“I am Dr. Tiller”?
by intern Heather B.
Think you’re pro-choice? You’ve got nothing on the late Dr. George Tiller, the KS-based late-term abortionist who was shot to death on May 31 while serving as an usher at his Lutheran church in Wichita.
Grief over Dr. Tiller’s death has been shared by pro-choice activists and abortionists alike.
One website, IAmDrTiller.com, has even opened up a public forum to honor Tiller’s supposedly noble and courageous work, recognizing him as a “reproductive healthcare provider” dedicated to “kindness, courtesy, justice, love, and respect” and an irreplaceable advocate of “mercy abortions,” abortions performed 6 months into pregnancy.
The website features mementos from abortionists internationally, from Montana to Canada to Algeria, all who are pictured holding signs over their faces which read, “I am Dr. Tiller,” followed by short memorials stating how and why they contribute to the legacy of the late-term abortionist.
The website is meant to inspire and encourage abortion providers to assume responsibility and pick up the forceps Tiller left behind.
Thus must be the wish of the “abortion care provider” who, along with her own, also submitted a photo of her “I am Dr. Tiller” daughter.
But even avid pro-choice advocates admit that Tiller’s work with late-term abortions was extreme. As one Tiller fanatic, William Saletan chillingly observed:
You think marching or phone-banking makes you an activist. You know nothing. There’s you, and then there are the people who work in the clinics. And then there are the people who use the forceps. And then there are the people who use the forceps nobody else will use. At the end of the line, there’s George Tiller.
His shoes will be hard to fill, as made obvious by a recent announcement declaring the discontinuation of his clinic in KS.
What has been termed “a bittersweet moment” by some may be just the milestone needed to catapult the pro-life movement forward.
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
During the past 10 years Dr. Tiller did not list one single abortion being done to save the life of a woman. Not one.
Fill Tiller’s shoes?
What size?
And once I fit into those shoes, do I really want to go where I think he went?
It’s tragic, but I’m afraid Dr. Tiller may be in a pit in the same vicinity as Dr. Mengele saying, “Don’t be like me! Don’t be like me! I murdered innocent babies! I murdered innocent babies! Don’t be like me!
We can only hope he had an opportunity to repent before he died.
Lu 16.19-31
I wonder which proabort organization will try to sell (or give away) tee shirts that say “I AM DR. TILLER”? So far, not too many people are willing to step forward and say that in public.
Why do they cover their faces?
Carla,
I was coming here to ask the same thing. If they are so proud of themselves and of Tiller why don’t they identify who they are?
And to include a child in this is way over the line.
I just glanced through the web site. A few people show their faces but almost all not only have their faces covered but no names either.
Anonymous people who are “proud” to support Tiller.
As these people proclaim to be Dr. Tiller I wonder if they would be willing to acknowledge Christ as well, and that with faces uncovered?
“If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father in Heaven” – Jesus Christ.
To proclaim that one is Dr. Tiller is to deny Christ.
We are not unaware of satan’s schemes. Yes, to lead a child into sin as these people have done, deserves a millstone around their necks as the Lord has promised.
Pray for that little girl who has been so egregiously
exploited!
But what if I’m not George Tiller? What if I want to be myself? And what if, instead of saying that George Tiller was a champion of women’s rights, they said that Susan B. Anthony was a champion of women’s rights, because for some reason so many can name George Tiller but draw a blank when someone says, “Alice Paul.”
mortem non desideramus- aequalitatem desideramus!
When will people learn that? No one wants abortion, as they’re assuming on this website- they want dignity, equality, and strength.
If George Tiller supported that in anyone, then he deserves a website honoring that, not abortion.
As I read through the “I am Dr. Tiller” web site, I was struck by one quotation from Tiller: “Until one understands the heart of a woman, nothing else about abortion makes any sense at all.” Not surprisingly, Tiller got it exactly backwards. Until one understands the heart of a woman, one cannot understand just how profoundly and deeply abortion goes against women’s nature and God-given identity.
