Trusting Women

I will never forget the day I found out Dr. Tiller had been assassinated. I was driving through Pennsylvania with my parents when I received a text message from a friend, “Oh my God, Dena, Dr. Tiller was assassinated.” My first reaction was to scream, causing worry amongst my parents and, when I told them of the assassination, my mother began to cry. I felt fear, anger, sadness, even a sense of retaliation. Most of all, I felt hurt and anger for the thousands of women who have been helped by Dr. Tiller throughout their lives, the thousands of women who will never have the help of Dr. Tiller, a late-term abortion provider, again.

In such a short moment, I began to learn more than I ever had about abortion politics in our country as well as the reproductive rights and reproductive justice movements. I was slightly naïve at the time and couldn’t understand how the female body was essentially a war zone and how women constantly were fighting daily to retain their rights to make decisions pertaining to their bodies. From that day onward, Dr. Tiller became a symbol of everything that the reproductive rights and justice movements were fighting towards: trusting women to make decisions about their bodies. Dr. Tiller was an honest man, a man who truly trusted women and who dedicated his life to providing a vital service to women: late-term abortions. I understand that when most people think of late-term abortions, they conjure up images of healthy, nearly fully developed babies being killed, but many women pursue late-term abortions because they have to, not because they want to. If a woman’s life is medically at stake, she might pursue a late-term abortion. Additionally, women may pursue late-term abortions if their unborn child has a defect or illness, or if the woman or parents are unable to care for the child.

Dr. Tiller’s legacy prompted me to begin blogging at AbortionGang, created by feminist activist, Steph Herold (@IAmDrTiller). The blog was founded as a forum to display that young people and young women are indeed active participants in the reproductive rights and feminist movements. Through my work at AbortionGang, I have engaged in discussion with fellow bloggers and activists, as well as members of anti-choice activist groups. Through my work, I have engaged in countless hours of research learning more about mifepristone (a pharmaceutical used to end early pregnancies), how abortions affect the lives of young women and women of color, and about the lack of access to family planning services and abortion services for poor women. I aim to honor Dr. Tiller with the work I do, and it is because of him and my mother that I fight for the reproductive rights of all women and young girls today.

Originally posted at Womenstake, the official blog of the National Women’s Law Center