So ya'll knew I'd be pissed, right?
I made a contribution to Medical Students for Choice yesterday. It's an organization that promotes a complete education for students in medical school, especially in the ob/gyn specialties. Part of the reason there are so few providers of essential abortion services in this country is that the medical schools aren't teaching the procedures.
I made the contribution in the name of George Tiller. And every time I think about his assassination, I get more and more irate.
I don't think that there's much that I can say that hasn't been already said elsewhere. It's obvious that this is merely one strike in an ongoing organized campaign of harassment, violence and terror by the anti-choice movement. It's obvious that the people in that movement will stop at nothing to achieve their aims, regardless of the laws of the country that they live in. They lie. They intimidate. They destroy. And they kill.
Their acts are deeply political in nature, holding back their violence when it would be awkward for the politicians who are sympathetic to their votes to respond, and going full force when people are in power who they disagree with.
They will not stop. They will continue to intimidate, harass and do violence in furtherance of their jihad. They've been stirred up with the rhetoric of religion and the fear of a woman's autonomy, and they reassure each other that their way is the only way.
They have no conception of shades of grey. Or the agony of losing a wanted, planned child to disease or death. They have no sympathy or empathy and they fear those ideas.
So I continue will do what I have done for as long as I've been aware of my own reproductive capabilities. I will fight for women's health. I will contribute my time, my connections, my political capital and my money to efforts that allow women to receive the best healthcare in the best country in the world. I will respect the laws in my country, using my skills as a healthcare lawyer to help women and their healthcare providers make the choices that are best for women's health.
And tomorrow night, I will attend a memorial service for Dr. Tiller at the organization that gets my most fervent support: Planned Parenthood. I will mourn with my friends and my family, and I will vow to do everything in my power to ensure that the terror that was inflicted does not deter anyone from being able to receive the healthcare that she is entitled to.
I made the contribution in the name of George Tiller. And every time I think about his assassination, I get more and more irate.
I don't think that there's much that I can say that hasn't been already said elsewhere. It's obvious that this is merely one strike in an ongoing organized campaign of harassment, violence and terror by the anti-choice movement. It's obvious that the people in that movement will stop at nothing to achieve their aims, regardless of the laws of the country that they live in. They lie. They intimidate. They destroy. And they kill.
Their acts are deeply political in nature, holding back their violence when it would be awkward for the politicians who are sympathetic to their votes to respond, and going full force when people are in power who they disagree with.
They will not stop. They will continue to intimidate, harass and do violence in furtherance of their jihad. They've been stirred up with the rhetoric of religion and the fear of a woman's autonomy, and they reassure each other that their way is the only way.
They have no conception of shades of grey. Or the agony of losing a wanted, planned child to disease or death. They have no sympathy or empathy and they fear those ideas.
So I continue will do what I have done for as long as I've been aware of my own reproductive capabilities. I will fight for women's health. I will contribute my time, my connections, my political capital and my money to efforts that allow women to receive the best healthcare in the best country in the world. I will respect the laws in my country, using my skills as a healthcare lawyer to help women and their healthcare providers make the choices that are best for women's health.
And tomorrow night, I will attend a memorial service for Dr. Tiller at the organization that gets my most fervent support: Planned Parenthood. I will mourn with my friends and my family, and I will vow to do everything in my power to ensure that the terror that was inflicted does not deter anyone from being able to receive the healthcare that she is entitled to.