little. Poor family :( This 'right to life' claim doesn't seem to make anyone hesitant to actually murder.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Did I blink and miss the US making abortions illegal?

Only in their wet dreams. Despite all the terrorist attacks and the legal threats, Tiller kept on doing what he did because he knew it was legal, he was obeying all the petty laws put in his way, and women were desperate for his services. (I'm almost more offended by the group that's trying to pin the killing on a "post-abortion man or woman" than by Operation Rescue.

This 'right to life' claim doesn't seem to make anyone hesitant to actually murder.

A real big flaw right there.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

*shakes head* In Norway, we don't even have an abortion debate, so some of these really rabid anti-abortion people in the US are so alien to me. I mean, I get why someone personally might not want to have an abortion, but what's with forcing your morality onto others here?

Not to mention if one really wants to limit the number of abotions, the most efficient way is just to ensure the dilemma doesn't come up. Birth control FTW.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

what's with forcing your morality onto others here?... Birth control FTW.

Long story short, it goes kind of like this: Sex is evil. (Thank you, Puritans.) Under that: control access to birth control and abortion and bingo! You control women. It won't take much looking to find anti birth control arguments that outright say that women shouldn't be having sex if they aren't "prepared to take the consequences." Or that sex ed denies parents their parental rights to raise their children unaware of anything outside the parents' beliefs.

As shameful as it is to say, those attitude mean there are some states with female poverty and infant mortality rates right out of the Third World. And you wouldn't believe that abstinence-only "education" has done for teen pregnancy and STD rates.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

I simply cannot imagine how such a thing could ever happen in our free happy totally equal post-feminist society.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

The sarcasm! It burns!

[amilyn.livejournal.com]

I saw this and immediately read the article for the part of the country because someone I've known well for several years has an uncle who runs a clinic in Kansas that is one of the few to offer late-term terminations.

I was about to call her when I checked her Facebook status and found this same link saying that, yes, it was her uncle, and in the photo I can see the resemblance to her mom and daughter.

I've had terminations and that, plus knowing someone related to this man who, while distant from his family, has helped in VERY important ways with care that they could not have gotten otherwise, makes it that much closer to home. I feel like folks are personally at war with me in a way that is even stronger than before.

Gods.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

See icon.

[amilyn.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

I feel better having ranted and posted and linked and (to my great surprise) having been linked all over.

It's just an awful thing, and the cognizance of how DANGEROUS basic care can be...it's just...a horrible reminder.

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

Of course, this murderer will claim that s/he is a martyr for the cause. Yeah, right.

This is so very horrible :( Forty or more years since abortion became LEGAL and we're still not only having to make the argument for it but also defend people against nutjobs who think they're entitled to use violence to prevent people accessing a legal service.

I respect the fact that some people are opposed to abortion on religious or moral grounds. I'm not trying to change their minds - but why can't they just get the fuck out of other people's moral decision-making!

RIP Dr Tiller.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

At this point, I'd be happy if there was a cessation of the rhetoric urging people to kill, and the lauding of people who do. Turns out Bill O'Reilly has been all but handing people the gun for ages. I presume on Monday he'll be pretending that after all that demonizing he didn't mean for someone to shoot him.

Or possibly just didn't mean for someone to shoot him in church.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

I just had somebody tell *ME* (Over on my LJ) not to be so "Bloodthirsty" and that I can't blame the entire group of people for the actions on the individual... WTF? When the Group planted that seed and nurtured it for years in as many people as they could get? When the group fed that hatred and fanned the flames in every way they could?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

I can't blame the entire group of people for the actions on the individual...

That - when said by the people who directly incited this - seems to be the new mantra, along with "don't capitalize on this." Except for people like Randall Terry who is capitalizing on it.

[zinelady.livejournal.com]

I think if the terrorist thinks he's justified in killing Dr. Tiller because he kills babies, then the idiot should kill himself and save the government the money and trouble of bringing him to trial for murder. A death for a death.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

A death for a death.

From this morning's reports, that's exactly how we got into this. The suspect has been hunting and harassing abortion doctors for years.

[zinelady.livejournal.com]

Exactly. He killed someone whom he thought killed someone else, so by his logic, he should be killed. It's a vicious circle. If he kills himself, then logically, it stops the circle. Of course, that's not going to stop other lunatics from going out and killing.

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

As if we needed any more examples - much less such an
excruciatingly perfect one - of just what colossal
hypocrites these so-called "pro-Life Xians" are.

I only hope they go for the death penalty - because
I'm not a hypocrite!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Ugh.

Ugh.

If one is so morally against abortions (which is definitely a personal right I do not begrudge anyone) then work against it via peaceful means - whether by increasing sex ed/contraception availability or being more effective in preaching abstinence, whatever. Or even lobbying your congressman or mounting public opinion campaigns to change the law. Fine. Whatever. Marketplace of ideas and all that.

But shooting? WTF! Also, I looked up the kind of abortions he was providing and it's for situations where the mother might not even make it alive if she went through and gave birth! How can anyone in the world object to that? He wasn't helping women abort for jollies!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

How can anyone in the world object to that? He wasn't helping women abort for jollies!

Except that's exactly what he's been accused of, if you look at the rhetoric that's been flying around. And always in terms of his killing little babies... nevermind that many of the fetuses he aborted were already dying or dead.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I come from a culture where abortion was not even a controversial topic (former USSR) and it took a few years here for me to even realize this was an issue.

I went through childbirth and it wasn't a fun time but it was still much better than having a knife cut into me (and that is the thing - I chose to have a child. I made a choice. A woman is not a breeding cow to be forced to carry a child to term). It boggles the mind that anyone thinks that women want to have an invasive surgical procedure for fun. Because it's so awesome to be cut into! Yeah, right.


And you are right - I looked up the kind of fetuses he was aborting - most would have had a few brief and painful moments of life. It is absurd to think that under current US law any doctor could perform third term abortions when either the life of the mother was not at stake or the fetus was not viable and not be clapped into jail right away. UGHUGHUGH.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

UGH UGH UGH pretty much sums it up. It's insane. In many cases, it's not even a question of putting the rights of the fetus before the mother, it's putting the "rights" of a *corpse* before the mother!