Remembering Dr. George Tiller

Linda Berg — June 9, 2009 – 5:27 pm | Reproductive Rights | Women's Issues Comments (1) Add a comment

Last night I attended the moving interfaith memorial service sponsored by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice celebrating the life and work of Dr. George Tiller who was murdered May 31, 2009 – shot down while serving at an usher at his Wichita church.

For years, Dr. Tiller and his family suffered unbearable harassment. He put his life on the line every day to make sure that safe legal abortion was available to women. He understood that children and women who were raped should not be forced to bear their rapist’s child, he understood that sometimes a much wanted pregnancy can go disastrously wrong, and he understood that sometimes pregnant women are stricken with terrible disease requiring immediate life-saving treatment. For many women in this country, Dr. Tiller’s clinic was their only refuge.

I met Dr. Tiller through his work to ensure that we elect political candidates who protect women’s lives. Because of the work that he did, I never knew him not to wear a bulletproof vest. I guess he felt safe last week within his church. Last night we felt safe within the church, surrounded by federal marshals.

There was a strong Jewish presence in both the service and the attendants. Rabbis Charles Feinberg and Joui Hessen spoke eloquently about the Jewish value of respect and value for women and Cantor Laura Croen moved the congregation to tears with her soulful rendition of Psalm 121.

As Dr. Tiller said “Together, we will create a society and a paradigm shift so that every pregnancy is an invited guest in the woman’s body and a welcome addition to her family.” His life and work to save women’s lives was an affirmation of the Jewish value of tikkun olam.

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