This letter was written by Dr Barnett Slepian in 1994 after Dr. George
Tiller, an abortion provider, had been shot by a pro-life crazy. Four
years later Dr. Slepian was killed by another pro-life terrorist. And
now Dr. Tiller is dead by another pro-life killer. Before Dr. Tiller
was murdered, Bill O'Reilly described him as "...Tiller the Baby
killer..." No one in the pro-life community condemned O'Reilly for
these comments and others he made. Others, prominent in the community,
have made much worse comments than these.
So, when I hear that, in a recent poll, 51 percent of respondents
identified themselves as pro-life, I have to wonder if these people
truly know what they are associating themselves with. Do 51 percent of
us truly want to be associated with the policies and hypocrisy of the
terrorist "Right to Life" community? Do they really want to criminalize
and stigmatize women who choose to have an abortion? Do you want to
condemn to death those women who will die because there is nowhere to
get a legal, safe abortion? If you call yourself pro-life, you are
associating yourself with the terrorist group, "Right to Life."
"Right to Life" is a hypocritical group that claims, publicly, to want
to stop abortion. But, in reality, they want to punish and humiliate
women who choose abortion. All of the "Right to Life" groups want to
criminalize abortion. None of them support contraception, and the only
sex-ed they approve of is "abstinence only." Time and again studies
have shown that the countries with the most liberal abortion laws have
the fewest abortions per population. The Right to Lifers want to stop
abortion but don't support easy access to contraception? They don't
want to educate our children to the dangers of unprotected sex? There's
no way they truly want to stop abortion. They want to punish women who
need an abortion. Is that what you want to be associated with?
Abortion is a necessary and good option for women who choose to end a
pregnancy. No woman I've known (and I've known more than a few) has
chosen abortion as a birth-control device. That would be absurd. An
abortion is chosen because of a breakdown in birth-control, lack of
knowledge thereof, or something goes wrong during the pregnancy. It is
never a decision made lightly. But leave it to the pro-life community
to humiliate and denigrate women who choose this option. Do you want to
be part of that?
The worst and most incomprehensible thing to me, though, is the
objection to third-term abortions. Overwhelmingly, these women want to
have their babies. Here is a woman who has carried a baby for six
months. She has chosen some names, maybe picked out clothes and some
accessories. Then the doctor says that the baby is anencephalic or has
Tay-Sachs. It will be born dead or will live a few painful months or a
year. It might threaten the mother's life or her ability to have
another child. She has to have an abortion. So this woman is devastated
by this awful news but the doctor then adds that she will have to
travel somewhere else to get the abortion because the pro-lifers have
caused the local clinic to be shut down. This is what Dr. Tiller did.
He ran a clinic to save the lives of women who needed third-term
abortions. He did it even after he was shot once. This last time he
wasn't so lucky. And now his clinic is closed.
Is this what you want?
We, in the pro-choice community, are a diverse group. We range from
anti-abortion to people like me who think abortion is necessary and
good for our communities. All of us, though, believe that women have a
right to their own bodies. Each woman has the right to choose to have a
baby or have an abortion. Whatever a woman chooses we should support
her in a loving manner, not denigrate or humiliate her. So, if you
claim to be pro-life and really want to reduce the need for abortion,
join us in the pro-choice community.
Lehman lives in Warren.
