The freedom to choose is being taken away from American citizens at an alarming rate. If you can’t see a connection between taking away a woman’s right to choose with other choices that are being taken away such as defunding Head Start, defunding education and defunding Planned Parenthood then hopefully I can show you that they are all connected.
The Most Pro-Life Man in America: George Tiller
George Tiller often wore a button that simply said: Trust Women. He also seldom went in public without a bullet-proof vest.
One part of Tiller’s abortion practice — that which he was most reviled for —involved later (post-24-week) procedures, typically for women whose wanted pregnancies had gone horribly wrong, either because of serious or lethal fetal anomalies or grave health conditions of the women themselves.
A woman cannot just suddenly decide in her 24th week of pregnancy that she no longer wants the child she is carrying because late-term abortions are strictly limited by the Roe vs Wade Supreme Court Decision via state law. Since late-term abortions are so closely regulated if she did suddenly decide she wanted an abortion she most likely would not be legally able to obtain one.
Most states leave it up to the physician to determine if a situation meets the criteria for a late term abortion such as: preserving the life and health (physical and mental) of the mother or if the infant would not otherwise be viable. So one should realize according to this criterion and the strict legal restrictions on late term abortions that there are probably extremely few cases in which a woman wakes up one day in her 24th week of pregnancy and decides to get an abortion especially considering that it is a painful surgical procedure.
George Tiller had a pivotal turning point in his life -- the day he decided he wanted to save women’s lives was the day he sentenced himself to death. George Tiller was killed because he was pro-life, he was pro-women, and he was pro-family.
In July 1970 he planned to start a dermatology residency. Tragedy struck George Tiller on Aug. 21, 1970 -- his parents, his sister and his brother-in-law were killed in an aircraft accident. His sister gave him the gift of life in her will: She entrusted her 1-year-old son to him.
George intended to go back to Wichita only to close up his father’s family practice and then start a dermatology residence. When he went back to close up his father’s practice, he heard about a woman who had died from an illegal abortion.
It’s common knowledge that you should not make a life-altering decision after you lose a loved one because you are not thinking rationally. George Tiller just lost four loved ones -- was he thinking rationally or was his thinking clouded by grief?
George Tiller had just lost his entire family. He had also just become a father to child that was left motherless because of an unfortunate accident. Perhaps he wanted to ensure that no one would ever have to feel the same grief he did, that no child, no family, would be left motherless simply because she could not access a lifesaving medical procedure.
In 1868 Kansan criminalized abortion with the exception to save a woman’s life. In 1970 the legislature revised the abortion laws to preserve a woman’s life or her physical or mental health or in cases of rape or incest or when a child would be born with a disability.
George Tiller’s father was not breaking the law he was providing a service to women that the law said he could provide.
George Tiller then became the most wanted man in Kansas for the skills he possessed in taking care of women. What set George Tiller apart from other abortion providers? what did he provide that others did not?
He performed the same procedures, just later in the pregnancy. Extracting a late second- or third-trimester fetus from the cervix is much more challenging than an early abortion. Because post-viability abortions are relatively rare — representing about 1 percent of the procedures nationwide — Tiller was among a handful of doctors who had significant experience in the area. His expertise and visibility eventually made him a one-man national referral center for post-viability abortions.
Kansas also leaves the question of viability up to the attending physician but limits post-viability abortions to cases involving "serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function."
Dr. Tiller was shot to death in Wichita Kansas, May 31st, 2009. He was handing out the church bulletin in the foyer of his longtime church, when Scott Roeder, an abortion opponent, shot him once in the eye with a handgun and then drove away.
A week before the shooting the Tiller family spent the week in Disney World. George wore sandals with white ankle socks and too much sunscreen. Little did he know that this would be the last week he would ever spend with his family ever again. During that week he did not need to wear a bullet-proof vest because he was just being a normal man enjoying his family.
Dr. Tiller’s wife, Jeanne, a member of the church choir, was inside the sanctuary at the time of the shooting. An usher came in and told the congregation to remain seated, and then escorted Mrs. Tiller out. When she got to the back doors her anguished screams filled the church.
Jeanne Tiller’s nickname for George Tiller was “buddy” because they had been best friends for 45 years. Now her best friend, father to her children and grandfather to her grandchildren was gone.
Family members, including 4 children and 10 grandchildren, issued a statement through Dr. Tiller’s lawyer, which read in part: “George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality health care despite frequent threats and violence. We ask that he be remembered as a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere.”
All life is precious, even life that does not agree with you.
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