This morning, I commented at fingerlakeswanderer's blog on her excellent piece "They Shoot Doctors, Don't They?" about the outrageous terrorist act perpetrated in Kansas of shooting Dr. George Tiller to death. I tried to go back to sleep but I cannot.
We've all been asleep too long.
I continue to be stunned by a philosophy of "righteousness" that has the power to motivate a person to think that abortion is the taking of a life and cold-blooded, premeditated murder is not.
It was explained to me that the "pro-life" people say that fetuses are innocent beings. The fact that they cannot survive outside the uterus doesn't seem to have any bearing on their definition by the "pro-life" cadre as innocent children.
But what crime did Dr. Tiller commit? Can we define the crime as that he was born and lost his innocence, therefore making him eligible to be punished by a death penalty meted out by a judge, jury and executioner self-appointed by the lunatic terrorist fringe? Does no one but me see what an irony that unholy trinity is?
What crime did any of us who have had an abortion commit? All I can see is that we made a responsible medical decision.
Let's examine the appellation "pro-life" for a moment. It's a misnomer. These true believers aren't actually "pro-life," they're merely advocating for their way of life to the exclusion of any other viewpoint. If they truly believed that their philosophy was inclusive of anything else, they would have to call themselves pro-choice. Being pro-choice means, in the strictest sense of the term in favor of a number and variety of things from which to choose.
And what about that charming slogan of the "pro-life" movement: "Abortion is Murder." No. Murder is Murder. The Free Dictionary offers this as its number one definition: "The unlawful killing of one human by another, especially with premeditated malice."
Being pro-choice doesn't mean that I advocate abortion for everyone, just that I advocate safe and affordable accessibility to this medical prodecure for any woman who wants one.
Instead of murdering doctors and terrorizing healthcare workers and potential patients, why don't these anti-abortion choosers put their money where their mouths are and each adopt half a dozen children from foster care? I'm sure that some of their spokespeople are moneyed enough to be able to provide truly prodigious benefits to a child in need.
I stand in solidarity with all women who have been oppressed far too long simply because of the gender of the body they were born into. I stand in solidarity with my grandmother, my mother, my daughter. I stand in solidarity with all my sisters here on Open Salon.
I stand in solidarity and demand that the rights of women to control their own bodies and their own destinies be relinquished to us now and for all time.
We've all been asleep too long. This is the wake-up call.
Update: Take Action Now
*If you wish to answer the call and put your money where your mouth is, you may make a donation online to the George Tiller Memorial Abortion Fund.
Text Copyright © 2009 CoyoteOldStyle
All Rights Reserved.
For an excellent piece taking on the subject of the ongoing subjugation of women, please read Emma Peel's Women, men and children: everybody hurts UPDATE.
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Comments
JK Brady
June 01, 2009 08:36 AM
OH, please!! One nut case murders a doctor and the US suddenly becomes the Taliban. Let's temper the drama a little bit.
Thumbed.
rated
Thanks to all of you who choose to stand with me.
I doubt that Tiller performed late stage abortions merely for financial gain and without serious deliberation, as he's being accused of doing.
Tiller was acquitted of doing any illegal procedures.
That being said, the idea of radio ideologues having the power to incite the unstable and evil to action, makes me even sicker. The idea of a clearly dangerous and disturbed individual who broadcast his intentions to kill someone whenever he got around to it, walking around free to do so is a horrific wrong.
What makes me even sicker? This.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1189910/Children-neck-deep-Wirral-mother-abandoned-shopping.html
and this....
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/05/28/ng.family.murder.cnn
I will take some time to try to reconcile the fact that there are monsters out there who will kill someone over abortion...and for whatever other reasons they can come up with.
I will also try to reconcile the fact that some radio ideologues are probably crossing the line into the area of incitement to do harm.
I feel terrible today.
Great post. Rated.
