I've just logged on and seen the news about the murder of abortionist George Tiller.
I condemn this murder, full stop. I think Tiller was an evil man. I really do. He was one of the few doctors who performed late-term abortions. He was an infanticide doctor, as far as I'm concerned. Nevertheless, his murder was wrong, wrong, wrong, in an of itself. And as a practical matter, it will do more harm to the cause of protecting unborn life than it will help. We already see that despite the plain fact that the overwhelming majority of pro-life activists are peaceful, and peace-loving, people, many on the other side demonize all pro-lifers as potential abortion-clinic murderers. Whoever committed this murder is not only guilty of a heinous crime and a moral outrage, but prudentially, he or she has also done tremendous harm to the noble cause of protecting unborn life.
That said, I would hate to be George Tiller facing judgment with those grave sins to explain.
UPDATE: Princeton's Robert P. George says it well:
Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing. The evil of this action is in no way diminished by the blood George Tiller had on his own hands. No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence. Rightly or wrongly, George Tilller was acquitted by a jury of his peers. "Vengeance is mine, says the Lord." For the sake of justice and right, the perpetrator of this evil deed must be prosecuted, convicted, and punished. By word and deed, let us teach that violence against abortionists is not the answer to the violence of abortion. Every human life is precious. George Tiller's life was precious. We do not teach the wrongness of taking human life by wrongfully taking a human life. Let our "weapons" in the fight to defend the lives of abortion's tiny victims, be chaste weapons of the spirit.
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A lot of people bring up scenarios of extreme situations (cojoined twins, mother's life at risk, etc) but I want to point out that these types of situation are a very small percentage of abortions.
The MAJORITY of abortion are due to the baby simply being unwanted... because of various reasons. And IMO, most of the reasons are selfish and are things they should have thought of before they had sex!! And none of these reasons, IMO, justifies the destruction of a fetus, a life.
The Guttmacher Institute does various studies on abortion. Now this is an institute that is pro-choice. It was orginally a division of Planned Parenthood.
And in their studies, even they have found that the MAJORITY of elective abortions are NOT due to the health of the baby or mother.
In 2004, they did a study and found that the most frequently cited reasons for abortion were: it would interfere with a woman's education, work, or ability to care for the child. Also, that the woman felt that she couldn't afford a child. And the rest of them felt they were either beyond childbearing age and they did not want more kids or they felt they were too young and not ready for kids.
Most women chose these two answers as the reason they wanted an abortion: "having a baby would dramatically change my life" (DUH!) and "I can't afford a baby right now."
Only 13% gave health problems of the fetus as the reason and only 12% gave health problems of the mother as a reason, and some of those "health problems" included MORNING SICKNESS and gestial diabetes (very common among pregnant women)!! Only 1% said rape was the reason and only .5% said incest was the reason.
But talk of abortion doesn't end with the baby. Planned Parenthood and abortionists fail to explain the trauma that the mother endures. Almost all women say that the abortion was a traumatic and horrible experience. And many of them regret it and suffer emotional problems afterward.... many suffer for years and years, and even become suicidal over the sadness and/or guilt they feel.
Most women will testify that the nurses, doctors, and others at the abortion center did not offer them comfort or much explanation of what would happen or what to expect afterward.
Like I said in another post, it's a business for the abortion clinics and abortionists... a BUSINESS. I also think they have to harden their hearts to an extent because on a daily basis they end pregnancies... they end something that is norally a joyous and wonderful occasion. They see fetuses thrown into trash bins. They see the tears roll down the mother's cheeks. They know what has taken place. And they have to harden their hearts in order to deal with that on a daily basis.
It's foolish to justify abortion using cases such as health factors of mother and child since these are a very small percentage of abortions. Most abortions are committed simply because the child is seen as something that will hinder the mother's (or father's) life. And most of the mothers (and often also the fathers and/or parents of the mother and father) suffer a great deal of emotional distress afterwards... some never get over it.
It sickens me to hear people trivialize pregnancy and birth and dismiss it as just a "bodily process" or just some normal, routine scientific act of reproduction. Abortion is a very, very serious issue, and it is nothing less than the killing of a life. And it's very, very sad that there are doctors out there who make their livings off of ending life. They do have the blood of those babies on their hands.
FETAL DEVELOPMENT:
1ST TRIMESTER:
Week 3: The heart has begun to form. Kidneys, liver, intestines, central nervous system, backbone, and spinal column all forming.
Week 5: The heart is beating (after 21 days). The brain is developing. Eyes, lips, nose, arms, and legs are forming.
Week 6: All major organs forming. Hair follicles, facial features, knees, elbows, retina are all VISIBLE. It has muscles enabling it to move.
Week 8: Hands and feet visible. It can move around and swim in the amniotic sac.
Weeks 9-12: Heart is almost fully developed. Doctor can hear the heart rate. The liver is producing red blood cells. The fetus has eyelids, a well formed face, fingers, hands, feet, toes, nails, earlobes, and tooth buds. It can form a fist with its hands.
2ND TRIMESTER:
Weeks 13-16: Fully developed brain. Fetus can suck its thumb, swallow, make breathing sounds, and feel pain.
Week 20: Fetus can hear and recognize mother's voice.
3RD TRIMESTER:
Week 24: Fetus has fingerprints and practices breathing.
Weeks 25-28: 60% chance of survival for babies born at week 25. 90% chance of survival if born at week 28.
(Google "Westside Pregnancy Clinic" under the "Parenting" section, and you can view some amazing photos of the fetus. NO ONE can deny the life that is forming if they see the actual photos and face the reality of what the formation of the baby).
Currently, abortion can be legally performed up to the 3rd Trimester.
George Tiller performed late-term abortions. His clinic "specialized" in 2nd trimester abortions as well as 3rd trimester abortions. He had no qualms whatsoever aborting babies in the 2nd and 3rd trimester, and for him to be praised today as a "hero" is just deplorable.
It was wrong and unlawful for the murderer to take his life, and it is a tragedy for his family and loved ones. But he certainly is no hero, and his murder does not negate the fact that he spent his life aborting babies (in his own words, he aborted more than SIXTY THOUSAND babies during his 30+ years of performing abortions). And if anyone should be mourned, it's the babies who never lived and the mothers who suffered emotional and even physical after effects.
His family and friends will mourn for him because they loved him, pro-choice people will mourn because they lost one of their own, but it's very difficult for pro-life people to mourn his death because while it is sad, tragic, and wrong, it's hard to mourn someone who himself brought death to others.
I am posting an apology to this site for my uncharitable remark in my May 31, 2009, 8:06 pm comment. I am sorry that I wrote "Tiller be damned." Despite his evil work, I hope he had received grace of repentance at the last minute of his life.
You do the math!
Exodus 21: 22-25, "If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life.
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