What makes a hero? Maria Pawlowska looks to the late Dr. George Tiller for some answers.
I love movies based on comic books—there’s nothing quite like staring at a big screen on which attractive people in tight costumes use their super powers to fight bad guys. More importantly, they always win and the audience gets to witness the good guys kick the bad guys’ asses. Unfortunately, in real life, things often end up differently. Outside of the movies, it’s sometimes the good guy that gets killed by the bad guy. Regrettably, the story of one of my personal heroes is just such a story.
The man I want to tell you about doesn’t look like the person you’d probably imagine when you hear the word “hero”—there is no cape, no cool costume, not much muscle and there are no weapons (except for the one that killed him). He was a middle aged man with a round face, a kind smile and an unwavering commitment to helping his patients: women. His name was Dr. George Tiller.
Before he was shot and killed by an anti-abortion activist on May 31, 2009, Dr. Tiller was the medical director of a clinic in Wichita, Women’s Health Care Services. It was one of only three nationwide centres which provided abortions after the 21st week of pregnancy (known as late-term abortions).
Personally, I get upset when I get hateful comments on my posts (I’m sort of assuming the usual “man-hater” and “baby-killer” will follow below this post). I have no idea what I’d do if people started sending me actual hate mail, camping outside my work and home to hurl abuse at me and threaten my life (yup—all happened to Dr. Tiller). What’s more, the fatal attack wasn’t the first one. Aside from the verbal and written abuse he was constantly exposed to, Dr. Tiller also had previously been shot in both arms. And he just kept going and doing his thing nevertheless.
There were only two other centres in the country that helped women and their families through the (usually) awful experience that a second-term abortion is. How could Dr. Tiller reduce their chances of getting help by a third and give up his work just because people tried to scare him?
I know abortion is a controversial issue (obviously, that’s why Dr. Tiller got shot—when have you last heard of a dentist or family doctor getting death threats for doing their job?) and firmly believe every woman should be able to make the choices that are right for her and her family. A second-trimester abortion is one of those very rare and very needed procedures, which are most commonly conducted if the woman’s life is in danger or the fetus is unviable. If not for Dr. Tiller and the staff of the two other centres, these women would be forced to give birth to a dead or unviable baby, or possibly even die as a result of pregnancy!
More than anything, Dr. Tiller saved lives and ultimately paid for it with his own. He didn’t have a spectacular car, a great nickname or a cute sidekick, but he had more courage than most other people and was willing to stand up for what he believed in until he was literally shot down. Isn’t that exactly what makes a hero?
Check out the rest of our “Men and Heroism” section.
The “Men and Heroism” section was run and edited by Dave Kaiser.
—Photo AP
Tiller the Baby Killer is now in Hell! Praise be to God! Scott Roeder is a saint!
Great post. Sorry that so many men have decided in the comments that they know what is best for women. Dr. Tiller could have taught them a few things.
No, we know what’s better for human life. Men tend to “protect” life no matter the risk. I just heard that Alabama may be overturning R v W? It’s beginning to look like some of the guys I’ve talk to are right about this site, maybe a feminist site in disguise.
@some guy: The law in canada allows for abortion at ANY stage of development as well.
I don’t know. I support a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy, but I have to admit that I’m not all that comfortable with late-term abortions. At some admittedly arbitrary point it’s too late. In China, there are abortions performed at the end of a full term as the head is crowning. To me that is obviously way too late. On the other hand, I have no qualms about a first trimester abortion. Other people may want to draw the line elsewhere in the 40 weeks or draw no line at all. If a pharmacist was killed for dispensing birth… Read more »
Late term abortion is called a D & E which means Dilate and Extract. Over a two day process (would think it would be stressful of the women) the baby is positioned so gthe feet come out first. Dilate to that the baby can come out feet first but just before the head comes out, an instrument is forced into the baby’s head, killing it. I mean, if we’re gonna talk about these things, know how they’re done. Planned parenthood says they educate …. yeah, right.
I normally don’t wade into abortion debates but Copy , you are building up a strawman, John was rightfully showing that this judge equated this murder with an abortion otherwise why bring up abortion to begin with. Abortion and the so-called effects of child birth have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.
Wrong, as the judge’s comments clearly show. He did NOT equate abortion with infanticide; he explicitly said he was bringing it up as an illustration of how Canada recognizes the mental and emotional pressures exerted by unwanted pregnancy. If you can’t comprehend his point, that’s not the judge’s problem, or mine.
