Jun 5th, 2009
Posted by Derek Selznick, ACLU of Kentucky at 10:48am	Reproductive Freedom

Honoring Dr. Tiller: Reflections from Kentucky

As a former Planned Parenthood employee, you can count me among the multitude of people who have friends who provide abortions. If I am to be honest, I must admit, since the murder of Dr. Tiller, many of us who advocate for reproductive freedom have been scared for our friends, family, and colleagues. Indeed, in the first days after Dr. Tiller’s death, we had decided to forgo hosting a public vigil. Then on later reflection, we decided the only way to truly honor Dr. Tiller was to come together and proclaim to the world, "We will not cower." We must stand together in the face of violence.

One of several individuals who spoke to honor and remember Dr. Tiller, Carla Wallace spoke of her times marching for LGBT rights in the midst of death threats. Years later, she and others peacefully protested the presence of the Klu Klux Klan. Through her stories, she reminded us all that violence and terrorism will only triumph if we allow it to silence us.

Dr. Tiller refused to be silenced or stopped by violence. The day after he was shot in 1993, he walked into his clinic and continued his work. We must do the same. We must honor Dr. Tiller, his family, and the women he helped through his decades of service by speaking out and saying, "I will not be afraid."

Permalink |	Reproductive Freedom

1. Mic Says:
   Jun 5th, 2009 at 9:01pm

   I do not condone murder at all. One person does not have the right to take the life of another person. I believe that most everyone is in agreement on this. Which brings me to me next point. The death of Dr. Tiller should not have been called murder. Perhaps it should have been called a "mid life" abortion that someone other that the doctor made the "pro choice" of. Was this incident any different than a late term abortion conducted by the doctor? Any way we look at it, a life was lost. So many people get caught up in a "cause" that they often forget the one real truth in that life is the most precious and important gift we ever receive and the "choice" of life should not be placed in someone else's hands but should be the certain right that all have.

2. Paen Says:
   Jun 7th, 2009 at 12:56pm

   It's amazing how silent the governement is about terrorists when they happen to be Christian fanatics rather than Muslem.

3. Aubey Says:
   Jun 9th, 2009 at 9:03pm

   "Fanatic"... That is what you call someone who is fed up with what this country is coming to? As the person said above, I do not think that the man deserved to be murdered. What I do believe is that our country is bringing these types of acts upon itself by allowing every moral and ethical fiber that it was built on to be stripped away by the minority. First, it was prayer in schools, second it was allowing millions of babies to be MURDERED, attempting to take "in God we trust" of our currency, the list goes on and on. Why do you expect those who have differing opinions that that of the Right-wing, liberal groups to just sit and watch you strip us of our rights? What is the difference in you telling me that I can't pray in my school and me saying that I don't agree with millions of innocent HUMANS being killed every year. It is people like you and the ACLU that make me sick, and I pray that the good Lord will stop this mess before it gets too out of hand.

4. Paen Says:
   Jun 10th, 2009 at 1:20pm

   No,fanatic is what we call someone who
   encourages murder with their ravings about baby killing.Furthermore the fact that most of the anti abortion people support the war shows just how pro life they really are. Btw Aubey you no more have the right to shove your religion down the throats of innocent children than I have to go to your home and shove my beliefs down yours.

5. KansasVoter Says:
   Jun 10th, 2009 at 2:06pm

   Jeez....You anti-choice zealots sure are a scary bunch.

6. Lisa Says:
   Jun 16th, 2009 at 9:50pm

   Tiller murdered babies!

   Youtube: 'partial birth abortion' and decide for yourself.

   Barbaric practice! Worse than blood letting! Shame on you for morning Tiller. Thousands upon thousands of babies suffered at his hands. Honor Tiller? That will be the day! come on get with it America, the ACLU is a polical organization promoting their views. They do not show you the other side of the issues. They only show you the side they want you to see. Their side!!!

7. Aubrey Says:
   Jun 17th, 2009 at 3:56pm

   Aubey...What is being done is stripping away the ability of the majority to remove the rights of the minority. You, as an individual, can still pray in school as long as you don't disrupt the operation of the school; the government, as represented by the school administrators, cannot do anything that would appear to favor one religion over another. YOu have the right not to have an abortion. You don't have the right to force your religious views that fetuses are people onto others.

