In the wake of the shooting death of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, columnist Ellen Goodman writes in the Boston Globe that she “cant help wondering whether rhetoric can justify a crime in the mind of a fanatic.” She continues, “Cant words provide the sort of perverse moral platform that jihadists stand on and the alternate universe in which a lone nut can find a home?” Goodman writes that she does not blame Tillers death on “everyone who checks a prolife box on the pollsters chart,” but it is “well past time for the antiabortion movement to denounce those who are in the profession of inflaming passions.”

Tiller “was a doctor of last resort for many women, especially those women for whom the sonogram did not bring joy but tragic tidings,” Goodman writes, adding, “He refused to be cowed. At the very least, he should be buried with truth.” In his recent commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, President Obama asked, “As citizens of a vibrant and varied democracy, how do we engage in vigorous debate? How does each of us remain firm in our principles, and fight for what we consider right, without demonizing those with just as strongly held convictions on the other side?” Goodman writes, “One way is for those who truly denounce the murder to take on the chorus, the backup singers, who still provide the doowop for the next deranged soloist.” She concludes, “You see, this suspect was not such a lone gunman. And no, I am afraid, this was not an isolated incident” (Goodman, Boston Globe, 6/5).

Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Womens Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Womens Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

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