Horror in Wichita

Can we imagine someone entering the Blatt Levenson Sanctuary on a random Friday evening and opening fire on a lawyer who defended a doctor’s right to perform abortions, or on the doctor who performed the procedures, or upon me, a rabbi who defends a woman’s “right to choose”?

Such a scenario happened last Sunday in Wichita, Kansas. Dr. George Tiller was ushering at the Reformation Lutheran Church, when Scott Roeder allegedly stepped up to him and shot him dead. Tiller, who performed late-term abortions (after the 21st week of pregnancy), had been both threatened and even shot before.

What could have possessed Roeder to commit murder? We as a nation have much soul-searching to do.

We can condemn our talking heads, such as the Fox Network’s Bill O’Reilly. In the last four years, he discussed Tiller 29 times, repeatedly referring to him as a “baby killer.” We can condemn Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, who called Terry a “mass murderer … an evil man … his hands covered with blood.”

We can condemn religious leaders who preach hatred and violence, such as Paul J. Hill. On July 29, 1994, he murdered Dr. John Bayard Britton and his volunteer escort outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Hill was a former minister.

People listen to the venom uttered from television studios and houses of worship. Eric Rudolph, convicted of bombing an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, rationalized his action by writing in prison that Jesus would support “militant action in defense of the innocent.” Someone named Scott Roeder posted a message on the Operation Rescue Web site which read in part, “Tiller is the concentration camp ‘Mengele’ of our day and needs to be stopped before he and those who protect him bring judgment upon our nation.”

According to recent reports, Roeder may have been emotionally unstable. Arguably, such people are prime targets to be swayed by authority figures who step right up to the line of calling for violence to be inflicted against doctors who perform abortions. No one should utter such words as “murderer,” “baby killer,” and “evil man,” thinking they will simply float around in the ether.  Too many people are prone to be manipulated and motivated to violent actions by these repeated epithets.

What is often forgotten in this debate is that doctors who perform abortions, even late-term abortions, do so for the health and welfare of the mother. In addition, these doctors also provide valuable health care for women, above and beyond the painful decision of having an abortion.

In response to Tiller’s murder, Dr. Cheryl Gutmann, chair of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, said in part: “Jewish tradition emphasizes the sacredness of life, healing, and health. Dr. Tiller believed in these values, risking his own life to provide compassionate care that others were unwilling to offer and facing often violent harassment by those who sought to deny women and their families access to such treatment.”

(FYI: Jewish tradition across the ideological spectrum argues that abortion is permissible; the health and welfare of the known life — i.e. the woman — is more precious than the health and welfare of the life that is yet to be.)

Let us remember that abortion is legal, and that women have a constitutionally protected right to choose to have one. Anyone who disagrees with a woman’s right to choose or a doctor’s right to perform an abortion has every right to work through the political system to change the law. However, no one has the right to commit acts of violence, claiming that abortion providers are no better than Nazis or mass murderers or rationalizing that God would approve of their actions.

Words possess inherent power; the wrong words can lead to murerous action.