Feminists For Choice

This week’s murder of Dr. George Tiller is a tragic reminder that the extreme right wing vigilantes who call themselves “pro-life” are anything but that. Scott Roeder was arrested on Monday in Kansas for shooting and killing Dr. Tiller while Tiller was at church. Roeder was also charged with aggravated assault for injuring two people who attempted to defend Dr. Tiller. If Roeder is “pro-life,” then we are living in bizarro world.

Other abortion providers are likely to become the victims of domestic terrorism. NPR provided some excellent coverage of this on Tuesday’s All Things Considered.

Dr. Warren Hern says he has been getting threats for decades. Hern and Tiller were friends, and like Tiller, Hern performs third-trimester abortions.

“I think there has never been a time it has stopped, but just because things seemed a little quiet never meant to me that we were out of danger,” Hern says. “They are just waiting for the right opportunity. . .”

Hern is pleased that President Obama spoke out after the murder, but he wants to hear more.

“I think the president of the United States needs to go to a national television broadcast and say to the American public, ‘Safe abortion is a fundamental component of women’s health care. Anti-abortion terrorism and violence will not be tolerated. We will stop you,’ ” Hern says.

Here is the definition of terrorism from Webster’s Dictionary:

Webster’s dictionary:
ter⋅ror⋅ism[ter-uh-riz-uhm]
–noun
1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.

Scott Roeder and the men like him are terrorists, plain and simple. And their actions are not about “protecting life;” they are about terrorizing and controlling women and the doctors who have dedicated their lives to providing women comprehensive health care.

Here is Rachel Maddow providing pretty good time line of the anti-choice terrorist movement in the US.

We as pro-choice activists need to be very conscious of the language that we use. For too long we have allowed anti-choicers to control the terms of the debate. To call these terrorists “pro-life” is a slap in the face to the people who have been victimized by their violence. The anti-choice movement is precisely that – anti-choice. The same people who sponsor legislation to restrict access to abortion are the same people who support legislation to curtail women’s access to birth control and who oppose medically accurate safe sex education. The pro-choice movement is the only group actively trying to decrease abortion in this country. When women have options, abortion is less prevalent. The Netherlands is a prime example. They support age appropriate sex education as early as elementary school. Their teen pregnancy rate is 6 times lower than in the United States, and their STD/HIV rates are 6 times lower. Even Bristol Palin can tell you that abstinence only education is a joke.

Stop calling the anti-choice movement “pro-life.” These people are terrorists, and the assassination of Dr. George Tiller shows them for what they truly are. I am pro-woman, pro-family, pro-child, and decidedly PRO-CHOICE, and I will not allow domestic terrorists to silence me or intimidate me into accepting a country where women are treated as criminals for taking control of their reproductive destiny.

Photo credit: NPR