Effert was found guilty, but not of first-degree murder in light of her mental instability. Surely you’ve heard of the insantiy defense? Surely you understand why it’s valid, right?
Actually I fully understand this but the theory of lactation induced psycosis has been discredited for a long time.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/10/02/ruling-on-infant-death-riles-anti-abortionists/
Another link for you since you seemed to nitpick the crap out of that one.
As I was typing this response I started to realize that I was using a logical fallacy of “slippery slope” then I realized and remembered this case
h ttp://www.theblaze.com/stories/canadian-mother-strangles-newborn-gets-no-jail-time-and-judge-defends-infanticide-by-comparing-it-to-abortion/
Our society (canadian) has already stooped to allowing a mother to murder her child after birth because well, abortions are OK so why not kill the baby after death and receive no jail time. What to know what is really screwed up, she received a longer sentence for throwing the body over a fence then for killing it. IOW, she got more time for littering than for murder.
Typically, the article you cite doesn’t say what the headline suggests. The judge noted that Canada’s abortion laws are relevant in that they constitute a recognition of the incredible stresses and pressures of unwanted pregnancies and unwanted births… NOT that infanticide is ‘basically the same as abortion.” Effert was not ‘allowed to murder her child;’ she was found guilty and given a suspended sentence in recognition of her mental instability.
Protip: If you get your news from The Blaze, you’ll have no idea what’s really going on in the world.
BTW, he wasn’t convicted of murder which is exactly what she did.
I mean SHE wasn’t convicted of murder
Well written, I couldn’t agree more. A fine addition to the GMP.
I can’t define a person a hero who kills other people, yes folks, I believe that it is a baby and you know what most folks do UNLESS of course they don’t want it then it is something else. I have never once heard someone ask a pregnant woman about her fetus, they always ask about the baby.
Now having said that I think it is utterly stupid, and hypocritical to kill someone over this. It would be like an enviromentalist dumping toxic waste in a lake to protest a oil company drilling in the area.
Do you think women should be forced to bring a child to term even if it will kill her and probably the child too? Second term abortions are an obvious case of the “lesser of two evils.”
A post I recently saw on a state bill requiring ultrasounds (i.e., emotional pressure and manipulation) before any prospective abortion procedure sums it up nicely:
“Look at this beautiful baby you have, thanks to your uncle raping you!”
“- – – – – ”
“Why are you crying?”
@copyleft: Again that is a logical fallacy of appeal to emotion
“Thanks to you uncle raping you” is not the main reason for abortion for most women.
Then propose a policy that will allow abortions in such circumstances and still retains some semblance of logical coherence. I’ve yet to see one.
No, I don’t agree with carrying a baby to tem that will kill the mother BUT the vast majority of abortions are not done for that reason.
To everything an exception and abortion is no different and if ALL or MOST abortions were to save the life of the mother I could get behind them easily BUT they aren’t.
Then what is your proposed policy on abortion–extensive psychological interviews to determine each woman’s true motivations for the procedure, or perhaps a police investigation into the circumstances of each conception?
Carefull: that strawman is going to tip over soon.
Now, how about documentation from a doctor stating that the life of the mother is in danger.
Thank you! We have now established that a fetus is not equivalent to a person, and that the life of an already-existing human takes precedence over an unborn fetus.
Now we can get on with some sensible policymaking.
Copy I read Janets response, I am not sure how you got that the fetus is not equiv to a person. That was a bit of a leap, I can’t speak for Janet but to me, we would not be treating this any different than another other in which one person is in danger from another and that the person in danger is allowed preserve their own life. In fact the law calls it self defense.
This article made me mad as hell and I have no problem admitting it. It wwas wrong that he was murdered … no ifs ands or buts about it. VERY wrong. A true pro-life advocate doesn’t condone the killing of anyone. Of course the murdered will always be linkied to pro-life because pro-aborts like to throw it out there. That being said. Hero??? A man that was involved in the killing of over 40 million unborn is a hero? And before anyone gets on the health of the mother stuff, Abortions were legal prior to R v W when giving… Read more »
The process consists of lightening of the the teeth using laserlight, the teeth re-shaping, scraping and also dangling tooth connections amidst
Research suggests which cosmetic dentistry will be the review while using syndromes and problems in the jaws
Brave and poignant. Excellent article. Sometimes we forget about the battles some people face every day just to do another person well.