Your Support in Action

Remembering Dr. Tiller by Supporting Reproductive Rights

Posted on: Monday, June 1, 2009

Keywords: Women's Health, Reproductive Rights

All of us at MADRE join our members and the many organizations and individuals around the country who have expressed their sadness and anger at the killing of Dr. George Tiller.

We have lost a passionate champion of women's human rights--and we have lost an extraordinarily compassionate doctor who refused to limit his reproductive health services many years after the first attempts were made on his life for providing abortions.

We honor Dr. Tiller's memory and the memories of the many caregivers who have lost their lives because of their work for women's human rights.

There are a number of memorial vigils for Dr. Tiller taking place around the country tonight. We've included a list below, as well as a few additional suggestions for how to respond to Dr. Tiller's murder and continue your own advocacy of reproductive rights.

With our condolences to Dr. Tiller's family,

- Vivian Stromberg and the Staff of MADRE

Attend a memorial vigil for Dr. Tiller.

Wichita, KS: Meet at 8pm on Sunday in Old Town Square.
Lawrence, KS: Meet at 8pm on Sunday at the South Park Gazebo
Washington, D.C.: Meet at 9pm on Sunday at the fountain at Dupont Circle. Also at 6:30pm on Monday at the White House.
Boston, MA: Meet at 6pm on Monday at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral.
Seattle, WA: Meet at 6pm on Monday, Details TBA. (Follow @ProChoiceWA on Twitter for details.)
Portland, OR: Meet at Pioneer Courthouse Square on Monday at 8:00pm
Ottawa, ON: Meet at 8:00pm on Tuesday, June 2 at the Human Rights Monument @ Elgin & Lisgar
Kansas City, MO: Meet on Monday at 8pm at the JC Nichols Fountain (near the Plaza).
Yakima, WA: Meet at 6pm on Monday at Millennium Arts Plaza
St. Louis, MO: Meet at 6:30pm on Monday at St Johns Episcopal Church
New York, NY: Meet at 6pm on Monday, Union Square Park - South End - near 14th Street.
Dallas, TX: Meet at 6:30pm Monday at Robert E. Lee Park (corner of Turtle Creek and Hall)
Chicago, IL: Meet at 4pm on Monday at the State of Illinois Building (Thompson Center)
Atlanta, GA: Meet at 7pm on Tuesday at Woodruff Park
Columbia, MO: Meet at 6:30pm Tuesday in Peace Park
Greensboro, NC: Meet at 6pm on Tuesday at the corner of N. Elm and W. Bessemer streets (in front of 917 N. Elm)
Minneapolis, MN: Meet at 9pm Tuesday in Loring Park
San Francisco, CA: Meet at 7pm Monday at City Hall
Hayward, CA: A memorial will be set up between 9am and 6pm on Wednesday at the Cal State University campus, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd. People are welcome to come bring balloons, poems, photos, rocks, candles, etc.

Ask President Obama to commit to reviving the National Task Force on Violence Against Health Care Providers.

Write to the Obama administration and ask that the Department of Justice work to enforce the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. FACE was enacted after the murder of Dr. David Gunn in 1993, but the task force to ensure its enforcement was basically dormant during the Bush years. Ask Obama to revive it to protect reproductive health care providers and women who seek these services.More info here.

Discuss how this is connected to the daily intimidation of abortion providers all over the country.

Write letters to your local media when you see this framed as an isolated incident, or as the act of just one extremist. Explain how this is connected to the broader issue of threats and intimidation against women's health care providers.
Encourage your friends and family members who aren't pro-choice to reject groups that endorse or support extremist behavior.

Thanks to feministing.com for the information and suggestions.

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