Requiem for Dr. Tiller: One couple's story
Commenter Deeka6 and his wife sought the help of slain abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in 1994. Doctors discovered 8 months into a much wanted pregnancy that Mrs. D. was carrying conjoined twins. They explained that only one of them had any chance of survival and that twin would go on to a life of painful surgeries and organ transplants. They decided to terminate the pregnancy and sought the care of Dr. Tiller because he was one of the few providers in the country who performed that procedure.
Deeka6 writes:
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.
Read his comment in full at Balloon Juice.
My prayers go out to Dr. Tilller's family, In 1995 My husband and I had to make a decision to terminate our pregnancy at 28 weeks, Our decision came after doctors had told us our daughter would not make it. Dr Tiller was a great doctor and our experience was filled with warmth and compassion, we had counseling offered to us along with other couples that were there having to make the same decision.
Posted by: margaret mackay | June 01, 2009 at 11:32 AM
Thank you for adding your memories of Dr. Tiller, Margaret.
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | June 01, 2009 at 12:28 PM
LB - just tell me if you don't want to get me started.
Posted by: mudkity | June 01, 2009 at 04:41 PM
The dreadful stories of fetuses destined to be born straight into lives spent in what amounts to desperate rear guard medical retreat are of course reason enough that women need the option of abortion throughout pregnancy. We should not however require that legitimacy for a woman's decision be predicated on in extremis situations. A woman's reasons for getting an abortion are hers and hers alone. The assumption that a woman's reasons are justifiable only in situations that involve grotesquely awful outcomes assumes that women haven't sufficient intelligence and sobriety to address issues involving their own bodies. One is not going to have an abortion with anything like the frame of mind with which one gets a perm or has one's nails done. That assumption is essentially akin to the assumption that a dog doesn't know when or what to eat or when or how it should be bred or spayed.
Posted by: cfrost | June 01, 2009 at 08:26 PM
Mudkitty: I for one would be glad to hear your story.
Posted by: Alon Levy | June 01, 2009 at 09:18 PM
Same here, MK.
Posted by: Lindsay Beyerstein | June 01, 2009 at 09:22 PM