the last doctor of last resort: esquire story on dr. warren hern

A few months after Dr. George Tiller was assassinated, Esquire did a long feature on Dr. Warren Hern, now thought to be the last doctor in the US to perform "last resort" abortions. I missed it at the time, so perhaps you did, too.
The young couple flew into Wichita bearing, in the lovely swell of the wife's belly, a burden of grief. They came from a religious tradition where large families are celebrated, and they wanted this baby, and it was very late in her pregnancy. But the doctors recommended abortion. They said that with her complications, there were only two men skilled enough to pull it off. One was George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who specialized in late abortions.

They arrived in Wichita on Sunday, May 31. As they drove to their hotel, a Holiday Inn just two blocks from the Reformation Lutheran Church, they saw television cameras. They wondered what was going on, a passing curiosity quickly forgotten.

But when they got to their room, the phone was ringing. Her father was on the line. "There was some doctor who was shot who does abortions," he said.

They turned on CNN. Dr. Tiller had just been killed, shot in the head as he passed out church leaflets. In their shock, they mixed up the clinic and the church: We were supposed to be there. What if it had happened while we were there? What if he couldn't complete the procedure?

Now there is only one doctor left.

Full story here. Many thanks to M Yass for sending.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

pity the 1%

"Cash bonuses on Wall Street are expected to drop by 14 percent during this year's 'bonus season'." Only 20 billion dollars will be doled out, with the average bonus totalling $121,000. How sad. That's billion, with a B. Bankers' trophy dates are sad, too . Be sure to click - and read to the end for maximum impact.
Read more

which side are you on: the unprecedented strike by nba players is a watershed moment for justice

Image
First of all, it's not a boycott. It's a strike. And a  wildcat strike to boot. When the players on the Milwaukee Bucks chose not to play in the NBA playoffs -- joined by their baseball counterparts, the Brewers, with other teams quickly following -- they became part of a tradition that reaches back to Tommie Smith and John Carlos, to Muhammad Ali, to Carlos Delgado, all the way to the present, to Maya Moore and Colin Kaepernick.  The striking NBA players are part of Black Lives Matter. They are part of the present-day civil rights movement. But they are part of something else, too. They are part of the labour movement. Professional athletes are workers.  They may be wealthy -- though all are not as wealthy as the top earners -- but their working life is perilously short, and throughout history, has been awash in exploitation. If some earn huge salaries today, that's because so many people are profiting from their labour.  Strike vs boycott So why is this action a...
Read more

galloway in toronto federal court on sunday, be there!

Oh man, I wish I could go to this! I can't, but maybe you can. I will definitely be at the Toronto Galloway event on Monday. In fact, I'll be watching the House of Commons vote on our motion from our table there. But if you're in the Toronto area and you don't work on Sunday like I do, here's news from the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War: Pack the court on Sunday! Federal Court hearing on ban on George Galloway George Galloway's Canadian legal team will be in federal court on Sunday to argue against Jason Kenney's ban preventing Galloway from entering Canada. The Defend Free Speech campaign is calling on all supporters to show up at the federal court to attend the hearing, which is open to the public. Help us pack out the court: the more people we have in attendance, the more clearly we show support for our case. Before the hearing begins, we will hold a Free Speech rally outside the court house, starting at 10:30 a.m. Please bring placards and banners to...
Read more