Violence is not just in the anti-abortion movement’s past.
Jill Heaviside and Rosann Mariappura at Rewire_News:Â
As we mark the tenth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, it is incredible to think that, just over a month ago, Republican Sen. Ben Sasse was really asking how “the pro-life position is in any way violent.”
Violence has been a central tenet of the anti-abortion movement since before the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. As activists have sought control over the reproductive freedom of millions of people—particularly women of color, low-income women and families, and queer, gender-nonconforming, and transgender communities—they have used violence as a tactic of control, abuse, and fear across the United States.
Dr. Tiller was Wichita’s only abortion provider for 40 years and was known for his deep commitment to trusting women and their families’ reproductive health decisions. Because of his work, Dr. Tiller was a target of many anti-abortion groups; before he was killed, he survived a clinic bombing and a prior shooting.
Dr. Tiller’s murder wasn’t an isolated incident. Anti-abortion extremists have killed at least 11 people since the 1990s. Their violent history includes the first recorded murder of an abortion provider, Dr. David Gunn, in 1993, and the 2015 shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, which claimed three lives and injured nine people.
For every reported murder, there have been countless credible threats of violence against abortion providers and instances of arson, burglary, and vandalism against health clinics. Some are isolated events but others are part of highly organized and premeditated showings of force that seek to intimidate providers and deter people from seeking care.
Violence is not just in the anti-abortion movement’s past. The National Abortion Federation (NAF), which tracks these incidents, found in its latest report record numbers of violent and disruptive incidents at clinics in 2018. NAF recorded the greatest number of trespassing incidents since the organization began tracking in 1999, and the incidents of obstruction of health-care facilities doubled from 2017 to 2018.
In addition to violence against abortion providers and incursions onto physical clinic property, staff and volunteers are subject to violence.
Read the full story at Rewire.News.
Ten years after Dr. George Tiller was murdered by an anti-abortion extremist, anti-abortion violence remains a serious problem in our nation. When I heard the news about Dr. Tiller's death, I switched to the pro-choice of the debate.
