Sentencing of killer of pro-choice doctor raises larger issues

On April 1, Scott Roeder was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Dr. George Tiller. Kansas District Judge Warren Wilbert ordered him to serve 50 years without parole.

Dr. Tiller’s family and attorneys and pro-choice activists sought this sentence, the severest possible. However, it does not bring back the dedicated, compassionate and courageous doctor who, despite years of death threats, stalking and assaults, provided essential health care for women from all over the country who sought his help, the doctor whose motto was, “Trust women.”

The Tiller family stated that “the cruel and heinous” murder “was [not only] a hate crime committed against George — but also against all women and their constitutional rights. We only can hope that this sentence will serve as a deterrent to those who have conspired and continue to conspire to murder abortion providers.” (kwhc.com)

Dr. Tiller provided lifesaving care for women who needed late abortions for medically complex pregnancies. His death was a big loss for women who today face greater obstacles to this health care. The medical practitioners who perform these services, most notably Dr. Warren Hern and Dr. LeRoy Carhart, face threats, harassment and violence every day — in fact, they risk their lives — standing up to far-right extremists.

So, too, do doctors and clinic providers and staff nationwide, who have faced increased vigilante violence since the start of 2009, and even more so since Dr. Tiller’s murder. Fourteen clinics are now under siege.

Roeder’s trial uncovered his 10-year association with the Army of God, a domestic terror network which has a history of harassing abortion providers and lesbians and gays. The group has taken credit for bombing abortion clinics, causing death and injuries. Its Web site lionizes the murderers of doctors.

Since anti-abortion violence began, nine people have been murdered, more than 24 wounded and many medical facilities attacked. Yet, pro-choice advocates ask, why was only one individual found culpable each time, in spite of evidence of national coordination?

They ask why there were no federal charges filed against anyone responsible for Dr. Tiller’s murder and are urging the government to prosecute others who may have colluded with Roeder and to clamp down on pro-violence networks to prevent further horrific acts.

“Doctors are being threatened at their clinics, stalked at their homes and plastered on Wanted posters. There will be more victims unless the federal government acts swiftly. ... Until we stop the network of zealots who recruit, arm, conspire, advise, coordinate and support the Scott Roeders of their movement, the next murder is just around the corner,” said Feminist Majority Foundation Executive Vice President Katherine Spillar, and the head of its National Clinic Access Project. (feminist.org)

The National Organization for Women has called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate “this hostile campaign and to prosecute ... the assassins and the ringleaders of what rightly can be termed terrorism.” (now.org)

Women’s rights activists have also asked why there hasn’t been federal prosecution of the ultraright Operation Rescue/Operation Save America for violating clinic access laws and threatening physicians. This group, which harasses clinic staff and clients, stalks physicians and publicizes their whereabouts on the Internet, is relentlessly trying to shut down the Family Reproductive Health clinic in Charlotte, N.C.

Yet the government has not taken these rightwing extremists seriously and protected doctors and clinic staffs and is allowing the abuse to continue in North Carolina and elsewhere. Anti-abortion forces incite violence against physicians on the Internet with impunity. Right-wing talk show hosts are free to whip up this violence and use inflammatory language on television.

These fascist-leaning groups have shown that they will stop at nothing, resorting to the worst violence, to get what they want: a complete shut down of all medical providers of reproductive health services for women and to stop women from exercising their legal and medical rights and options.

They are even more emboldened by the federal government’s capitulation to the extreme right on the abortion issue in the healthcare “reform” law, and as their reactionary allies in state legislatures are pushing new anti-abortion laws.

The last year has been difficult for women’s rights advocates. It’s vital to show solidarity with the courageous medical practitioners and clinic staff that bravely face down the ultraright to provide essential medical care for women. And it’s as crucial to join with pro-choice activists who are defending women’s basic rights, and organizing clinic support.