Anti-choice activist extremist Angel Dillard did not intentionally threaten Kansas abortion provider Mila Means, according to a jury verdict announced last week. Dillard, who once offered “prison ministry” to Scott Roeder, the man convicted of murdering Dr. George Tiller while attending church services insisted that her letter was not threatening. The contents of the letter read, in part:
“Thousands of people are already looking into your background, not just in Wichita, but from all over the U.S. They will know your habits and routines. They know where you shop, who your friends are, where you drive, where you live. You will be checking under your car everyday—because maybe today is the day someone places an explosive under it.”
The verdict comes as anti-clinic violence from people who claim to value life continues to increase. This raises important questions about why the jury found DIllard not guilty. It seems clear that her letter had no other purpose than to threaten Means. And in a climate where anti-choice terrorism lurks around the corner of every abortion clinic, Means had every reason to take those threats seriously.
Anti-Clinic Violence Steadily Increasing Amid Dillard Verdict
Deadly attacks on abortion providers have long been a favorite tactic of anti-choice activists, undermining any claim these activists make about a desire to protect human life. Since 1993, at least 11 people have died in anti-clinic attacks, with hundreds more facing threats and non-fatal violence. In November, 2015, a man stormed a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic, killing a police officer and two civilians. The attack left five police officers and four civilians wounded.
Clinic violence statistics are hard to come by, since some anti-clinic violence may appear to be random, and therefore not counted in official data. We know that since 1977, there have been at least 26 attempted murders, 185 arsons, 42 bombings, and thousands of violent criminal attacks on women's health clinics. In some cases, the attacks occurred at clinics that did not provide abortions, but instead offered a range of women's health services, including abortion referrals.
Dr. Tiller's Murderer Faces Re-sentencing
Any discussion of anti-clinic violence would be incomplete without mentioning the brutal attack on Dr. George Tiller in front of his family and congregation. Dr. Tiller's murder is especially salient now, since Dillard offered “counseling” to Tiller's murder. Perhaps even more importantly, George Tiller's murderer, Scott Roeder, will soon be re-sentenced. This re-sentencing could mean that Roeder will face a lesser penalty than the 50 years in prison to which he was initially sentenced.
The re-sentencing is thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Alleyne v. United States. The court ruled that juries, not judges, should make sentencing decisions in many criminal cases. Because the decision allows defendants to be judged and sentenced by their peers, most liberals supported it as an advancement of individual rights and liberties. But it could have surprising consequences for Roeder, particularly if he is able to convince a jury that Dr. Tiller should have died, or that some other mitigating circumstances reduce the severity of his crime.
It's Not Really About Life
Pro-choice activists typically refuse to call anti-abortion advocates pro-life for one simple reason: the crimes of numerous extremists make it clear that their opposition has little to do with a concern for human life. Most anti-choice activists oppose measures that would obviate the need for most abortions, including access to scientifically accurate sex education, birth control, and quality prenatal care.
They almost universally oppose generous welfare, free health care, and support for women who leave abusive relationships. Indeed, their language is often couched in terms of punishments for women; women, they argue, deserve the suffering associated with pregnancy, poverty, and abuse if they dare to have sex outside of marriage or before they are ready to support a child.
And tragically, many continue to support the actions of people who murder abortion providers. Pro-life cannot have an asterisk next to it indicating that life ends at birth and that abortion doctors are not living, breathing beings. A movement that empathizes with a fetus who has no conscious emotions, and even no heartbeat, must also empathize with the woman struggling to make a decision about that fetus. If it cannot, it needs to call itself anti-woman, not pro-life.
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