A Very Late-Term Abortion?*
While Dr. George Tiller's wife was singing in the choir this morning at their family's church in Wichita, the doctor was handing out bulletins to late arrivals for the worship service. One of the people who came through the church doors had a gun and shot Dr. Tiller dead. He was 67 years old.
The doctor had been shot once before. He was injured in both arms, but recovered and continued his practice. His clinic had been bombed, and, earlier this year vandals had chopped holes in the roof, and stopped up the gutters during a rainy spell.
Why did so many people direct violent acts toward Tiller? Why did his death prompt statements by President Obama and former president Clinton? Dr. Tiller was one of only three doctors in the U.S. who performed late-term abortions--right up to within days of the delivery due date. For these acts he was an enormously polarizing figure, vilified by some and lauded as a hero by others. Although some of his actions were being challenged in the courts and in the healing arts regulatory agencies, for the most part, he practiced his "art" as a law-abiding citizen.
The person who is suspected of killing Tiller is a 51-year old man from the Kansas City area, about three hours NE of Wichita. He was taken into custody on his way home from Wichita, when officers spotted the car that had been seen leaving the parking lot of the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita after the shooting.
To their considerable credit, many leaders in the pro-life movement have issued statements deploring the doctor's murder, and extending sympathy to his family. Among the comments following online news stories about the event are a few on-target zingers, along with some pro life rants--embarrassing for their stridency or for being poorly spelled and written, and some shameless "This man was a true hero" proclamations.
I'm remembering that Dr. Tiller was a distant cousin of Joel's thoroughly Christian, pro life employer. That reminds me that Dr. Tiller was a human being, despite, in my opinion, having done many inhumane and wrong acts. He was a husband, father, and grandfather, and his family loved him. I feel sympathy for them.
Dr. Tiller's family pointed out the cruel irony of his being gunned down in a church--a place of peace. I'm thinking about a few related ironies regarding how Dr. Tiller's Sunday and weekday activities meshed peacefully--or didn't. I feel sympathy too for those people whose lives were terminated at Dr. Tiller's hand, and for the people who sought his services, for whatever reason.
I feel sympathy for the pro life people who are human-life-affirming in all its manifestations. It doesn't seem fair that some in the media and among the public will lump all those good people with the the likes of Dr. Tiller's murderer--likely a misguided soul who thought he did God service by killing "the enemy," although no motives have yet been publicly identified.
For Satan, I feel no sympathy. Death was his idea, and wherever he has his way, there is suffering and sorrow--by whoever's hand, or whatever circumstances it is delivered.
I wonder what the minister will say at Dr. Tiller's funeral. I certainly hope he resists the temptation to speak of the doctor's medical specialty in the "in heaven as it is on earth" terms that others often invoke at such a time. (See earlier post.) I can hardly imagine anything more jarring.
*Words borrowed from a comment posted on an internet news site.
The doctor had been shot once before. He was injured in both arms, but recovered and continued his practice. His clinic had been bombed, and, earlier this year vandals had chopped holes in the roof, and stopped up the gutters during a rainy spell.
Why did so many people direct violent acts toward Tiller? Why did his death prompt statements by President Obama and former president Clinton? Dr. Tiller was one of only three doctors in the U.S. who performed late-term abortions--right up to within days of the delivery due date. For these acts he was an enormously polarizing figure, vilified by some and lauded as a hero by others. Although some of his actions were being challenged in the courts and in the healing arts regulatory agencies, for the most part, he practiced his "art" as a law-abiding citizen.
The person who is suspected of killing Tiller is a 51-year old man from the Kansas City area, about three hours NE of Wichita. He was taken into custody on his way home from Wichita, when officers spotted the car that had been seen leaving the parking lot of the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita after the shooting.
To their considerable credit, many leaders in the pro-life movement have issued statements deploring the doctor's murder, and extending sympathy to his family. Among the comments following online news stories about the event are a few on-target zingers, along with some pro life rants--embarrassing for their stridency or for being poorly spelled and written, and some shameless "This man was a true hero" proclamations.
I'm remembering that Dr. Tiller was a distant cousin of Joel's thoroughly Christian, pro life employer. That reminds me that Dr. Tiller was a human being, despite, in my opinion, having done many inhumane and wrong acts. He was a husband, father, and grandfather, and his family loved him. I feel sympathy for them.
Dr. Tiller's family pointed out the cruel irony of his being gunned down in a church--a place of peace. I'm thinking about a few related ironies regarding how Dr. Tiller's Sunday and weekday activities meshed peacefully--or didn't. I feel sympathy too for those people whose lives were terminated at Dr. Tiller's hand, and for the people who sought his services, for whatever reason.
I feel sympathy for the pro life people who are human-life-affirming in all its manifestations. It doesn't seem fair that some in the media and among the public will lump all those good people with the the likes of Dr. Tiller's murderer--likely a misguided soul who thought he did God service by killing "the enemy," although no motives have yet been publicly identified.
For Satan, I feel no sympathy. Death was his idea, and wherever he has his way, there is suffering and sorrow--by whoever's hand, or whatever circumstances it is delivered.
I wonder what the minister will say at Dr. Tiller's funeral. I certainly hope he resists the temptation to speak of the doctor's medical specialty in the "in heaven as it is on earth" terms that others often invoke at such a time. (See earlier post.) I can hardly imagine anything more jarring.
*Words borrowed from a comment posted on an internet news site.
posted by Mrs. I at
5:29 PM
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