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Brother George Tiller was a great humane being of conscience
and commitment. He gave his life for his patients and based upon
his desire to end pain and suffering!
Education for Liberation!
Peter S. Lopez ~aka: Peta
Sacramento, California, Aztlan
Yahoo Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://anhglobal.ning.com/group/humanerightsagenda
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Humane-Rights-Agenda/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NetworkAztlan_News/
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From: "moderator@PORTSIDE.ORG" <moderator@PORTSIDE.ORG>
To: PORTSIDE@LISTS.PORTSIDE.ORG
Sent: Sunday, June 7, 2009 5:01:29 PM
Subject: The Legacy of George Tiller
The Legacy of George Tiller
Carole Joffe
Beacon Broadside
June 4, 2009
http://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/2009/06/carole-joffe-the-legacy-of-george-tiller.html
[moderator: thanks to Meredith Tax for forwarding this
to Portside]
Today's blog post is from Carole Joffe, author of
Doctors of Conscience: the Struggle to provide Abortion
before and after Roe v Wade (Beacon Press, 1996) and a
professor of sociology at the University of California,
Davis. She is currently at work on a book about
contemporary abortion provision. June 04, 2009
"It comes down to who is the patient. Is the woman the
patient, or is the fetus the patient? One or other is
the patient. I've never heard a fetus talk to me. I've
heard thousands and thousands of women share their pain,
their desperation, and their hopelessness." These words
were spoken to me some twenty years ago by Dr. George
Tiller, as I was researching a book on abortion
providers' experiences before and after Roe v Wade.
Tiller, who was brutally assassinated in his church on
May 31, was one of the most compassionate-- and
feminist-- individuals I have ever encountered. "Trust
women" was his well-known motto, prominently displayed
at his clinic in Wichita, Kansas.
He was asked repeatedly by friends how he could continue
his work in the face of the unending violence and legal
harassment that he endured in the years leading up to
his murder: his home and office were frequently
blockaded (I recall hearing that he and his wife had to
be helicoptered out of their house to attend a child's
wedding, as antiabortion fanatics were surrounding his
home); he was shot in both arms in 1993; and he was
subjected to numerous lawsuits brought by a
grandstanding anti-abortion Attorney General in Kansas
and by Operation Rescue operatives, all of which he
ultimately won, but which took a huge toll, financially
and emotionally. His answer was always the same: "Where
else can these women go?"
Tiller's answer was not a rhetorical one. He was one of
the very few physicians in the United States who
provided abortion care well into the third trimester of
pregnancy. It is this fact that made him so reviled in
antiabortion circles, and unquestionably the most
controversial abortion provider in the country.
Operation Rescue relocated their offices to Wichita a
few years ago, with the specific intent of closing him
down. Each day, the women who came to him from all over
the U.S., and from abroad as well, had to go through a
gauntlet of protestors holding grotesque posters and
screaming about "Tiller the baby killer."
It is hardly surprising that antiabortion zealots would
find Dr. Tiller such a convenient target, focusing on
his late term procedures. What has been more surprising,
and disappointing, to me has been the inadequate
coverage of Tiller's work in most of the mainstream
media in the days since his murder. I myself have spoken
to a fair number of reporters, have read numerous
stories from papers across the country, and consumed a
great deal of television and radio reporting on this
event. I have been struck that although all reporters
mention that he offered late term abortions, as a way of
explaining his notoriety in antiabortion circles,
remarkably few of these print or radio and television
journalists explained why Tiller did this, and who
actually were the recipients of these procedures. The
fact that so many of those reporting on Tiller were so
oblivious of the circumstances of his patients is in
itself a powerful indication of the marginality of both
abortion providers and patients in American culture.
In simplest terms, many of those who came to George
Tiller's clinic for late second or third trimester
abortions were women (and their partners) who were
carrying much wanted pregnancies that had gone horribly
wrong. These were women in many cases who had already
set up cribs and had baby showers. Some of these women
had fetuses with heartbreaking anomalies, that were
discovered only later in pregnancy, such as anencephaly,
a lethal birth defect in which most of the brain and
parts of the skull are missing. Other women had
themselves become very ill in the course of a pregnancy,
such as the onset of cancer, which demanded a course of
chemotherapy. Tiller, himself a practicing Christian,
had set aside a space in his clinic-- a Quiet Room-- for
grieving parents, who could if they wished, be counseled
by a chaplain on staff, and participate in a baptism or
other blessings for the lost pregnancy.
In a perceptive piece written immediately after Tiller's
death, the journalist Michelle Goldberg points out the
irony that many of the procedures that he performed, for
wanted pregnancies that had gone terribly wrong, "are as
far away from the much-reviled concept of 'abortion on
demand' that one could get... Almost anyone of
childbearing age could end up needing Tiller's
services."
