I have been watching the coverage of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller. I am calling it an assassination, because that is what it was. For years this man was harassed and harangued for providing services for women, services that are guaranteed by our constitution. The anti-abortion movement have made their feelings about Dr. Tiller abundantly clear.
From Scott Roeder, OperationRescue Blog:
Tiller is the concentration camp Mengele of our day and needs to be stopped, before he and those who protect him, bring judgement upon our nation.
And from Randall Terry, Operation Rescue:
George Tiller was a mass-murder. He reaped what he sowed.
George Tiller was a mass-murderer. We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God. I am more concerned that the Obama Administration will use Tiller’s killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric and actions. Abortion is still murder. And we still must call abortion by its proper name; murder
These statements and these points of view, along with the quote that I used for my title, are simply wrong, in my opinion.
Now before anyone starts calling me a baby killer, let me get one thing straight. I would never have an abortion. Never. But I cannot in good conscience, force my personal beliefs on other people, especially through legislation. That, to me, would be the same as legislating what a person could eat, drink, what movie they could see, where they could live, how they could live, what church they could attend, who they could marry, and every other freedom that we are allowed, and that are our Constitutional rights.
I will also have to say that there are circumstances where a voluntary termination of pregnancy may be necessary. For instance, when I was pregnant with my youngest son, I went in at 4 1/2 months for a routine ultrasound. Upon doing this ultrasound, they discovered that there was very little amniotic fluid in the uterus. Of course, this necessitated another, more in-depth, ultra sound, as they suspected that the fetus had no kidneys or bladder. If this proved to be the case, then, obviously, this child could not possibly survive outside the uterus. I would be faced with some very difficult choices. Continue the pregnancy, and then watch this child suffer and die, or end the pregnancy at 5 months. Thank God I was not required to make that choice, as the ultrasound showed his kidneys and bladder were fine, but he was still almost 3 months early when he was born. However, this experience opened my eyes to the fact that the abortion issue is not black and white. There are lots of grey areas. One thing I am adamantly against is using abortion as a means of birth control. There is no excuse for that. There are too many types of birth control, that are readily available, and those that choose to not use birth control when they aren’t attempting to have a child, or are not in a committed, stable relationship (in other words, casual sex), are not mature enough for sex in the first place.
In researching the issue, I found some very interesting information. So many people say it is the late term abortions that they are against. Well, only 1.3% of all abortions are performed after the 21st week. 88% are performed before 13 weeks. Generally speaking, the fetus is not considered viable if it is born before 22 weeks. And most doctors agree that the fetus only becomes viable after 27 weeks. But then what about 5 weeks in between? Therein lies the problem, as opinions vary. And states have their own laws about when abortion becomes illegal. 24 states have laws that restrict the use of abortion after the fetus is viable (and just when is that?) including, the one I live in, Missouri. 8 states call them illegal after 20-24 weeks, and the states who allow abortions in the third trimester only number 5. However, those 5 states are Texas, Iowa, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia. I found that to be very interesting, as these are mostly red states, and generally speaking, Republicans are anti-abortion.
I used the quote that I did for the title because, when I was watching the news coverage from Wichita, Kansas, where Dr. Tiller practiced, I heard a man who, when asked what he thought about the assassination of Dr. Tiller, said those exact words. His answer to the reporter greatly disturbed me. Dr. Tiller has a long history of being targeted by pro-life activists. In 1986 there was a pipe bomb detonated outside the clinic, in 1991 there were protesters outside the clinic for 7 weeks, in 1993 he was shot in both arms while leaving the parking lot of his Women’s Health Center, and finally, he was assassinated over the weekend. God Bless Dr. Tiller.
Sources:
CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CDC
From My Corner Of The World 