Of everything I read about the June 6 funeral of late-term abortionist George Tiller, I thought this was the most telling, from the New York Times:
But for the most part, Dr. Tiller's funeral focused less on his work than on his life with his family and friends. The word abortion was never uttered. ...
Clearly they all knew: Tiller was murdered for his "life's" work, but the reason was unmentionable? Sad. Even in death George Tiller's "vocation" was anathema.
Imagine eulogizing anyone else murdered for a cause without extolling that for which they were slain. On the contrary, why they died was a reason to eulogize:
- "Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort." – Bobby Kennedy
- "This is what makes her murder such a disaster. ... She was attempting to make the connection between lack of democracy in Pakistan and the rise of mullah-manipulated fanaticism." – Christopher Hitchens about Benazir Bhutto
- "Nor can there be a correct history of this nation, as it has passed through this great struggle for existence, without the life of Abraham Lincoln, and without connecting his name with that immortal proclamation which gave freedom and manhood to 4 millions of bondmen." – Henry Champion
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Imagine the eulogies of those killed in the line of duty – police officers, firemen, soldiers – without mentioning that for which they sacrificed their lives. It would be a travesty.
Yet mention of Tiller's cause célèbre was utterly ignored, indeed a travesty if Tiller were a hero. The closest anyone came?
Open your eyes to the ugliness inside the abortion industry with "Lime 5: Exploited by Choice"
According to the NYT:
Most carried white carnations and wore a button that read, "Attitude is everything." The button held special significance. Dr. Tiller … had worn a similar button for more than 25 years.
At the front of the sanctuary, beside a framed photograph of Dr. Tiller, was a large wreath that framed a simple sign, "Trust Women."
Tiller's death was a tragedy in all regards. He was murdered by a mentally unstable person with a criminal record.
But further, the reason Tiller was apparently killed – committing abortions throughout all nine months of pregnancy for any reason whatsoever* – should have been heralded, not concealed, most certainly not trivialized by a button.
(*Kansas City Star, Aug. 26, 1991, quoting Peggy Jarman of the Pro-Choice Action League: "About three-fourths of Tiller's late-term patients, Jarman said, are teenagers who have denied to themselves or their families that they were pregnant until it was too late to hide it.")
(*Fox News, June 13, 2007, quoting psychiatrist Paul McHugh, who examined Tiller's records for court: "[T]hose records … were sometimes of a most trivial sort … saying … 'I won't be able to go to concerts,' or 'I won't be able to take part in sports.' …")
Unless, of course, there is something wrong with abortion.
Conversely, without ever saying the A-word, family and friends implied that if anything would earn Tiller a place in both heaven and history as a martyr it would be the tens of thousands of abortions he committed. From the Associated Press:
"Dear God, get heaven ready, because Mr. Enthusiasm is coming," said Larry Borcherding, of Overland Park, who first met Tiller a half-century ago when both were students at the University of Kansas. "Heaven will never be the same. It will be a better, better place with George in it."
From the Washington Times, quoting late-term abortionist LeRoy Carhart:
"This is the equivalent of Martin Luther King being assassinated. This is the equivalent of Pearl Harbor, the sinking of the Lusitania and any other major historic event where we've tolerated the intolerable for too long."
But if what Tiller did was so heroic, why not describe it?
"Dear God, get heaven ready, because one of the few who not only stomached but relished aborting late-term babies (We called him 'Mr. Enthusiasm'!) is coming!
In fact, Carhart went so far as to say Tiller did the Lord's work, according to the Washington Times:
"God gave that fetus a 'guardian ad litem' when he chose the mother that fetus is born with," he said. "That mother, I feel, has been charged by God to make the right choices for that child during its unborn and early born years."
The portrait Carhart invoked was one of babies now in heaven thankful that Tiller aborted them. So someone should have eulogized:
"Martin Luther King, move over. Dr. George Tiller is going to need a lot of room to hug those grateful 60,000 babies he killed!"