Remembering Dr. George Tiller: "Losing Laura"

It is now three years since Dr. George Tiller was murdered by a Christian terrorist who was opposed to abortion in all cases.

Here is how one patient remembers Dr. Tiller:

In the wake of the horrific murder of Dr. George Tiller and the unjustified and vicious portrayal of him by some in the media as a monster who relished performing abortions, I just had to tell my own personal story about the kind and compassionate man who helped me several years ago.

Several years ago, I was happily anticipating the birth of my second child, who was very much planned and very much wanted....

I received devastating news. It seemed my baby was suffering from a very rare birth defect of the lungs. This defect resulted in the complete malformation of the left lung. The bubble that the earlier sonogram detected was actually one of the many cystic masses that made up my baby's malformed lungs. Since lungs are the last organ to develop, this could not be detected any earlier and had only just then become apparent. In addition, the right lung was not developing as expected either, although it wasn't affected to the degree of the other one.

The baby's heart was being severely compressed over to the opposite side of where it should have been because of the increasing size and pressure of the cystic masses. I was told that the situation was very grave. Without functioning lungs, there would be no way for the baby to survive post term. There was also a strong indication that the baby could succumb to heart failure prior to term because of the crushing pressure of the cystic masses.

...I was devastated to know that my precious baby was not going to make it and quite possibly suffer in the process, and I was helpless to do anything. I could not imagine continuing to carry a child possibly for several more months to term, all the while knowing that there was no hope for survival and just waiting for the inevitable to happen. I was already going through emotional hell, and it seemed pointless to put both myself and my baby through any more needless suffering....

I was referred to Dr. Tiller's clinic in Wichita. Since I was now past the 24 week cut-off for a termination in my state, I would have to travel there to seek the help that I needed now. Dr. Tiller and his staff were so wonderful to my husband and me. They were more compassionate than any of the doctors at home, who seemed more interested in documenting every aspect of my personal tragic situation for "an interesting case study" and took the attitude of "You can just try again when this is over."

Dr. Tiller let me talk and cry and he listened to my every word through my tears. He held my hand and hugged me when I needed it; and he really cared about the emotional pain I was going through. I kept telling him that my main concern was for my baby to go peacefully, as I was not concerned for my own comfort. He assured me that the process would be painless for the baby, and would very closely mimic a miscarriage.

There was another couple there the same week going through a similar experience and he encouraged us to talk to each other and support each other through our ordeal. His facility was literally lined with hundreds of framed letters from people from all over who had gone through the very same experiences thanking him and his staff for helping them when they needed it most.

I am grateful that there was a man like Dr. Tiller who was there for me when I needed him. I will always remember him as a dedicated physician who truly cared about his patients.

Fetal development: 5 weeks pregnant

As pregnancy officially starts two weeks before the sperm hits the egg, this embryo just over three weeks old represents pregnancy at "five weeks." The spinal streak is closing and the somites, representing future muscles, are forming along it.

Reasons for late abortion

Via Balloon Juice, a story about what kind of legal, late abortions Dr. Tiller was doing before his murder by a Christian terrorist.

Commenter deekaa6 on his experiences with Dr. George Tiller:
In 1994 my wife and I found out that she was pregnant. The pregnancy was difficult and unusually uncomfortable but her doctor repeatedly told her things were fine. Sometime early in the 8th month my wife, an RN who at the time was working in an infertility clinic asked the Dr. she was working for what he thought of her discomfort. He examined her and said that he couldn’t be certain but thought that she might be having twins. We were thrilled and couldn’t wait to get a new sonogram that hopefully would confirm his thoughts. Two days later our joy was turned to unspeakable sadness when the new sonogram showed conjoined twins. Conjoined twins alone is not what was so difficult but the way they were joined meant that at best only one child would survive the surgery to separate them and the survivor would more than likely live a brief and painful life filled with surgery and organ transplants. We were advised that our options were to deliver into the world a child who’s life would be filled with horrible pain and suffering or fly out to Wichita Kansas and to terminate the pregnancy under the direction of Dr. George Tiller.
We made an informed decision to go to Kansas. One can only imagine the pain borne by a woman who happily carries a child for 8 months only to find out near the end of term that the children were not to be and that she had to make the decision to terminate the pregnancy and go against everything she had been taught to believe was right. This was what my wife had to do. Dr. Tiller is a true American hero. The nightmare of our decision and the aftermath was only made bearable by the warmth and compassion of Dr. Tiller and his remarkable staff. Dr. Tiller understood that this decision was the most difficult thing that a woman could ever decide and he took the time to educate us and guide us along with the other two couples who at the time were being forced to make the same decision after discovering that they too were carrying children impacted by horrible fetal anomalies. I could describe in great detail the procedures and the pain and suffering that everyone is subjected to in these situations. However, that is not the point of the post. We can all imagine that this is not something that we would wish on anyone. The point is that the pain and suffering were only mitigated by the compassion and competence of Dr. George Tiller and his staff. We are all diminished today for a host of reasons but most of all because a man of great compassion and courage has been lost to the world.