Thread by rhema.
Abortionist George Tiller's death brought an outpouring of national media headlines and Congressional condolences to his family by a resolution approved by the US House. Laura Hope Smith's death at the hands of an abortionist was and continues to be ignored and her mother's effort to bring it to the attention of her senator was stonewalled.
"Where was the press when my daughter Laura died at the hands of an abortionist?" asks Eileen Smith, Laura's mother. A media search shows mostly news reports from nonprofit organizations, religious news and other alternative media.
Laura's death was mentioned 10 months later in one major publication, The Boston Globe, when the abortionist was indicted for manslaughter. It was 6 weeks before her local paper, The Cape Cod Times, mentioned Laura's death, although it sought out her mother for a two-hour interview just 2 days after Laura's death. Smith says the local newspaper rationalized delaying a report on Laura's death so it could corroborate it with an autopsy report.
"Since when has news been postponed in lieu of reporting facts except in the abortion deaths of the mothers?" asks Smith. "I have to believe that it is only because the media's bias toward abortion determines what makes news," she said.
"If Laura had died falling off a bike or in a car accident it would have been in the paper the next day," she said. "My daughter walked into that abortion facility healthy and she left dead," Smith said. . .
Thread by NYer.
June 16, 2009 - In the aftermath of the shooting of late-term abortionist, Dr. George Tiller, American pro-life leaders have been receiving death threats prompting round-the-clock protection from authorities.
Jill Stanek, vilified last week at MSNBC, is the Illinois nurse who exposed the practice of abandoning babies that survive abortions. She has tracked and reported on the career of Dr. Tiller for years at her blog. When I asked her this week about her own safety in wake of the shooting, Stanek said that she, along with Troy Newman of Operation Rescue and Fr. Frank Pavone at Priests for Life, had been receiving credible threats from a "troubled man involved in the abortion industry." Jill said that this individual is the child of a pro-choice advocate/writer and his mother had aborted several of his siblings. Following the Tiller shooting, the stalker emailed Stanek again. Federal agents are currently monitoring his movements.
Pro-life leaders have uniformly been forced to increase security measures to address threats of violence. In recent days Stanek has been placed under continuous police and federal protection following email threats to kill her at church or as she left her home
"Let me know which address is right, there's a few I could post. Or I could just drive around the houses and wait to see which one you walk out of.... Don't worry, I will find it."
Stanek also stated that her local pastors have gotten emails calling for her murder at church services.
"the least you could do is offer to hold a rifle blessing service in her honor."
When questioned about security, Fr. Frank Pavone, founder of Priests for Life, said that he needs armed escorts at speaking engagements to guard him against disruptive pro-abortion demonstrators. Individuals from groups such as NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and Catholics for Choice are often bussed in to derail these presentations. Even peaceful prayer vigils, so common to the pro-life movement, can be dangerous. Fr. Pavone was leading a prayer service in Bellingham, WA when someone confronted him and spit in his face. Prior to his appearances, local groups Fr. Pavone calls, "pro-abortion radicals and anarchists," often signal their intent to lead violent demonstrations; but in recent days he says he’s gotten more serious messages.
Father Frank, It would make me very happy if someone were to respond to this by snuffing YOU. No fooling. Right-to-lifers, in my book, no longer have a right to life.
At the Priests for Life blog, another anonymous writer said: "Killing Father Frank will not be murder. It will be justifiable homicide."
In November 2008, months before Dr. Tiller was murdered, Fr. Pavone received the following:
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR FATHER FRANK PAVONE
I am predicting that there will be more anti-abortion terror because of this election. I AM ALSO PREDICTING THAT THIS TIME IT WILL BE ANSWERED IN KIND BY PRO-CHOICE COUNTERTERRORISTS, who will mount similar terrorist attacks against well-known right-to-lifers. FATHER FRANK will be a natural target for pro-choice counterterrorists.
I therefore advise you, Fr Frank, if you read that there has been another abortion-clinic shooting or bombing, get out of town immediately. Take a vacation abroad. Go visit the Vatican. If there is another act of anti-abortion terror, your life will not be safe in the USA.
Good luck.
Visible anti-abortion figures in this country get regular threats on their lives and receive violent anti-social messages. In 2008 UCLA undergrad Lila Rose garnered national attention for exposing illegal practices at Planned Parenthood clinics. The menacing emails have continued since Rose went public with her investigations.
Columnist and mother of nine, Jenn Giroux is founder of the pro-life group, Women Influencing the Nation. Giroux was a leader in the grass roots effort to take legal action against Tiller and his clinic. Following the shooting, she suspended her website, ChargeTiller.com, due to a barrage of profane and violent posts.
Pro-abortion aggression isn’t only a reality for movement leaders. Judie Brown heads up the American Life League, a landmark organization founded after Roe v. Wade. In response to our questions the league issued a statement. It calls to mind the hostility pro-lifers face at every level as they, "stand in beautiful and striking contrast to both the violence inherent to the abortion mill and the street-side violence and drive-by intimidation of abortion supporters."