After the assassination of my friend Dr. George Tiller in May of 2009, there are only a few abortion doctors willing to provide late term abortions. One of those is Dr. Warren Hern in Boulder Colorado. Women from all over the world travel to Boulder (as they traveled to Dr. Tiller in Wichita) to get late abortion help.
So, when a South Dakota legislator introduced a bill in the SD House which would make it "justifiable homicide" to kill an abortion doctor (or legalize the assassination of abortion doctors), Dr. Hern was understandably irate. The atmosphere around abortion clinics is already toxic enough without some nutcase Republican legislator fanning the fires to make life more dangerous for abortion providers. Didn't we learn anything from Tucson? Apparently not.
Dr. Hern asserts that:
"This bill gives encouragement and psychological permission for violent anti-abortion fanatics to assassinate doctors who perform abortions. It would legalize vigilante terrorism against those of us who help women."
He doesn't mince words and adds:
"This bill should be called THE ABORTION DOCTOR ASSASSINATION AUTHORIZATION ACT", said Dr. Hern. "Let's be honest about the bill's purpose. Its goal is to get people to kill doctors who perform abortions. It is utter madness and a descent into barbarism."
The bill, H.B. 1171, sponsored by Republican Representative Phil Jensen, has alarmed many and was set aside indefinitely on Wednesday. But that is not much comfort for Dr. Hern and others impacted by this type of legislation:
"The mere fact that Republicans in the South Dakota legislature would even give serious consideration to such a hideous bill much less pass it out of committee on a 9-3 vote is enough to energize those who want to imitate Scott Roeder and other anti-abortion assassins", said Hern.
Even more frightening, the bill is co-sponsored by 22 of the 69 members of the South Dakota State House of Representatives.
Scott Roeder is the person who shot and killed Dr. George Tiller in a Wichita, Kansas church on May 31, 2009. Numerous other doctors who perform abortions have been assassinated in the past decade by opponents of abortion who claim to be "pro-life".
"Anti-abortion fanatics have shown that they will accept any level of violence to impose their will on the rest of us", Hern said. "They have established a regime of terrorism on a national level, and we live with the consequences of that terrorism every day as we help women in our offices. The anti-abortion fanatics do not need more encouragement and support from the South Dakota legislature", said Dr. Hern.
Dr. Hern added, not so sarcastically:
"The U.S. Army doesn't have to go to Afghanistan to look for the Taliban", said Hern. "They're running the South Dakota legislature."