The statements made on the “I am Dr. Tiller” site highlight some of the main lies that undergird the pro-abortion movement: (a) that abortion is a compassionate, “life-affirming,” and merciful alternative, particularly if the circumstances surrounding a woman’s pregnancy are tragic (e.g. rape and incest); (b) that abortion is all about self-determination, which ignores out of existence the fact that the babies involved have absolutely no say in the matter; and (c) that facilitating, or even performing, abortions is consistent with Christianity, in spite of the obvious Biblical data and church teachings to the contrary. However, I think the biggest problem is the absence of any mention of absolute truth. In the minds of these folks, whether a woman views her unborn baby as a baby, as a mere lump of tissue, or otherwise is completely up to her. The actual truth about what an unborn baby is doesn’t enter the discussion. This mindset necessarily implies that either (a) there is no truth, so we can make up whatever truth we want and no one has the right to force their truth on anyone else; or (b) there is such a thing as truth, but our individual self-determination overrides it and makes it irrelevant.
One thing I found disturbing was the repeated mention of hostile or threatening behavior by pro-lifers. All of those accounts could be distorted or completely fictitious, but if any of them are true, some of us pro-lifers need to get our act together.
Lastly, the “I am Dr. Tiller” site had a link to a site called http://www.abortionconversation.com. Of course, this is a pro-abortion site that tries to encourage “dialogue” to get people to go along with abortion. However, I was struck by the testimonials page for women who have had abortions(http://www.abortionconversation.com/real.php). I am kind of surprised that some of these testimonials made it onto a pro-abortion web site. An awful lot of the women’s testimonials express guilt about their abortions, and several even go so far as to ask for God’s forgiveness. I pray that they will receive God’s forgiveness and healing, and that He will remove the deception in their minds that persuaded them that an abortion could ever be the right thing to do.
“Mercy” abortions ?…not in the view of the couples I have worked with who went to Tiller…
Thanks be,that there but for the grace of God I am not Dr Tiller….
1. Doncha just loooovvve abortion pride!!?
You think marching or phone-banking makes you an activist. You know nothing. There’s you, and then there are the people who work in the clinics. And then there are the people who use the forceps. And then there are the people who use the forceps nobody else will use. At the end of the line, there’s George Tiller.
people don’t know WHAT activism really is until they’ve help those forceps, and that needle and the curette and actually killed babies by the hundreds. Now that’s real abortion activism for you! Ok. Got it.
2. and yes, why DO they cover their faces?
Oh, right, we might just shoot them all! I get it.
3. Poor kid. She simply has no idea what she’s promoting. And she is dark-skinned too. very sad indeed. But Margaret Sanger would be pleased.
that facilitating, or even performing, abortions is consistent with Christianity, in spite of the obvious Biblical data and church teachings to the contrary.
yes,this is the latest, greatest abortion fad to come out of the elections.
Sadly, my Catholic brothers and sisters have helped to promote this one with “I am a practicing Catholic and I support abortion rights.” or “I am a practicing Catholic and I voted for Obama, America’s abortion president.”
We need to do everything we can to reclaim true Christian teaching on abortion.
In the minds of these heretics, abortion dovetails nicely with compassion. Good grief, even the Romans would be upset.
“Why do they cover their faces?”
Cranky, I noticed that too. Terrorists do the same as well…
It is people like Scott Roeder who forced doctors to remain anonymous. It is people like Scott Roeder who promted US Marsals to meet with doctors about preserving their lives.
Now are the terrorists if the Scott Roeders of the world have forced nearly 3,000 doctors to be reluctant about identifying themselves?
Clearly the terrorists here are winning.
Dhalgren, the numbers don’t back you up.
sad, indeed that baby killers are honored & sad that so many women felt they had no where else to turn but to Tiller’s murderous hands.
I couldn’t get past the first little clinic worker story they had up there on the first page. It was full of so much rationalizing, pseudo-spiritualistic B.S. I couldn’t stand it. That woman’s mother did a real number on her. Kinda goes to show the damage that a pro-choice mother can have on her children.
