Abortion Doctor Murdered
May 31, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Despite the legality of abortion, those who work in facilities that provide abortions are still at risk from some people who don’t believe that abortions should be done. This became abundantly clear with today’s murder of 67-year-old Dr. George Tiller, one of the country’s few providers of late-term abortions.
According to the news, the father of four and grandfather of 10 was shot to death as he participated in his role as usher at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas.
Dr. Tiller had received numerous threats over the course of his careeer. He was shot in both arms in 1993 and his clinic was bombed in 1985.
Late term abortions
The term “late term abortion” is a controversial one. Some people refer to any abortion after 12 weeks as a late term abortion, some after 16 weeks – but the most common definition is an abortion that is performed after 20 weeks gestation.
Feelings run very high on both sides of the abortion debate, let alone the late abortion debate. While the gunman committed a crime, there will be some who applaud him, while others revile him. Who is right? Is anyone right?
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Image: Newscom.com
This country needs a discussion about the fact that fertilized ovum are a normal part of the monthly discharge of women in parts of the world where birth control is lacking. Each fertilized egg that goes down the drain is not a human soul. Life beginning at conception is a concept of religious faith, not scientific fact. The right argument is never being addressed. It isn’t that abortion is killing a person, the issue and the discussion should be about the act of preventing a life from taking place. And isn’t that what is done with birth control, at least some if not actually much of the time? If you project on to a fetus, the life of YOUR child, you choose to place that meaning on it; the fact that we know that fertilized eggs are discharged each month in the menstrual flow of sexually active women without birth control in parts of the world where there is no desire to limit family size, supports the point of view that a fertilized egg is not a person. This also strongly suggests that if we use Mother Nature’s definition, instead of religion’s, what is gotten rid of would need to be close to the kind of fertilized egg that is discharged, that is, not an actual fetus.
Karen’s comment perfectly reflects my opinion on that part of the subject. But as for who is or is not right, I must say that those believing this man was a murderer and support or applaud the individual who killed the Dr., are in my opinion just as guilty of murder as anyone else would be.
I would also like to mention that fortunatly, women have been given that choice, and should anyone choose to abort, right or wrong, that is a decition that will have to be dealt a lifetime. I dont know if you are reading this and have experienced going into one of those clinics…wether you were there for yourself or a friend, but I have not been able to forget after being over 10 years since that experience, all the women there showing as if they are 4-5 months in gestation, and wondering how could they wait until last minute to have this performed, or also the feeling of being part of a cattle waiting for hours for your friend to come. Imagine what it must be like to have to endure that plus being on the worst side of the spectrum. That’s a psychological torture itself, and hope that things have changed since then so that women are able to be in a more positive environment.