Growing List of Statements Regarding Murder of Dr. George Tiller
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I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.
- Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General
"The murder of Doctor George Tiller is an abhorrent act of violence, and his family is in our thoughts and prayers at this tragic moment. Federal law enforcement is coordinating with local law enforcement officials in Kansas on the investigation of this crime, and I have directed the United States Marshals Service to offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation. The Department of Justice will work to bring the perpetrator of this crime to justice. As a precautionary measure, we will also take appropriate steps to help prevent any related acts of violence from occurring."
“I was deeply saddened to learn that Dr. George Tiller, a well-known provider of and advocate for women’s health care, was gunned down this morning at his church in Wichita, Kansas. With his murder, we are robbed not only of a dedicated and courageous physician, but also of a husband, father and neighbor. On behalf of all New Yorkers, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Dr. Tiller’s family, friends and community. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.
“Dr. Tiller was targeted for his belief in the right of women to make their own health decisions. He protected that right and sought to ensure that his patients were provided with the medical, emotional and spiritual counsel they needed to make the right choice for themselves and their families. He continued this work despite the threat of harmful retaliation, physical attacks and the destruction of his clinic. We will forever remember his fearlessness, compassion and commitment.
“We in New York are no strangers to these types of attacks and cannot help but to recall Dr. Barnett Slepian, a Buffalo physician murdered in October 1998 for his own commitment to women’s rights. In this era of violence, we must recall the teachings of tolerance and peace and use these lessons to overcome such acts of hatred and desperation.”
- Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
"I am outraged and saddened that in this day and age, a doctor is murdered simply for working on behalf of his patients. While the issue of reproductive rights provokes emotions on both sides, threats of violence and harassment are morally reprehensible and should not be tolerated. Dr. Tiller’s death is a tremendous loss for all those who care about the health and well being of women and families. My thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Tiller's family.”
- Cecile Richards, President Planned Parenthood Federation of America
The entire Planned Parenthood family is deeply saddened by the murder of Dr. George Tiller. While he was not a Planned Parenthood provider, he was an integral part of our community and his loss is felt by all of us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and those close to him who are suffering a personal tragedy.
Dr. Tiller was the epitome of high quality medical care underscored by deep compassion for his patients. He provided critical reproductive health care services, including abortion services to women facing some of the most difficult medical circumstances. He was continually harassed by abortion opponents for much of his career - his clinic was burned down, he was shot by a health center protestor, and he was recently targeted for investigation only to be acquitted by a jury just a few months ago. None of this stopped George Tiller from his commitment to providing women and their families with compassionate care that others were unwilling to offer.
His death is an enormous loss for the patients who relied on him, his dedicated staff, the medical community and for women and their families across America.
- M. Tracey Brooks, President and CEO Family Planning Advocates of New York State
ALBANY, NY (05/31/2009; 1906)(readMedia)-- "New York's reproductive health community is stunned at this act of domestic terrorism, and we hope and expect Dr. George Tiller's killer will be brought to swift justice," said Family Planning Advocates President and CEO Tracey Brooks. "It is unconscionable that Dr. Tiller would be gunned down for providing critical reproductive health care services, including abortion, to women facing some of the most difficult medical circumstances."
His death is an enormous loss for his family, the patients who relied on him, his dedicated staff, the medical community and for women and their families across the nation.
"We call on those who are opposed to abortion to keep their debate respectful," Brooks urged. "Today's tragedy is too clear a reminder that inflammatory rhetoric can lead to tragic results."
Dr. Tiller was the epitome of high quality medical care underscored by deep compassion for his patients. This was not the first time he was targeted for his work, but it didn't lessen his commitment to providing women and their families with compassionate care.
Family Planning Advocates of New York State is a non-profit, statewide organization dedicated to protecting and expanding access to a full range of reproductive health care services. It represents New York's Planned Parenthood affiliates and other family planning centers, as well as hundreds of organizations and thousands of individual members.
- National Network of Abortion Funds
The National Network of Abortion Funds expresses outrage and grief at the murder Sunday morning of Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas physician who since the 1970s provided abortion care for many women and girls who had nowhere else to turn.
"Dr. Tiller had already survived an attempt on his life, but he didn't stop taking care of women. He always understood what abortion means in women's lives," said Stephanie Poggi, executive director of the Network. "Especially for poor women, who are more likely to need abortions in the second trimester, he provided essential care that was not available in many other clinics."
In a rare public statement by Dr. Tiller in 2001 after anti-abortion
protesters marched outside the same church where he was killed Sunday, Tiller explained his commitment to providing abortion care for women. "Make no mistake, this battle is about self-determination by women of the direction and course of their lives and their family's lives. Abortion is about women's hopes and dreams. Abortion is a matter of survival for women."
Poggi noted that low-income women are more likely to have later abortions because of the time they must spend trying to raise money to pay for their abortions and that Tiller courageously provided this care, despite numerous attacks by anti-abortion activists. Over the many years that Dr. Tiller provided abortions, the Network and its member Funds helped thousands of poor women to reach Dr. Tiller's clinic by covering the cost of abortion care as well as travel and lodging. The Network currently has 104 abortion Funds that help women who could not otherwise pay for abortions.
"The murder of Dr. George Tiller is an incalculable loss - to his family, to the women who need care at his clinic, to the providers still courageously assisting women, and to all of us in the reproductive rights and justice communities," said Poggi.
