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Editorials, Opinion Pieces React To Kansas Abortion Provider Tiller's Murder

Several newspapers on Wednesday published editorials and opinion pieces responding to the shooting death of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, who was one of the few physicians in the country providing care for women in need of the procedure later in pregnancy. Summaries appear below.Editorials~ Boston Globe: Although officials are calling Tiller"s murder ""the act of an isolated individual," ... the generalized culture of violence and hate in the antiabortion movement that feeds the fanaticism of disturbed individuals with guns is not so easily explained away," a Globe editorial states. The editorial notes, "Many responsible abortion opponents, including Americans United for Life, condemn the killing," but "other so-called pro-life leaders insist on finding a moral equivalence between Tiller"s murder and abortion." The editorial continues, "Also victimized by Tiller"s murder are the anguished women who have sought late-term abortions because their pregnancies have gone horribly wrong." According to the editorial, the "sad irony" is that these procedures "are not a matter of "choice,"" as the "overwhelming majority of these women desperately wanted their children to be born." It adds, "Tiller"s brave and compassionate care saved the lives of these women and their futures as mothers." In his speech last month at the University of Notre Dame"s commencement ceremony, President Obama "called for people of good will on both sides of the abortion issue to bridge the divide," the editorial states, concluding, "An end to the hateful rhetoric over issues of faith that lead unhinged individuals to murder would be a good place to start" (Boston Globe, 6/2).~ USA Today: Tiller"s "insistence" on continuing to practice, despite protests and threats of violence, "was remarkably courageous," but, "[r]egrettably, threats by antiabortion activists have worked all too well," a USA Today editorial states. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the number of abortion providers has decreased by 40% since a peak in 1982, and 87% of U.S. counties have no provider, forcing many women to travel long distances to obtain care, the editorial says. "Mainstream pro-life groups should not be blamed for the actions of a suspected killer who appears to have lurked in the violent and twisted fringe of the movement," the editorial continues. However, the "braying of cable TV hosts," such as Fox News" Bill O"Reilly, "and activists such as Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry contributes to a climate of intolerance that can encourage deranged individuals," the editorial says. According to USA Today, "Thwarted in legislatures and courts, some antiabortion activists are achieving with intimidation and harassment what they can"t through the political process," but "[r]egardless of personal beliefs about abortion, authorities have an obligation to protect those providing and receiving abortion services, and to prosecute those who harass or threaten them." The editorial concludes that "Tiller"s death will only be compounded if it frightens away more doctors and makes a legal procedure even harder to come by" (USA Today, 6/3).~ Washington Post: Tiller"s death "is a tragedy for his family, his patients and his profession," and "[i]t should serve as a wake-up call that more must be done to ensure that women have access to this legal procedure," a Post editorial states. "It is unclear how this violence has affected decisions by health care providers," according to the editorial. However, it is clear that "the number of places where women can go for abortions has been declining since 1982," and "[v]ery few are performed in hospitals -- a sign that mainline medicine is not living up to its responsibility," the editorial says. The editorial notes that Attorney General Eric Holder "is offering U.S. Marshals Service protection for abortion clinics and the doctors who staff them," concluding, "It"s the right call, but one that underscores the urgency of coming up with better solutions for the delive
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Opposition To Abortion Rights 'Purity Test For Remaining In GOP Inner Circle,' Opinion Piece Says

People "will not be surprised" by the recent Republican "purge" and "un-eulogies" of several conservative abortion-rights supporters -- including retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter, former Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) and former Secretary of State Colin Powell -- given that "abortion is the purity test for remaining in the GOP inner circle," syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman writes in a Memphis Commercial Appeal opinion piece. The U.S. is "in for another battle centered, again, on Roe v. Wade" as President Obama nominates a replacement for Souter, she writes, adding that the "purge has led me to wonder what would have happened if the first abortion case to arrive at the Supreme Court" were Struck v. Secretary of Defense, rather than Roe. "What if it had been brought by the woman who did not want an abortion?" Goodman writes, noting that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has recently "mused out loud about the case that got away -- the one she would have liked to argue before the court back when she was a women"s rights litigator."According to Goodman, Susan Struck was a captain in the Air Force who became pregnant in 1970 and was told by her commanding officer that she could either resign or have an abortion. "Struck picked a third choice: a lawsuit," and Ginsberg -- a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union -- "argued that the regulation prohibiting pregnant women from military service was sex discrimination," Goodman writes. Ginsberg also argued that Struck"s choice to carry her pregnancy to term was a personal one and that government intervention was a violation of her liberty. However, as the case was heading to the Supreme Court, the defending lawyer "figured that he was going to lose. So the savvy solicitor advised the armed services to change the rules and the case became moot," Goodman writes."It is mind-bending to think about how different the whole debate might have been if the first Supreme Court case arguing for the right to decide had been brought by a woman wanting to have a baby," Goodman continues. She asks if the U.S. would "have better understood this reality: a government that can force a woman to have an abortion is the same government that can force a woman to continue the pregnancy? Would it have changed a Republican Party that was traditionally so wary of government power-grabs?" (Goodman, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 5/14).