As I’m sure most of you are aware, Dr. George Tiller was murdered on Sunday morning in Kansas. I spent most of Sunday in a daze, working, having dinner, going to sleep, and woke up feeling depressed, scared and deflated. This is a big deal; something that signifies just how nasty a situation we’re in. I don’t think I will be able to patch together a coherent statement, so I am just going to share some general thoughts and how you and I can help preserve women’s right to choose.
- Merriam-Webster defines terror as “violent or destructive acts (as bombing) committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands” and terrorism as “the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.” This was an act of terrorism, pure and simple.
- The term “pro-life” needs to change. Everyone is pro-life. Those who want to limit access to abortions are anti-choice. Calling those against abortion rights “pro-life” sets up a dichotomy whereby the other side (pro-choice) will be thought of as “anti-life.” The media needs to drop this terminology ASAP, as it was developed and its meaning reified by the anti-choice movement.
- The anti-choice movement references the Bible as reasoning for their beliefs but ignores those tenants that challenge their mission statement.
- The most vocal anti-choice individuals are male. This is no coincidence and points squarely to the fact that the debate is not just about “life” but about control over women’s bodies and choices.
- Many anti-choicers are vehemently against preventative birth control. and yet strangely ambivalent about babies AFTER they are born (aka welfare programs, childcare).
Feministing has pulled together an amazing list of ways you can both show your appreciation for Dr. Tiller’s work and organizations to which you can donate and ensure women continue to have reproductive choices.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I was in a media vacuum over the weekend, so I didn’t hear about this until this morning. I’ve made some donations, but I’m still stunned by this. I think your point about male anti-choicers claim of a love and respect for “life” is necessarily also a claim over women and their bodies. (And also diminishes the value of women, as our health, feelings, and plight are far secondary to the baby that may result from the pregnancy.) I’m short on coherent thoughts about it, obviously, but I appreciate your post.
Interestingly you could tie this back with your previous post about empathy. Every time someone announces, “I would NEVER have an abortion!” I always cringe. People who oppose abortion simply do not seem able empathize with women who choose to have the procedure at all and I have always marveled about the “missing piece” there.
I was so saddened and infuriated to hear of his murder. The ability of anti-choice crazies to ignore the ridiculous hypocrisy in their logic by claiming that abortion is murder and then feeling justified in murdering people who perform (entirely legal) abortions is mind-blowing.
I agree with Claudia in that there is an astounding lack of empathy for women who are in difficult positions and have to make tough choices, particularly on the part of men. There are some things that a man will never have to wrestle with, and for them to try and dictate what a woman can/should do in those situations is utterly preposterous. Then again it’s also bewildering that all women don’t have more compassion for other women.
What also frustrates me is hearing people call themselves ‘pro-life’ and then saying that they don’t actually care what others do, they just wouldn’t have an abortion. That means you are pro-choice! You don’t have to be the one making the choice to have an abortion, if you accept that others might make a different choice than you, then join the ranks and label yourself pro-choice.
I’ll stop now, it’s just obviously an issue about which I cannot be calm.
Meanwhile, today’s article in the NY Times shows the startling reality of what happens when women do not have access to abortions performed by trained medical professionals (let alone contraceptives, and a myriad of other women’s health services).
And thank you for connecting the dots regarding contraception. How can any group take a stand against abortion while letting an appalling number of students get by with abstinence-only sex ed? If you are serious about stopping abortion, allowing schools to teach comprehensive, unbiased sex education is paramount.
I wouldn’t call the anti-choice movement so much ambivalent about post-birth babies as simply apathetic. Ambivalence implies there is some level of back-and-forthing, and I’m not sure I can say I’ve seen any of that. Once they’re born, I can only assume the babies can fend for themselves and are no longer in need of protection by these strangers and are able to stand up for their own rights . Otherwise, why on earth would you fight so hard to make this child exist, then turn your back?
@Poppy – But teaching kids about sex and contraception is just going to teach them to have dirty teenage extramarital sex with no consequences, didn’t you know? ;)
I read about it in the Times–he was shot in his church where he was acting as an usher. His wife was singing in the choir at the time. Maybe the killer chose that place to send a message because he believed he was doing “God’s work” by eliminating one of the only Dr.’s brave enough to consider late term abortions. The only clear message is that radical religious zealots are some of the most dangerous people out there.
People who opposed Tiller’s work professionally through organizations were quoted in the article, and they were extremely upset by the killing as it also damaged their side of the debate (not that I support them at all)…Still, as Obama keeps saying, we’re not going to agree, but we need to find a way to respectfully disagree and move forward. This type of act hurts both sides and impedes progress.
All radical psychos aside, we all need to keep our sanity intact and spirits up—-and what better way than to share time with friends, like, say… at a certain little baby’s first BDAY! We missed you! Come see her soon or she’ll be walking already!