Pro "life"? And such irony that the man was murdered on a Sunday at his church...

As has been noted elsewhere, even the mob traditionally won't conduct hits at churches or medical facilities, which puts them about five ethical steps higher than these nutburgers.

I'm not holding my breath waiting for the national media to describe this act as the terrorism that it is.

my god.

Oh, sure, killing someone because of the political impact of what they do - and coincidentally to deter other people from thinking about doing the same thing - and to deter other people from even thinking about exercising *legal* rights granted to them - may *sound* like "terrorism," but as we're sure to learn in the next few days, the killing of Dr. Tiller was really only the shooter exercising his First Amendment right to religious freedom, and maybe even some kind of free speech right.

And we - liberals, progressives, non-strong-feeling religious people - should *understand* and *respect* the views of people who disagree with us.

In fact, perhaps it would be smart - especially *politically* smart - of us to *refrain* from "criminalizing" *policy* differences.

And while we're at it, perhaps we should look forward instead of backwards, and avoid playing the who-shot-whom game, or pointing a finger of blame, because that would be *awkward*, and some people might not find it to be polite of us.

(/sarcasm) (/more sarcasm, just in case)

Following up on what Chris wrote, I'm a bit confused: why was the shooter arrested today? Doesn't that just amount to the same sort of "looking back" that Republicans tell us we shouldn't be doing? After all, this crime was committed in the past! Surely we shouldn't be concerned about it, right?

This is utterly outrageous.

Here we have a needed medical specialty (needed by women, we should point out) whose practitioners need to live in fear of assassination and under conditions of constant harassment. (Has anyone read _This Common Secret_, by Susan Wicklund?)

Absolutely awful.

My only question is why would you call this "the culmination" of anything? For the last quarter-century there's been a fairly steady stream of intimidation, harassment and violence directed at abortion providers. True, assassination murders have been rare compared to, say deaths in traffic (but not compared to Muslim-originated terror attacks in the US) but Tiller himself was the subject of a half dozen physical and vandalism attacks since the last abortion doctor assassination murder. The killing is a tragedy, but entirely within the normal range of operations for the movement which has been pushing against reproductive rights for the last 25 years or more.

This isn't an "end" or "peak" in any meaningful sense, unless there is some kind of political and cultural shift which actually pushes these radicals out of the mainstream.

What sickens me the most is that the pro-lifers don't give a d--m about the reasons for almost all late-term abortions. Which is, that the health or even life of the mother might be endangered. What about being pro *her* life? And another reason is that severe deformities are diagnosed on the fetus - what would be the reason to continue the pregnancy if it can't result in a baby which can live; or live without the most painful debilitations and often for a short while? And added to that, nobody makes this choice as easy as selecting a menue for dinner!

But no, you never hear those arguments. Conservatives are incapable of dealing with contexts, with any issue. And with empathy (ugggh, that terrible word...).

"Abortion provider"?

I think you mean "OB/GYN murdered."

I'm with M here; labeling Dr. Tiller "abortion provider" plays into the the fundy frame; he was a health care provider, he provided family planning services. Some headlines are going further, and labeling him "late-term abortion provider." Amanda at Pandagon has it about right: "Doctor who saved many women's lives murdered"

I agree with articles point it really very good.

I'm with Chris on the sarcasm here...will our president actually condemn this action or stick to his usual cowardly non-confrontational position on this, welcoming all insane viewpoints as if they are equal?

What M and giotto said. Please don't buy in to the language. Dr. Tiller was a physician, a health care provider, and that's all anyone needs to know.

This is awful. Wish I'd known about lastnight's local vigil.

Sorry, that second Anonymous was me.

I'd not only advise against calling him an 'abortion provider', but the term, 'late-term abortion', or 'partial-birth abortion' are all totally and completely imaginary procedures. They simply do not exist. Some groups have cleverly renamed existing medical procedures 'late-term abortions' or 'partial-birth abortion' but I think using their nomenclature adds to the de-medicalization of these procedures.

Come on now, people. Dr. Tiller was a physician who bravely performed lawful abortions for women--often those is extraordinary circumstances--who needed such services. Let those of us who support individual liberty regarding abortion rights own the word proudly.

Oscar Wilde, during his trial in 1895 for "gross indecency", waxed poetic about "the Love that dare not speak its name"--a euphemism for homosexual pederasty. Abortion as a fundamental constitutional right should not be subjected to the Thomas Bowdler treatment.

Someday soon, the criminal terrorist rackets known as the evangelical and catholic churches will finally be outlawed, their leaders prosecuted and imprisoned, and their death squad legions disarmed.

An act of terrorism? How does one arrive at the conclusion that it was an act of terrorism? A lone person shoots another lone person and it instantly becomes an act of terrorism because the man was an abortion doctor? There is suddenly some much more devious and insideous motive in play? How is that indicated?

If your logic skills lead you to that conclusion, let me ask you this: When Pastor Fred Winters was shot and killed last March in a church by a lone gunman, was that a terrorist act as well? Was there a great hue and cry over the death of another human being, in this case a Pastor, from any of you on that one?

It is amazing that a single death suddenly mushrooms into this huge conspiracy theory, and it is suddenly Christians and Conservatives that were behind the death of Dr. Tiller, instead of a single man with a gun. Leftist political spin at it's absolute best. And it's most ridiculous. Too bad you don't have the same moral outrage about a few other issues that you should feel outrage over.

He was indeed brave. You have to be to pull a sqirming, kicking baby out of the womb (except for the head) and then puncture the back of the head, suck out the brain and collapse the skull so the baby can then be pulled out easily and thrown in the trash. A real hero he was. I hope he's enjoying his latest vacation...in hell.

Hey, your posts have inspired me! - I love the way you directly get to the point, and then work outwards. I’ve been trying to do figure out what I want to say about ,that would allow me to do exactly the same thing.

Well said Steve C. I also would support a single payer that would attempt to reduce USA healthcare spending to the level of French healthcare spending. One thing that makes me fear supporting single payer in the USA is that many democrat posters here on this board continue to advocate for more spending on schools, schools that IMHO already are already over funded. IMO since government in the USA already spends more per capita than the French government does we should just demand that our corrupt politicians figure a way to extend coverage to everyone with increasing government spending. But will this lead to demands that spending increase because the poor do not live as long as the rich? Would it lead to demand that doctors and nurses be paid more as they do today with teachers? The left seems uninterested in saving money of the tax payer and to me that is the only likely benefit of single payer healthcare.

Hey,you will do better.your posts have inspired me! - I love the way you directly get to the point, and then work outwards. I’ve been trying to do figure out what I want to say about ,that would allow me to do exactly the same thing.

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