It has been the case for centuries that some poor women have felt lost and alone with an unplanned pregnancy, but only in the last century has it become fashionable for them to react by killing their own innocent child. The stress is not new, but the “solution” is. And it’s a solution that makes our species less moral than many animal species.
I was actually quite tempted after seeing the “I am Dr. Tiller” signs to go off and make my own:
“I am [name of child or woman killed by infanticide].”
If George Tiller can get a sign than Rosie Jimenez can, too. Or David or Jacob.
Oops…bad grammar, Vannah, bad!
than = then
Sin has no SHAME!
Repent people or you bust wide open the pits of hell.
Repent and live again in paradise!
Today, you choose!
Dhalgren, the numbers don’t back you up.
I assume you are referring to the numbers of murders. But the number of threats and vandalism incidents is pretty high.
But let’s look at a bigger number: 3,000 doctors performing 800K abortions a year means that something is discouraging medical students from going into the profession. It’s not the money. With that much business going to 3,000 people, it’s no wonder the average salary of a hospital OBGYN is approaching $200k a year.
Or consider this, the number of active plastic surgeons in the US is about 5,000 people. Not to disrespect them – many of them correct scars and perform reconstructive surgery – but to have more plastic surgeons than doctors performing terminations – a far more common procedure – is telling.
I’m assuming that there are few people who want to perform abortions because there are few people who, well, want to perform abortions. I doubt that protestors affect the decision very much.
To have more plastic surgeons than doctors performing terminations – a far more common procedure??? Where do you get your numbers for that?
Why would terminations be more common than plastic surgery? I’m sorry, I work in the hospital with the largest burn unit west of the Rockies. I highly dispute your claim here.
And, once again, truly necessary medical inductions or c-sections are performed perfectly safely by hospitals when medically indicated. It’s just that killing the baby isn’t the *goal*.
There is no need for Tiller’s clinic or others like it where basic medical procedures and safeguards are ignored and the lives and future fertility of women is threatened (and sometimes destroyed). Not to mention, of course, all the dead babies.
Dhalgren,
Since you are going to great lengths to talk about the threats abortionists face, let’s give equal time to the threats pro life people face.
https://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2009/06/prolife_death_t.html#more
In case you missed Jill’s article yesterday.
And you are making the assumption that doctors are avoiding becoming abortionists because of the threats and harrassment. Consider also that maybe many are refusing because they are of the opinion its wrong.
Also Bill OReilly just had a segment on with Laura Ingraham saving he and Laura are the only two conservative commentators talking about late term abortions and what Tiller was doing.
I think that is largely correct. Sean Hannity talked about Barry being an abortion radical during the election, and I believe Rush has mentioned abortion once in awhile also.
I’m proud of OReilly. He said the reason he keeps talking about Tiller is because others keep accusing him of being partly to blame although he never said anything about Tiller that was not true. So people are still taking about it apparently.
Ok, just visited this site and I think it is a little creepy….
AK Krystal,
Did you see the link about “mercy abortion”? It’s creepy, but also sad because the commenters are so medically misinformed. I’m surprised more and more how pro-choicers so often mistake valid medical procedures for “abortion”. Do they really know what they are advocating when they call themselves “pro-choice”.
http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/06/02/mercy-abortions-what-dr-tiller-did
gotta love some of those “gems” on that nasty I am Dr. Tiller website honoring a mass murderer:
“I have strong moral convictions which honor the divinity of life.”
except unborn babies
“I have no right to exert my will over the will of another with regard to what happens with their own being.”
again except unborn babies
“I love the idea of being hugely pregnant and still wholeheartedly supporting women in their choice to end an unwanted pregnancy…”
This one demonstrates a schizophrenia that needs treatment.
Look around the world, where a significant percentage of maternal mortality is caused by illegal abortion.
um, NO. Most maternal mortality is due to women not having access to decent maternal care during pregnancy and especially during delivery.
“One of them started yelling at me about how Hitler killing my people was just like the abortions I now “support.” He failed to recognize see the irony of yelling hateful things in order to denounce hate.”
