There is currently all kinds of news streaming in with regards to yesterday’s assassination of abortion provider Dr. Tiller. I’m following it rather closely and obsessively, and thought it was about time to update readers here with the most important of it all. This will basically be a link roundup.
ACTIONS
The Feminist Majority Foundation has a form on their website that you can use to send your condolences to Dr. Tiller’s family — which includes a wife, four children and ten grandchildren — and his staff. I hope that you’ll all take the time to write a personalized letter expressing your sorrow at his death, and deep respect and gratitude for the work he did while alive, even if it’s short. This is the most important item in this post.
Jill yesterday put up a post encouraging you to make a pro-choice donation in Dr. Tiller’s honor and memory. Please check that out and give if you can, if you haven’t already.
Ann has a list of vigils for Dr. Tiller taking place tonight, and the list is being regularly updated as news of new vigils keeps coming in.
SUSPECT
The suspect in Dr. Tiller’s murder has been identified as Scott Roeder. As of writing he has not yet been formally charged, though he is in custody.
Roeder has connections to right-wing extremist groups, and he seemingly also has a connection to Operation Rescue. Of course, Operation Rescue is denying any connection — this despite the fact that as of yesterday, their site (which is down) encouraged harassment and intimidation with a list of contact information for businesses and organizations that associated themselves with Dr. Tiller, including his garbage disposal company, the hotel where his patients frequently stayed, and his church (where he was murdered).
RESPONSE
Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered increased security for some abortion clinics.
Meanwhile, as pro-choicers are trying to figure out how to prevent the murder of more of their own, anti-choicers are concerned about their “cause.”
The question of what’s happening to Dr. Tiller’s clinic is receiving mixed reports. The AP reports that the clinic is closed today and will remain closed for at least a week. Another source reports that a doctor from Nebraska, who was a friend of Dr. Tiller, will be flying in to oversee his clinic “for at least the next week.”
EDIT: Plans for Tiller’s clinic have been announced. The clinic will be closed for one week, and then out-of-state doctors will rotate on a week-by-week basis.
I wish that President Obama’s statement regarding the murder had been stronger (and longer), but NY Governor David Paterson’s statement was excellent.
COMMENTARY
Two must read pieces for the day: Gloria Feldt’s George Tiller Needs More Than Candlelight Vigils and Cristina Page’s The Murder of Dr. Tiller, a Foreshadowing.
Also check out Jennifer Pozner’s Will Media Report Dr. Tiller’s Murder as an Act of Terrorism? and Ann Friedman’s Why Clinic Violence is Obama’s Problem. And, of course, our own Jill Filipovic’s Who Killed George Tiller?
Feel free to drop more links in the comments. Lastly, as you know, Feministe regularly takes guest posts, including by writers who prefer to go under pseudonyms. If you knew George Tiller or received his services at some point and would be interested in writing a guest post in his honor, email me and we will talk about the possibility.