If you want to stop the nuts from feeling entitled to do it, HELL YES it needs to be discussed. The first time someone called abortion murder, someone should have stepped in. The next time, some thousand should have stepped in. And as these domestic terrorists deprive people of lives, and our society of legitimate political positions vis a vis reproductive freedom, millions should do as you have done here C.O.S. MURDER is murder. Silence is complicity.
I grew up in a small town in SC, daughter of an exremely religious and "pro-life" father, and attended a high school run by fundamental christian extremists.
I know how I feel about abortion and women's rights- but I usually shy away from standing up for women and our bodies and our rights as human beings. I hear the voices of my friends and family echo in my head- I know that their opposition to abortion is closely tied in with the religious beliefs and worldviews they hold so dear. I know I cannot change their minds, so choose instead to shut my mouth to avoid offending people I love.
but it is time to wake up- to stand up for what is right according to how I understand the world. The murder of Dr. Tiller and the things I know people at home are saying about it brings hot tears to my eyes with the bitter injustice of it all.
Thank you for this post.
Thank you to all of you who are choosing to speak out here.
JK Brady
Spout?? I just posted the facts. Like I said I am in favor of a woman's choice. But facts don't lie.
June 01, 2009 10:21 AM
I guess, given my background, I just want to say this: even at the height of my conservative, fundamental belief, I would never have condoned or thought it right to murder a doctor who performed abortions - even late-term abortions. Most of the people I knew who were part of the church were appalled and grieved by such acts. I need to stop there, for now.
Rated, and well-spoken, Coyote.
Amen!
@Zuma: I hear you all the way!
I thought it couldn't get worse.
I was wrong.
I lived in NY when the Buffalo murder took place - couldn't beLieve it. Still can't. I guess I need to get my head out of my ass and get righteous myself. I've assumed for too long that the right - my right - will prevail. We've been backpedaling evolutionarily for decades. How can this happen?
I am just so fucking sad.
So what is next? Let's kill child molesters because it is the only good way to get them to stop doing what they do.. Or, just kill because the other person doesn't go to your church or believe as you do?
What the hell has gone wrong with the people in this country? It seems it is full of dysfunctional shit heads.
Perhaps it's time for the 154,158,280 women and girls in the United States to march on Washington.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
as noted on others' posts, here's a must-read - one of Many - first-person account of necessity for late-term abortion:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2004/01/25/my_late_term_abortion/
I hate the way we are labeled "Pro-Abortion". Nothing could be further from the truth. I don't know anyone that is pro-abortion. It is a heart wrenching decision to have to make.
The other thing is that many of those who rail about the evils of abortion have had abortions themselves. It the do as I say, not as I do mentality that is so infuriating.
These same people have no problem with poor people dying from lack of health care because they can't afford outrageously priced health insurance. I could go on, but I know you get it and you have every right to be enraged after hearing this news.
Melody
One of the quotes from one of the philosophers I researched goes like this: "Our freedom extends to the limits of our alternatives and no further."
Those who would restrict everyone's alternatives for the sake of their own prejudices and point of view would rob us of our freedom, for where does it end?
With justice defined as "protecting the interest of the weaker", the so-called pro-lifer would presume to protect fetal rights at the peril of both the health and liberty of the mother. Is this right? In a world where this question is unanswerable, the right of the mother to control her body and reproduction has been considered primary.
The court protected this freedom of the mother because it was not possible to present a compelling case otherwise which was consistent with the "establishment clause" of the 1st Amendment.
Much has been made of this recently in the news and in OS. I find it a bit interesting that this discussion is now gathering further momentum in light of Judge Sotomayor's nomination and of Dr. Tiller's assasination.
Those who would murder to force their own viewpoint down our throats are (with apologies to the sensitivities of some who may find this to be hyperbole) little better than Jihadist suicide bombers. Extremism is not a justification for this type of act. That it was a targeted assasination seems to make it even more heinous.
Keep exploring the issues. Keep exploring your heart and mind and soul. For this issue, regretably is not going away.
These times are very sad for me. They should be sad for us all.
A+++++++++++++++++++
I stand in solidarity with all of you.
My prayers are lifted for the doctor, his family and his congregation.
Monte