To be sure, not all of the abortions that Tiller
performed were for difficult medical situations. Some
were for wrenching social situations. Tiller was
commonly referred to as "Saint George" within the
abortion providing community, not only because he
persisted in his practice for so long in the face of
constant threats, but because he took on cases no one
else would. To relate just one of numerous instances I
have heard, a clinic director in the deep South was
faced with a situation of a young girl, brought to the
clinic by her mother: "a very pregnant eleven years,
blond, blue eyes, and small... too far in the pregnancy
for us to help." The girl had been raped by a relative.
The solution chosen was a familiar one in the abortion
providing world. The clinic staff donated money to the
indigent family for travel expenses, sent them off to
Wichita, and Tiller performed her abortion for free.
Why did Dr. Tiller receive a constant stream of
referrals from his colleagues across the country? Why
are there only one or two other doctors remaining in the
U.S. who have a practice similar to his? The answer lies
in a combination of highly restrictive state laws and
hospital regulations governing later abortions,
inadequate training opportunities for these more complex
procedures, and, of course, the kind of unbearable
scrutiny that likely awaits anyone willing to undergo
this work.
In the wake of this horrific murder, many have rightly
called for a more widespread condemnation of the
violence that has plagued the abortion providing
community for years. As Gloria Feldt, former president
of Planned Parenthood aptly put it, "George Tiller needs
more than candlelight vigils," and his death demands
"massive outrage" from all sectors of society,
particularly political leaders.
But I also believe that another response to this killing
must be to demand that the mainstream medical community
acknowledge the reality that there will always be some
women who need abortions later on in pregnancy. Local
medical institutions must make provision for these
cases-- especially since these women can no longer be
sent off to Kansas, out of sight and mind of
"respectable" doctors and hospitals. In the abstract,
late term abortions are understandably distasteful to
many. When considered in the context of real women's
lives, however, these procedures are essential. This is
what George Tiller understood. This will hopefully be
his legacy.
_____________________________________________
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.
Submit via email: moderator@portside.org
Submit via the Web: portside.org/submit
Frequently asked questions: portside.org/faq
Subscribe: portside.org/subscribe
Unsubscribe: portside.org/unsubscribe
Account assistance: portside.org/contact
Search the archives: portside.org/archive
Brother George Tiller was a great humane being of conscience
and commitment. He gave his life for his patients and based upon
his desire to end pain and suffering!
Education for Liberation!
Peter S. Lopez ~aka: Peta
Sacramento, California, Aztlan
Yahoo Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://anhglobal.ning.com/group/humanerightsagenda
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Humane-Rights-Agenda/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NetworkAztlan_News/
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
From: "moderator@PORTSIDE.ORG" <moderator@PORTSIDE.ORG>
To: PORTSIDE@LISTS.PORTSIDE.ORG
Sent: Sunday, June 7, 2009 5:01:29 PM
Subject: The Legacy of George Tiller
The Legacy of George Tiller
Carole Joffe
Beacon Broadside
June 4, 2009
http://www.beaconbroadside.com/broadside/2009/06/carole-joffe-the-legacy-of-george-tiller.html
[moderator: thanks to Meredith Tax for forwarding this
to Portside]
Today's blog post is from Carole Joffe, author of
Doctors of Conscience: the Struggle to provide Abortion
before and after Roe v Wade (Beacon Press, 1996) and a
professor of sociology at the University of California,
Davis. She is currently at work on a book about
contemporary abortion provision. June 04, 2009
"It comes down to who is the patient. Is the woman the
patient, or is the fetus the patient? One or other is
the patient. I've never heard a fetus talk to me. I've
heard thousands and thousands of women share their pain,
their desperation, and their hopelessness." These words
were spoken to me some twenty years ago by Dr. George
Tiller, as I was researching a book on abortion
providers' experiences before and after Roe v Wade.
Tiller, who was brutally assassinated in his church on
May 31, was one of the most compassionate-- and
feminist-- individuals I have ever encountered. "Trust
women" was his well-known motto, prominently displayed
at his clinic in Wichita, Kansas.
He was asked repeatedly by friends how he could continue
his work in the face of the unending violence and legal
harassment that he endured in the years leading up to
his murder: his home and office were frequently
blockaded (I recall hearing that he and his wife had to
be helicoptered out of their house to attend a child's
wedding, as antiabortion fanatics were surrounding his
home); he was shot in both arms in 1993; and he was
subjected to numerous lawsuits brought by a
grandstanding anti-abortion Attorney General in Kansas
and by Operation Rescue operatives, all of which he
ultimately won, but which took a huge toll, financially
and emotionally. His answer was always the same: "Where
else can these women go?"
