“Dr. Tiller really was a warrior. He was a quiet, persistent, capable visionary, a true leader. Even if he had known it was going to end up this way, he wouldn’t have been deterred.”
During his trial, when his attorney asked why he stayed in practice despite years of harassment, Tiller told the jury, ” ‘Quit’ is not something I like to do.”
[...]
Later, Tiller’s attorneys released a statement from Tiller’s wife, Jeanne, his four children and 10 grandchildren.
“Today we mourn the loss of our husband, father and grandfather,” it said. “Today’s event is an unspeakable tragedy for all of us and for George’s friends and patients. This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace. Our loss is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America. George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality healthcare 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.”
I’m waiting for one of our leaders to call this what it is: terrorism. Pure and simple. (See bostonboomer’s post at The Confluence)
Obama punts:
I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.
I would have prefered a response more like this one (H/T to Susie):
So far, we know very little about the suspect, other than that he’s a man in his 50s and was driving a blue Ford when they stopped him outside Gardner.
However, the motive for the crime we can all surmise in light of the vitriolic campaign that has been waged against Tiller for more than two decades by anti-abortion groups.
And if we’re right about that, then we already know the identities of his accomplices.
They include every one who has ever called Tiller’s late term abortion clinic a murder mill.
Who ever called Tiller “Tiller the Killer.”
The groups who spent decades fomenting hate toward a man who simply believed that he was serving a purpose by being one of the few doctors in the country performing late-term abortions.
Hate. Not heated opposition. Not strong disagreement.
But blind hatred.
As far as I’m concerned, O’Reilly and his media cronies ought to be dragged in as accomplishes. Incitement to murder is not covered under free speech anymore than yelling fire in a theater is.
No doubt the ACLU would come to O’Reilly defense. Too bad their ilk isn’t as dedicated in defending the right of women to obtain legal medical procedures and the safety of the doctors who provide them.
My personal take is that it is that murderers of physicians who perform terminations is that they do not necessarily hate the doctors, but feel morally superior to them. “Right makes might right” to put a turn on an old phrase.
Also, I personally know of ACLU attorneys who have been outstanding defenders of reproductive rights.