   BTW, the change in currency is a myth, see
   http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/dollarcoin.asp
   and
   http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/lincolncent.asp

   Lisa ...partial birth abortion is a term made up by anti-abortion groups. It is not a medical term. Why do you insist on forcing your religious views that fetuses are babies onto the rest of us. Is a late stage abortion worse than letting a child be born, only to die in agony a few days later and, perhaps killing the mother?

   BTW, by allowing you to contribute to the blog, the ACLU is providing readers the other side.

8. roald Says:
   Jun 17th, 2009 at 4:03pm

   My apologies for placing Aubrey's name rather than on the 4:56pm post. It was not intentional. Moderator if it is not possible to correct my error, please review this apology as quickly as possible.

9. Lisa Says:
   Jun 18th, 2009 at 10:43am

   Roald-

   It is not a religious view. It is a moral view. Just because the science is there to do this procedure does not make it right! Tiller was not in it for saving the life of the mother or the baby. He was in it for the money! That baby child has a right to live. If the mother's life is in danger then I can understand this procedure. But the majority of the time it is done because the mother does not want the resposibilty of making a choice of keeping the baby or placing it up for adoption. Tiller did these because there was money in it. And about the ACLU, yes they keep these blogs open to everyone. However, they won't promote the protection of unborn babies as another side of the issue. Because they are one sided on the issue of abortion rights.

10. Mona Says:
    Jun 18th, 2009 at 10:48am

    Call it what you want. Abortion, Partial birth Abortion or late term abortion. It still boils down to genocide of the unborn. A growing number of women who have abortions regret it, become depressed and seek counseling to cope with their loss.

11. Richard Says:
    Jun 22nd, 2009 at 10:21pm

    To find sadness in the death of Dr. Tiller would be like finding sympathy for the likes of any mass-murderer that society is forced to suffer with. Hopefully many fetuses, that might have faced other fates, will survive in his absence.

12. Julie Says:
    Jun 30th, 2009 at 12:39pm

    The value of human life cannot be measured, and thus, there is great injustice in preaching hatred against Dr. Tiller for his service to families in this country. Public health reproductive research tells a very different story than ones told in some God-fearing faith-based communities.

    Women's lives are jeopardized when reproductive freedoms are stripped from them, especially those of women with less social power because they are women of color, have language barriers, working class, live in rural settings, or any combination of the above. Research shows the above, not some anecdotal story that serves a narrow soap-box of judgment and hatred.

13. Javajunky Says:
    Jul 1st, 2009 at 9:58am

    Maybe the most responsible thing to do is to NOT HAVE SEX until you are ready to be a parent. I am not speaking from a religious standpoint, but from a scientific one. Intercourse leads to pregnancy. The ONLY 100%, surefire way to not get pregnant is to........
    Guys- keep your friend in your pants
    Ladies- keep your panties on.
    Hope this doesn't "offend" too many!!!

14. Javajunky Says:
    Jul 1st, 2009 at 10:05am

    Oh and I love the way, delivering a BABY feet first the jamming scissors into its skull and sucking out its brains to kill it, is called a "service to families". Again NOT A RELIGIOUS STANDPOINT, just human. Gee, what is the scientific name for sucking baby brains. Oh and I'm sure it's only excrutiatingly painful for a minute. But since the baby is feet first noone can hear its piercing screams of agony.

15. NYConservative Says:
    Jul 1st, 2009 at 6:08pm

    I just love how Dr. Tiller is called a hero. Heroes save the lives of people, not kill them. Saline solution applied to fetus in their late term to burn and suffocate it, thats what you consider a hero. 60,000 fetus' destroyed during Dr. Tiller's "heroic" practice...You are on drugs if you consider that heroic. Google a report done by a Dr. McHugh who is head of Johns Hopkins university psychiatric program. He states the real reasons Tiller would agree to do late term abortions. Its amazing we protect the rights of terrorists who want only to kill americans but we refuse to protect the innocent late term babies who are being slaughtered daily by monsters like Tiller...Good riddance

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