"But to those who believe that the murder of Dr. George Tiller will set back the movement, we remember what George Tiller said when his clinic was bombed in 1986. He hung a sign outside the rubble that said, 'Hell, No. We Won't Go!' And he set up services in temporary quarters.
"In the face of this tragedy," said Poggi, "we will redouble our efforts to make sure all women get the abortion care they need - and all women are treated with dignity."
- Republican Majority for Choice
RMC joins with the nation in mourning Dr. George Tiller, who was murdered by an anti-choice extremist in his church on Sunday. Dr. Tiller was one of only three doctors in the United States who offered late-term abortion services to women who were in life-threatening and heartbreaking situations. Despite facing continued unlawful harassment and being a victim of violence in the past, Dr. Tiller remained committed to providing access to safe, legal care. He will be remembered as an example of true courage and as an individual who put the protection of personal freedom and the health of women and families above all else. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
This senseless act is the worst example of moral vigilantism and shows how far the fundamentalists will to go impose their beliefs on a nation. We must continue our work to ensure that families across this nation have access to all their choices, and call to end clinic violence and violence against healthcare practitioners. We invite you to share your us thoughts, and make your voice heard on Facebook today.
- Nancy Keenan, President NARAL Pro-Choice America
“On behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America, our prayers and thoughts are with Dr. Tiller’s family and friends at this moment, a moment that fills us with immeasurable shock and deep sadness.
“For almost two decades, Dr. Tiller and those individuals who helped provide care to his patients have lived under intense harassment tinged with persistent threats of violence. Even under these adverse circumstances, Dr. Tiller never wavered in his commitment to providing abortion services and other reproductive health care to women and their families, often in the most difficult and heart-breaking circumstances.
“Dr. Tiller’s murder will send a chill down the spines of the brave and courageous providers and other professionals who are part of reproductive-health centers that serve women across this country. We want them to know that they have our support as they move forward in providing these essential services in the aftermath of the shocking news from Wichita.
“We understand that the investigation is ongoing and that law-enforcement officials are pursuing a suspect. If it proves to be an act of anti-abortion violence, as we suspect it is, then the full weight of the law must be used to send a clear message that these types of attacks will be prosecuted fully and swiftly.
“We also call on opponents of a woman’s right to choose to condemn this action completely and absolutely. What happened today in Wichita cannot become the beginning of a more aggressive wave of violence targeting abortion providers and the women for whom they provide care. Women accessing their legal right to abortion—and the providers who make this possible—should never be targets of violence.”
- Eleanor Smeal, President Feminist Majority Foundation
The Feminist Majority Foundation is deeply saddened and outraged by the assassination of
Dr. George Tiller at his church in Wichita, Kansas, this morning. We have worked closely with
Dr. Tiller for many years in the hopes of preventing such a tragedy.
The tragic news of his murder, unfortunately, does not come as a complete surprise. Dr. Tiller
has long been the target of anti-abortion extremists, surviving a previous assassination
attempt in 1994 by an Army of God follower.
Dr. Tiller, who I knew for more than twenty years, was an extraordinarily courageous and
dedicated women's health physician. Dr. Tiller was fully aware of the danger he faced, but
was determined to ensure that women nationwide with troubled pregnancies had access to
the best medical care that could be provided. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and
his dedicated clinic staff and medical personnel.
Dr. Tiller’s murder is not an isolated event. Dr. Tiller was harassed, threatened, shot five
times (in 1994), his clinic was bombed in 1986, and most recently this month was maliciously
damaged by anti-abortion extremists. We are concerned about the safety and lives of other
dedicated personnel and doctors—not only in Kansas, but several other states. The Feminist
Majority Foundation is working with clinics and law enforcement to ensure the security of
reproductive healthcare physicians and staff during this period of heightened concern.
- Kim Gandy, President National Organization for Women
Women across the country have lost a champion today. The cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller this morning in church is a stark reminder that women's bodies are still a battleground, and health care professionals are on the frontlines.
This kind man and skilled doctor braved blockades, harassment, assault, and countless threats, including an attempted murder in 1993 when he was shot in both arms. He knew his life was in constant jeopardy, and that he would likely die at the hands of an anti-abortion terrorist -- yet he continued to protect his patients and provide safe and legal abortions to women in often-desperate circumstances. Those who are behind this murder may believe that the killing of George Tiller will mean that these women will have nowhere else to turn, but they are wrong. On the contrary, I believe their depraved acts will inspire another doctor to take up the torch, and another, and another.
Dr. Tiller's slaying is the most recent in a string of murders in the service of the anti-abortion cause, and hundreds of people have been injured or threatened because they provide legal abortion services. Bringing the killers to justice is not enough - the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security must root out and prosecute as domestic terrorists and violent racketeers the criminal enterprise that has organized and funded criminal acts for decades. We call on the new attorney general Eric Holder and head of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano to treat these murders in the same way they would treat politically-motivated domestic terrorism of any other kind and put the full resources of their two departments behind that effort.
Tomorrow will be a Day of Mourning for Dr. Tiller as well as a National Day of Commitment for all who believe abortion must remain both safe and legal -- who believe women have the right and indeed the moral obligation to make their own childbearing decisions. We urge individuals to wear white armbands all day tomorrow, Monday, June 1, in memory of Dr. Tiller and as a visible expression of determination to redouble our commitment to protecting the right to safe and legal birth control and abortion.
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