The National Debate about Late-Term Abortions

The American Thinker ^ | June 18, 2009 | Janice Shaw Crouse

[Scanian]

Bill O'Reilly only thought he opened up a hornet's nest when he coined the term "death mill" for late-term abortion clinics. But now public figures are blaming Mr. O'Reilly and pro-life advocates for the death of Dr. George Tiller, the famous abortion doctor who performed abortions up to the time of a baby's birth.

There has been almost universal condemnation of the killing of Dr. Tiller; the vast majority of pro-life people -- those who defend life and respect life from conception to natural death -- find it abhorrent that anyone would kill another person, including those who perform abortions. Yet, those looking for someone to blame for Dr. Tiller's death have turned their attention to the Fox News celebrity, claiming that his outspoken opinions have created a climate where such crimes are commonplace. Those same critics also blame pro-lifers for creating a "negative" climate because they speak boldly and passionately about the issue. Those critics are especially condemning of pro-lifers who participate in silent prayer vigils near the clinics or have legal demonstrations on the sidewalks leading to the clinics.

As Congress considers "hate crime" legislation, the left is using Dr. Tiller's murder as evidence that those who take strong moral stances on public issues are a public threat. There are nationwide efforts to silence those who speak out on moral issues -- even a television celebrity like Mr. O'Reilly who does not claim to speak from a religious perspective. Thus, Michael Tomasky, journalist at The Guardian, shifts the focus from Scott Roeder, who has been arrested and accused of the murder, to the public figure, Bill O'Reilly, who has been outspoken in condemning late-term abortions. In addition to calling the late-term abortion clinics "death mills,"

[muawiyah]

Over the top ~ only to be shot down by his own machinegunners.

No, most people are never bothered at all by the murders of people they don't know, or who if they do know them they didn't like them.

We all have an almost infinite capacity to step over the bodies.

What actually bothers us is the RATE. High murder rates in a community may actually indicate that if we go there we might get murdered, and there's nothing like a threat to " #1" to get our attention.

Yup, we like lower murder rates, and we attend the funerals of our kith and kin, and we cry over our mothers, brothers, sisters and fathers ~ and grieve to the Heavens about our children should they die. But we still have a "murder rate" toleration level, and Tiller's death hardly saturates.

I suspect Tiller's status within his own family wasn't all that popular either. They said they were shutting down his operation for good. We heard something similar from Von Brunn's son the other day ~ he'll never speak to his father again AND he and the rest of the family are totally fed up with the old man's racist BS.

Worth noting, the Tiller stories have virtually dried up. No one is writing anything more about the man ~ just others they'd be criticizing anyway. In fact, the last half dozen Tiller stories I've seen were simply opportunities to bash Conservatives. Apparantly even the Leftwingtards didn't care all that much for Tiller.

[mkjessup]

"Dr. George Tiller, the famous infamous abortion doctor"

There, fixed it.

[exDemMom]

We all have an almost infinite capacity to step over the bodies.

Kind of off-topic, but that reminds me of the reaction I had a few years ago while watching a documentary on Ruwanda, with all the horrible killing that occurred there. I was looking at these scenes, people walking through villages littered with dead bodies, and my thought was, "Omg, those poor women need bras!"

Not that I'm about to run off to take bras to African women.

[ardara]

Is the world a better place without Dr. Tiller?

[TexConfederate1861]

I would say....... YES.

[lacrew]

I’m no apologist for O’Reilly; but, did he say anything that was untrue?

Why doesn’t his family sure him for slander?

Bill shined a light on something that had been going on in the light of day, with absolutely no reporting. I’m just sorry that he hasn’t made the complete nexus with Kathleen Sebelius (former Kansas governor, now HHS secretary, who lied repeatedly to congress about how much Tiller money she got).

I’d prefer Tiller was prosecuted, rather than shot. That way, his actions would be exposed....

but - his clinic is now closed. One day in the near future, a woman will come forward, with her toddler by her side, and tell the story of how the toddler’s appointment with Tiller was cancelled due to his murder.

[2harddrive]

Some might say the Kansas abortionist WASN’T murdered, but was just subjected to a post-partum abortion - the most extreme form of partial birth abortion. A retroactive one.

[MrB]

I’d prefer Tiller was prosecuted, rather than shot.

Corrupt, bought, DEMOCRAT politicians made the former option impossible, and made the latter option inevitable, to paraphrase JFK.

[Natural Law]

I want to see O’Reilly ask the abortion on demand crowd a simple question; “If third trimester fetuses are not babies or infants, what are the patients in a neonatal ward to be called?”.