We here at BUST are still reeling from the news that Dr. George Tiller was murdered yesterday in Wichita, Kansas while serving as an usher at the Lutheran Reformation Church. One of the few doctors in the country providing controversial late-term abortions, he was a longtime advocate for a woman’s right to choose. Authorities are holding Scott Roeder, a 51 year-old man of Johnson County, Kansas as a suspect in the shooting.
President Obama responded, giving a statement that read, ‘I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.’
So what can you do? Planned Parenthood is holding a vigil tonight here in New York, at 6 p.m. in Union Square. Click here for a list of vigils occurring tonight across the country. In addition, Credo action has provided two satisfying options to support womens’ access to reproductive care and take action against media outlets, in particular, The O’Reilly factor, who spread the message of the efficacy of violence against abortion providers. Fight the good fight, ladies.
You can read an eloquent reposnse to the murder from Salon , and a run-down of what columnists are saying from the Opinionator blog from the NYT. What does all this mean for reproductive rights in America? How do you feel about these events? Discuss below. Keep talking, keep struggling. Rest in peace Dr. Tiller.
-Devan Photo Jon Goering