Tiller's answer was not a rhetorical one. He was one of
the very few physicians in the United States who
provided abortion care well into the third trimester of
pregnancy. It is this fact that made him so reviled in
antiabortion circles, and unquestionably the most
controversial abortion provider in the country.
Operation Rescue relocated their offices to Wichita a
few years ago, with the specific intent of closing him
down. Each day, the women who came to him from all over
the U.S., and from abroad as well, had to go through a
gauntlet of protestors holding grotesque posters and
screaming about "Tiller the baby killer."
It is hardly surprising that antiabortion zealots would
find Dr. Tiller such a convenient target, focusing on
his late term procedures. What has been more surprising,
and disappointing, to me has been the inadequate
coverage of Tiller's work in most of the mainstream
media in the days since his murder. I myself have spoken
to a fair number of reporters, have read numerous
stories from papers across the country, and consumed a
great deal of television and radio reporting on this
event. I have been struck that although all reporters
mention that he offered late term abortions, as a way of
explaining his notoriety in antiabortion circles,
remarkably few of these print or radio and television
journalists explained why Tiller did this, and who
actually were the recipients of these procedures. The
fact that so many of those reporting on Tiller were so
oblivious of the circumstances of his patients is in
itself a powerful indication of the marginality of both
abortion providers and patients in American culture.
In simplest terms, many of those who came to George
Tiller's clinic for late second or third trimester
abortions were women (and their partners) who were
carrying much wanted pregnancies that had gone horribly
wrong. These were women in many cases who had already
set up cribs and had baby showers. Some of these women
had fetuses with heartbreaking anomalies, that were
discovered only later in pregnancy, such as anencephaly,
a lethal birth defect in which most of the brain and
parts of the skull are missing. Other women had
themselves become very ill in the course of a pregnancy,
such as the onset of cancer, which demanded a course of
chemotherapy. Tiller, himself a practicing Christian,
had set aside a space in his clinic-- a Quiet Room-- for
grieving parents, who could if they wished, be counseled
by a chaplain on staff, and participate in a baptism or
other blessings for the lost pregnancy.
In a perceptive piece written immediately after Tiller's
death, the journalist Michelle Goldberg points out the
irony that many of the procedures that he performed, for
wanted pregnancies that had gone terribly wrong, "are as
far away from the much-reviled concept of 'abortion on
demand' that one could get... Almost anyone of
childbearing age could end up needing Tiller's
services."
To be sure, not all of the abortions that Tiller
performed were for difficult medical situations. Some
were for wrenching social situations. Tiller was
commonly referred to as "Saint George" within the
abortion providing community, not only because he
persisted in his practice for so long in the face of
constant threats, but because he took on cases no one
else would. To relate just one of numerous instances I
have heard, a clinic director in the deep South was
faced with a situation of a young girl, brought to the
clinic by her mother: "a very pregnant eleven years,
blond, blue eyes, and small... too far in the pregnancy
for us to help." The girl had been raped by a relative.
The solution chosen was a familiar one in the abortion
providing world. The clinic staff donated money to the
indigent family for travel expenses, sent them off to
Wichita, and Tiller performed her abortion for free.
Why did Dr. Tiller receive a constant stream of
referrals from his colleagues across the country? Why
are there only one or two other doctors remaining in the
U.S. who have a practice similar to his? The answer lies
in a combination of highly restrictive state laws and
hospital regulations governing later abortions,
inadequate training opportunities for these more complex
procedures, and, of course, the kind of unbearable
scrutiny that likely awaits anyone willing to undergo
this work.
In the wake of this horrific murder, many have rightly
called for a more widespread condemnation of the
violence that has plagued the abortion providing
community for years. As Gloria Feldt, former president
of Planned Parenthood aptly put it, "George Tiller needs
more than candlelight vigils," and his death demands
"massive outrage" from all sectors of society,
particularly political leaders.
But I also believe that another response to this killing
must be to demand that the mainstream medical community
acknowledge the reality that there will always be some
women who need abortions later on in pregnancy. Local
medical institutions must make provision for these
cases-- especially since these women can no longer be
sent off to Kansas, out of sight and mind of
"respectable" doctors and hospitals. In the abstract,
late term abortions are understandably distasteful to
many. When considered in the context of real women's
lives, however, these procedures are essential. This is
what George Tiller understood. This will hopefully be
his legacy.
_____________________________________________
Portside aims to provide material of interest
to people on the left that will help them to
interpret the world and to change it.
Submit via email: moderator@portside.org
Submit via the Web: portside.org/submit
Frequently asked questions: portside.org/faq
Subscribe: portside.org/subscribe
Unsubscribe: portside.org/unsubscribe
Account assistance: portside.org/contact
Search the archives: portside.org/archive
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