“Women are under the most stress at two times in their lives: when they are pregnant and don’t want to be, and when they want to be and can’t” – Dr. George Tiller

The Internet is already filled with saccharine, moving and poignant accounts of the doctor’s life (and, frankly, the exact opposite, as I unfortunately discovered as I was searching for a picture), so I’m not sure that adding one more blog post will accomplish anything.

Instead, I’ll just float out there the questions his murder has raised:

• Why is he referred to as an “abortion doctor,” rather than an OB/GYN?  He cared for women throughout their pregnancy, sometimes right up through termination.  This sort of rhetoric is precisely what appeals to/fuels the hatred of the lone wolf assholes who commit these crimes.
• Speaking of those lone wolf gunmen, I truly hope that Republican politicians who defended extreme right wing groups when they were rightly designated as “potential terrorist threats” (such as Operation Rescue, which has Dr. Tiller’s blood on its hands) by the DHS are – at the very least – moved to revisit their opinion.
• How in the hell is the pro-life stance even a Republican issue?  It doesn’t gel AT ALL with the party’s small government platform.  And even taking into consideration that many Christians feel that a fetus is a fully formed human being deserving of birth, why do Red States keep cutting post-birth medical care, insurance for kids, etc.?  It’s a completely irrational, incomprehensible party line.  And that’s before we factor birth control, insurance and abstinence education into it.

Finally, this site is absolutely the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever read.