Yet another example of how truth becomes hate.
I have counseled women who have chosen to have an abortion, those who have chosen to become a mother, and those who have chosen to give their child to someone else. None of these choices is easy and none of them is selfish. Each of them requires a sacrifice.
yes in the case of abortion it’s called “child sacrifice”
“During my childhood, I witnessed a baby of a local women being thrown in a dumpster for her lack of access to abortion.’
The most brilliant excuse yet for supporting abortion. Make the killing legal so women don’t have to throw their dead babies in dumpsters. The clinic does it for them!
“That failure to give a woman control of her own body is a denial of her basic humanity and dignity.
What about the “basic humanity and dignity of the unborn child?”
“At age 17, she was not ready for motherhood. The condom broke. She had done everything she could to prevent pregnancy, and since she became pregnant anyway, of course she had an abortion.
An example of how contraceptive sex leads to abortion.
“It’s time the world gets to know us for who we really are.”
I couldn’t agree more:
7 women posters who had abortions
2 women posters had mothers who had at least one abortion
2 women who had a girlfriend who had an abortion
1 man who drove “women” (code for many girlfriends) to abortion clinics
What can I say? abortion begets abortion.
I just yesterday(18th) celebrated my 44th year of life. I was not born ‘perfect’ I was born with HYDROCEPHALUS (fluid on the brain). I have had 10 surgeries to correct all the ‘problems’ associated with it, and they’ve all been corrected. The fact that my ‘imperfect’ body could produce (at 41, mind you)a perfect, beautiful child(sorry, ‘mommy bias’!) still leaves me AWESTRUCK. I only pray that, by the time she is old enough to understand what ‘abortion’ means, there will no longer be a need for her to know, because it will be ‘a thing of the past’.
Pamela,
Happy Birthday! Thank you for posting! What a witness for life you are!
* * * * * * *
Angel @ June 18, 2009 1:52PM,
Excellent post.
Characterizing Dr. Tiller as a hero is preposterous. If he were such a ‘hero,’ why did only two other doctors in the country provide the ‘services’ that he provided?
Why does a nine-month old child outside the womb have a right to life and cannot be killed, yet 5 minutes before birth, the exact same child doesn’t have the same right to life?
Interesting article here:
“Dr. George Tiller committed terrible crimes against the human race. He aborted 60,000 babies, many of whom could have lived outside the womb. Raking in millions of dollars—thousands of dollars for each late-term abortion—Tiller was widely known for his gruesome practices because almost no other doctors would provide the extreme services that he would: aborting babies, some of whom had been in the womb for nine months.
Despite Tiller’s crimes against humanity, it was absolutely a tragedy that Scott Roeder thought he should take the law into his own hands and murder George Tiller.”
more here… http://www.mindreign.com/en/mindshare/World-Politics-and-Current-Events/Abortion-and-the-Tragedy-of-Dr-Tiller/sl34045952bp277cpp10pn1.html
God bless you, Pamela and Happy Birthday!
Kithinji,
Good article. Roeder was an “outlier” according to the author of this article, Kevin Jenkins. He is mentally ill as well. Which of us believes we should collectively be held accountable for the crimes of the mentally ill?
It’s always ridiculous how far people will go to try to justify abortion.
This from a commenter named “Tressor”:
“What Roeder did is by all means unacceptable. But did Dr. Tiller really commit such horrible crimes? Did he accept too much in fees for his abortions? Very possible. But is granting a woman’s plea to be freed of what she percieves as a burden really such a morally wrong action? The women who Dr. Tiller helped could easily have gone somewhere else if he had refused. Dr. Tiller fascilitated many late – term abortions, and many pro-choicers would agree that late term abortions are morally shaky. I don’t think this means we should classify him as having committed terrible crimes against humanity, though.”
I wonder how Tressor defines “humanity”?
thank you Janet!
I work with a woman whose husband also has hydrocephalus. He does have some problems including seizures but hey he is in his late 40’s and doing very well.
Thank You all for your kind response :)