In May, Dr. George Tiller was tragically killed in the foyer of his church, and his death stirred up the eternal debate over a woman’s legal right to her body and a vigilante seeking his own justice. I say Dr. Tiller’s death was a tragedy not because he died, but because he has now been made a martyr for his cause. Also, the individual who committed this crime has further tarnished the generalization that “pro-choice” (PC) individuals have of people who are “pro-life” (PL). Extremists like this man feel that they are doing God’s work just as many Muslims believe that their murder/suicide attacks will send them to paradise. So now because this man acted on a crazy idea, PL organizations have spoken out to confirm that they do not condone this type of behavior, and although they wanted to see his clinic shut down, it should have been through the proper legal channels.

Dr. Tiller’s wife released a statement saying that their loss “is also a loss for the City of Wichita and women across America.” and was following up with, “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.” That paragraph is followed by another claiming that in March, Dr. Tiller was acquitted of 19 counts of performing procedures unlawfully at his clinic, and in 2008, a probe initiated by abortion opponents who petitioned state authorities to convene a grand jury ended without charges.

His wife called him, “a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere”. Wow that makes him sound like a noble gentlemen who is humble in his service. I’ve seen pictures of late term abortions are they anything but gentle; in my opinion you must be a sick individual to conduct this procedure.

What is a “late-term abortion”? Technically it is considered late-term when it occurs after the 20th week of gestation. There are three methods used to complete this procedure.

Tiller developed a late-term abortion method that he called MOLD. MOLD is an abbreviation of the components used in the abortion: Misoprostol, Oxytocin, Laminaria, and Digoxin. He claimed that this method duplicates “normal, safe, natural miscarriage”. On the first day of the process, he would kill the baby by injecting a drug called Digoxin into its’ tiny heart. Tiller guides a long needle through the mother’s abdomen into the baby’s beating heart. He claimed that the baby feels no pain, but he doesn’t explain how the heart drug Digoxin can accomplish this.

Intact dilation and extraction reduces the largest part of the fetus, the head, to allow vaginal passage. The American Medical Association confirms that with this method the fetus is partially pulled out, starting with the feet. Then the brain and material inside the skull is “evacuated”, so that the dead, intact fetus can be delivered via the vagina.

Dilation and evacuation is similar. Either a local anesthetic or general anesthesia is given to the woman. Forceps are inserted into the uterus through the vagina and used to separate the fetus into pieces, which are removed one at a time. Lastly, vacuum aspiration is used to ensure no fetal tissue remains in the uterus (such tissue can cause serious infections in the woman). The pieces are also examined to ensure that the entire fetus was removed.

This whole process sickens me and I can’t comprehend how someone could perform this act once, but Dr. Tiller did it more than 60,000 times…wow.
Hate is not the answer to moral/ethical dilemma’s and the world has yet to discover this, however next time you see a baby, or your baby, think about the horrors these children went through before leaving the womb. Be smart, practice safe sex, be responsible for your actions and think about the life of your future child and of others.

References:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/01tiller.html

http://www.abortionessay.com/files/Tiller.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tiller

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late-term_abortion

http://www.dr-tiller.com/fort.htm