Anti-Choice Groups Oppose Anti-Terrorism Legislation
One of the most troubling aspects of the events that led to Scott Roeder’s assassination of Dr. George Tiller at Dr. Tiller’s Lutheran church was the possibility that the federal government could have stopped Roeder, but failed to do so. In the years leading up to the murder, Roeder repeatedly violated the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which forbids various kinds of violence and property damage enacted by anti-choice extremists in an attempt to physically force women not to have abortions. Unfortunately, the Bush administration didn’t bother to enforce the law much, allowing terrorists like Roeder to gradually escalate the harassment until it spilled over into the act of violence that took Dr. Tiller’s life. Since then, the Obama administration has stepped up enforcement of FACE, and now the supposedly “pro-life” anti-choice movement is crying foul and demanding the right to physically abuse women seeking abortion in addition to the verbal harassment they currently subject them to.
Various right-wing publications have whined about the Department of Justice defending clinic workers and patients against threats of violence and physical abuse at the hands of anti-choice extremists. The two arguments for why anti-choicers should be allowed to abuse women in an attempt to stop them from exercising a constitutionally protected right to abortion boil down to “because we said so” and “wah,” though there is a side dose of pretending like threatening someone’s life is freedom of speech (a right that you only apparently get if you shore up your misogynist bona fides). For instance, Jack Minor at the Greeley Gazette whines that pro-choicers held anti-choice extremists responsible for aiding and inspiring Scott Roeder:
Immediately following Tiller’s death, Operation Rescue and other pro-life groups came out in public condemnation of Roeder’s actions. Many abortion rights groups rejected the apology insisting that anyone who believed in the sanctity of life and opposed abortion was responsible for Tiller’s murder.
In truth, there never was an “apology.” Minor believes we should let them off the hook because they call themselves “pro-life”, which is akin to someone shoving a steak in her mouth and demanding you take her for her word that she’s a vegetarian.
More at the link, with links.