The Terrorists will not win

Today came the news that Dr. George Tiller's  family is shutting down his Wichita clinic.

George Tiller's slaying has accomplished what anti-abortion activists had tried to do for decades: The doors to his Kansas clinic will shut forever. The announcement Tuesday from Tiller's family was a tainted victory for the nation's anti-abortion movement. For years, it made Tiller the focus of protests, legislation and legal attacks.

His death reignited a public debate over some abortion opponents' tactics and left many wondering how it will transform the abortion battleground.

Now that Tiller and his clinic are gone, the epicenter of the anti-abortion movement is less clear. Kansas has long been a lightning rod in the hot-button social issue — and in 2002, the leader of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue even moved his organization to the city to wage an aggressive campaign. With the clinic's doors closed, the movement loses one of its key protest symbols.

"Part of what is a tragedy about this is that violence has achieved its objective," said Nancy Northup, president of Center for Reproductive Rights. "There is a concerted, ongoing effort at harassment and restriction with an aim to make doctors leave the field."

Operations at Women's Health Care Services Inc. were suspended following Tiller's death last month. In a statement released by his attorneys, Tiller's family said relatives had chosen to honor him with charitable activities instead of reopening the clinic.

"We are proud of the service and courage shown by our husband and father and know that women's health care needs have been met because of his dedication and service," the family said in the statement. They did not elaborate on their reasoning to close.

Many of my sister bloggers believe that the terrorists have won, that they have succeeded in removing women's access to one of the few places in North America where a late term abortion could be safely sought. (That's if, of course, you ignored the whackjobs stalking and shaming women who went into the clinic.)

Here's JJ:

This is how terrorists win.  They are powerless to achieve their goals within the law (69% of Americans, including a lot who personally identify as “pro-life”, don’t want Roe v. Wade overturned), so they resort to other means to achieve the same end: restricted access.

And Pale: 

This is not to say that someone else cannot reopen it, but it is a sad day for sure for women in the US who find themselves in situations where they may now have to travel longer distances, and may in fact find their lives or reproductive health in severe jeopardy.

But we all know this war by the extremists isn't about women or babies. This is just another peg of fascism.

Pale links to a scathingly brilliant post -- language warning -- by Sabrina at News of the Restless. I highly recommend you read the whole thing. There's not much I can safely quote from it so I will content myself with lifting this graphic.

Finally, this arrived with my email today. It's from the National Abortion Federation.

Statement of Vicki Saporta, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation (NAF), in response to the announcement that the Tiller family will not re-open Women’s Health Care Services, Inc. in Wichita, KS:

For more than 35 years, Women’s Health Care Services, Inc. provided women from Wichita and around the world with high quality abortion care. The murder of our member Dr. George Tiller has been a devastating loss for not only his family, but for the abortion provider community and the many women who relied on him for care. We respect the family’s decision to close the clinic, and our hearts go out to them as they grieve during this very difficult time. 

Although Women’s Health Care Services, Inc. will not re-open, our members remain committed to ensuring that women are able to obtain the abortion care they need.

But, believe it or not, I am not so discouraged. That's partly because, as I have written already, the murder has galvanized people, shaken them out of their complacency, reminded them that the fight, despite the law, is not over, and has revealed the enemy.

As Fern over as Dammit Janet! puts it:

Yes, the evil ghouls will celebrate, albeit mutedly. (They've begun. I won't link. You know where to look.)

And yes, a chill will run through the community of reproductive healthcare providers.

And yes, more dough will be spent on security and guards and cameras and walls and bullet-proof vests -- dough that is badly needed elsewhere.

And yes, in the short-term, desperately distressed women and their families will travel further and spend more and suffer more.

But more important than all that is the fact that the pious, prayerful, sanctimonious mask has been FOREVER ripped off the lying liars who would oppress women.

The terrorists have not won. They have been exposed.

Even the damn msm has recognized them for what they are. 

Speaking of exposure, thanks to PSA over at Canadian Cynic, I have stumbled on more Christofascist websites and blogs. Like this one. And this one. And this one. And get a load of this one.

Definition of a Christofascist?

Somebody who invokes his God, his religion, his beliefs over my rights, my privacy and my body.

Not unlike an Islamofascist does over women in Islamic states, no?

UPPITY WOMAN DATE: Media Matters notes that not a single prominent right-winger voiced disapproval of Fox News' and Bill O'Reilly's incessant incitements against Tiller.

The unconvincing right-wing defense in the wake of the Tiller assassination last week was twofold, with the second layer even thinner than the first. The first was that when conservatives were hounding and demonizing Tiller for years, they were merely debating the issue of abortion. And surely nobody in America opposes a healthy debate, right? Nobody opposes "sharp political disagreement," as Michelle Malkin sugarcoated the Tiller attack, right?

Second, Noise Machine leaders claimed that liberal commentators do exactly what O'Reilly and (CNN's Glenn) Beck have been accused of: using violent political hate language that puts people's lives in danger. That claim has been made over and over, yet conservatives can't actually produce any proof -- can't find any hateful liberal quotes -- to buttress the claim.

That's because both talking points are complete fabrications.

I'm telling you. These people are all in it together.

Comments

[David Marniss]

As much as you like to deride the pro-life movement on the basis that it has radical fringe members, it's that very same derisive action that you're taking that makes it seem like your only argument for abortion is the substance of the pro-life movement. 10:1 all of those ridiculous zealots believe in democracy, that doesn't make democracy wrong.

Until you can justify a world that condones casual murder, I don't see how you can justify abortion. I have a feeling it's because you can't. But it's just a feeling.

[johnnykap]

"The doors to his Kansas clinic will shut forever."

You don't know that they weren't going to be shutting anyhow due to Obamanomics taking full effect. Throw in Kansas' liberal governor, and you'll see why a lot of Kansas businesses are shutting down.

How presumptuous of you and your state run media brethren and sistren to write it off to the absence of one staff member at the clinic.

[deBeauxOs]

The "absence of one staff member"...?

That is quite the little spin you gave the facts there, johnnykap.

1) It is Dr Tiller's grieving family members who have chosen to close the clinic.

2) Dr George Tiller was assassinated. He is not "absent". He was violently and publicly executed in a church.

[Dafe Oputu]

Yes, the killing of Tiller was lamentable. It was not the correct way to oppose his awful abortions. Yet you can't justify your point just by pointing to his fanatical killers. Your argument is not based at all on construction of your points. It isn't even based on destruction of your opponents' points. Instead you just point fingers at the insane minority of prolife advocates. In fact I've never once seen any of you properly respond to a comment by one of us.

[The Stygian and his Shemitish Dogs]

Esteemed and Beautiful Moderator,

"That claim has been made over and over, yet conservatives can't actually produce any proof -- can't find any hateful liberal quotes -- to buttress the claim."

It may be cheating to go outside North America, but Pim Fortuyn provides an excellent example of assassination fuelled by liberal rhetoric.

"Fortuyn was nine days away from an election from which he was expected to emerge as Dutch prime minister. As he walked out of a radio studio near Amsterdam, a left-wing activist named Volker van der Graaf pumped five bullets into his back. Fortuyn died almost instantly.

The killer would later explain that Fortuyn's views on Muslim immigration made him a "danger.""

http://www.nysun.com/opinion/europes-champion-of-liberty/53818/