The Tiller shooting
George Tiller was not your ordinary abortion doctor. George Tiller was personally responsible for hundreds, if not thousands, of late-term abortions. His specialty was abortions on babies well past the age of viability outside the womb. George Tiller was a monster.
George Tiller did not deserve to be shot to death in his own church. Details are still coming in about the shooter, Scott Roeder, but at least for now, there is no indication that Roeder was acting as an agent of any pro-Life organization. It seems he acted alone, and he may have been suffering from mental illness.
This is a bad day not only for the Tiller family, but also for the pro-Life cause. The story now is the blood on Roeder's hands, not Tiller's. The story now will be "those crazy right-wingers," not the staggering number of innocent unborn lives lost.
According to this article (HT Hugh Hewitt), Tiller was the eighth person and the fourth doctor killed supposedly in the name of the pro-Life movement since Roe v. Wade.
So, to add a bit of perspective, in the US since 1973, less than one abortion doctor has been murdered for his practice for every 10,000,000 babies aborted during that time.
The numbers won't matter, though. There will still be those who say the Tiller shooting is evidence of extremism rampant within the pro-Life movement. There will be those who conclude that the increased scutiny of pro-Lifers by DHS is justified.
They're wrong, of course, but they're the opinions that will be promoted by a biased media. In the meantime, the best thing we can do to negate those opinions is to denounce this shooting emphatically, unequivocably, and often.
Gov. Sarah Palin puts it pretty well (HT Ben Smith at Politico):
For all but a few nuts, this doesn't need saying, but the solution to abortion is not to kill abortion doctors, but rather to put them out of business by removing the demand for abortions through compassion and education.
George Tiller did not deserve to be shot to death in his own church. Details are still coming in about the shooter, Scott Roeder, but at least for now, there is no indication that Roeder was acting as an agent of any pro-Life organization. It seems he acted alone, and he may have been suffering from mental illness.
This is a bad day not only for the Tiller family, but also for the pro-Life cause. The story now is the blood on Roeder's hands, not Tiller's. The story now will be "those crazy right-wingers," not the staggering number of innocent unborn lives lost.
According to this article (HT Hugh Hewitt), Tiller was the eighth person and the fourth doctor killed supposedly in the name of the pro-Life movement since Roe v. Wade.
So, to add a bit of perspective, in the US since 1973, less than one abortion doctor has been murdered for his practice for every 10,000,000 babies aborted during that time.
The numbers won't matter, though. There will still be those who say the Tiller shooting is evidence of extremism rampant within the pro-Life movement. There will be those who conclude that the increased scutiny of pro-Lifers by DHS is justified.
They're wrong, of course, but they're the opinions that will be promoted by a biased media. In the meantime, the best thing we can do to negate those opinions is to denounce this shooting emphatically, unequivocably, and often.
Gov. Sarah Palin puts it pretty well (HT Ben Smith at Politico):
I feel sorrow for the Tiller family. I respect the sanctity of life and the tragedy that took place today in Kansas clearly violates respect for life. This murder also damages the positive message of life, for the unborn, and for those living. Ask yourself, 'What will those who have not yet decided personally where they stand on this issue take away from today's event in Kansas?'
Regardless of my strong objection to Dr. Tiller's abortion practices, violence is never an answer in advancing the pro-life message.
For all but a few nuts, this doesn't need saying, but the solution to abortion is not to kill abortion doctors, but rather to put them out of business by removing the demand for abortions through compassion and education.
posted by A Voice at
6:19 PM
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