Kansas stories

The early media messaging about Dr. Tiller seems determined to paint him as "that polarizing, controversial abortion doctor," nothing more. I did not have the honor of meeting Dr. Tiller, but I greatly admired his clinic. In all the conversations I've had with colleagues and staff, everyone keeps coming back to Dr. Tiller's kindness, his generosity and spirituality. They recalled hearing him talk about really listening to women's stories, about the importance of ritual for families who are grieving.

In honor of his life, let's not reduce his career or women's stories to caricature. One site which allows patients to share their complex experiences is Kansas Stories. These stories primarily focus on situations of fetal anamoly. These are average women. Dr. Tiller could have been your sister's doctor. Your wife's doctor. These are not "culture warriors," this is your math teacher, your girl scout leader, your best friend. 

As one woman writes: The reality is that abortion in the late second and third trimesters is extremely rare. The reality is that finding a doctor to do this procedure in the late second or third trimester is almost impossible. For me, the reality was that at the most painful time of my life I had to travel out of state, stay in a hotel room and face hostile protesters in order to carry out this most personal of choices.

-Nell

Comments

[OperationCounterstrike]

The son of the Nazi, von Brunn, who shot up the Holocaust Museum, his son has apologized and called his father a coward and called on people not to be terrorists.

Why have Paul Hill's wife Karen and his children Justin Gloria Joy never done the same? At what point does their silence become complicity?

Is it true that Karen Hill has received blood money?

If you are angry about the murder of Dr. Tiller, check out the following pro-choice blog, unlike any other:

AICH TEE TEE PEA://operationcounterstrike.blogspot.com

[Julie]

FetusVoice: Your immature comments are the usual mud slinging, name calling schoolyard taunt/rant. You have nothing to contribute to this debate except to ratchet up the hate. Don't go away mad, just - go away.

[Tricia]

I don't say it enough, but thank you for all of the work that you do. You have helped thousands of women, and risked your own lives to do so. I think that our abortion providers are heroes in their own quiet way.

[shrimplate]

Tha anti-choice nutballs out there, like "FetusVoice," simply do not know what they're talking about. They are unhinged from reality. It is tragic to be so woefully and heartlessly uninformed.

[FetusVoice]

so much for freedom of speech. I didn't expect my freedom to be granted on this site anyway. It's consistent because you also are in favor of robbing children of their freedom as you celebrate abortion like the hitler youth. You murder mongering pieces of garbage.

[Lee Thompson]

In the wake of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, this article is a must read.

The Deadly Illusion of "Common Ground" on Abortion
Response to Obama"s speech at Notre Dame on common ground and abortion

By Sunsara Taylor

"When it comes to abortion, there really is only one moral question: Will women be free to determine their own lives, including whether and when they will bear children, or will women be subjugated to patriarchal male authority and forced to breed against their will?"

Read the whole article at http://www.revcom.us/a/166/ST_on_Obama-en.html

[Lee Thompson]

The Deadly Illusion of “Common Ground” on Abortion

Response to Obama’s speech at Notre Dame on common ground and abortion
By Sunsara Taylor

In the weeks leading up to Barack Obama’s delivery of the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, the national eye was drawn once again to the question of women’s right to abortion. Anti-abortion Catholics and Christian fundamentalists, many of whom have been at the heart of some of the most violent tactics against doctors, women and clinics, descended on the campus. They trespassed. They got arrested. They put up billboards. More than 70 bishops condemned Notre Dame’s decision.

However, on March 17, when graduation day finally arrived, Obama received a standing ovation upon entrance, a glowing introduction from the Catholic president of the university, and repeated cheers as he spoke.

In his speech, Obama called for “fair-minded words” on both sides of the abortion issue. He called on people to express their differences but not to demonize those who think differently than themselves. He called for “common ground” and pointed to where he felt this could be found, as well as some of the challenges he sees in achieving it.

To many, these were reasonable words. To many, the response to him by the overwhelming majority of the student body—together with a significant number of prominent Catholic figures—represents motion in a positive direction.

But, when Obama speaks of “common ground” on abortion, he is not standing on some neutral “middle ground”—he is accepting the terms of the anti-abortion movement and adapting aspects of a pro-choice position into that framework while gutting the heart of the abortion-rights position. In so doing, he is legitimizing and strengthening a viciously anti-woman program while both abandoning the much needed fight to expand access to abortion and birth control and giving up the moral and ideological basis on which the pro-choice position stands.

Much of what is wrong with Obama’s approach is concentrated in a few key sentences of Obama’s speech, where he speaks directly to the question of abortion:

“Maybe we won’t agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this is a heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make, with both moral and spiritual dimensions. So let’s work together to reduce the number of women seeking abortions by reducing unintended pregnancies, and making adoptions more available, and providing care and support for women who do carry their child to term.”

First, and very importantly, abortion is not a “heart-wrenching decision for any woman to make.” A great many women are not conflicted at all about their abortions. Many feel relief and even joy at having their lives and their futures more fully back in their control.

This is as it should be. The simple fact is that a fetus is not a baby, it is a subordinate part of a woman’s body. A woman has no moral obligation to carry a fetus to term simply because she gets pregnant. And a woman who chooses at whatever point and for whatever reason to terminate a pregnancy, should feel fine about doing so and should be able to.

When it comes to abortion, there really is only one moral question: Will women be free to determine their own lives, including whether and when they will bear children, or will women be subjugated to patriarchal male authority and forced to breed against their will?

read the entire article at http://www.revcom.us/a/166/ST_on_Obama-en.html