That was a deeply personal decision and one I will gladly sort out with my maker in the hereafter. I would gladly offer my soul to protect my child.
Wow! Barefoot...my heart has felt this so many times and I never had the words...until now. Beautiful!!!! Thank you for coming forward and speaking so eloquently of our heartbreak and conviction to do the right thing for our precious babies.
Kim
0 Kudo
Dr. Tiller: "prenatal testing without prenatal choices is medical fraud"
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 PrincessScarlett |
#21 | |||
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AHC Veteran
Posts: 79 06/02/09 10:27 AHC Board Regular |
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myluc |
#22 | |||
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AHC Veteran
Posts: 2 06/03/09 08:52 |
I couldn't agree more with the previous comment - the quote from Barefoot...it really struck me and couldn't be more true with how I feel. Thank you
for being such a strong voice. And let's hope that the tragic death of Dr. Tiller will only encourage doctors, and not frighten them, to continue these
services to women. I for one, would have been lost and my baby would have ended up in so much pain, had it not been for Dr. Tiller's help.
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telegramsam |
#23 | |||
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AHC Veteran
Posts: 55 06/05/09 12:26 |
There's a debate going on on my other internet board, and I'm not following it because I know I'm too raw, but I asked my close friend to post your
piece, barefootfarmwife. Thank you so much for it.
Also, I just sent a thank you note to the perinatologist who performed our procedure and helped deliver our baby stillborn. I can only imagine what he and his family are going through at this time.
we made a heartbreaking choice for our daughter Sarah Corazon, diagnosed with
severe congenital heart disease, in July 2008
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MissCoco |
#24 | |||
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AHC Board Regular
Posts: 2 06/05/09 04:47 |
I am so sad to hear about Dr. Tiller. Thank God that my doctors were merciful and helped me and my baby when we needed them the most. I am so tired of hearing
so many people comment on Dr. Tiller when they do not know what it is like to be in a situation you did not choose. They don't realize that this is very
difficult choice to bring mercy to a bad situation. I prayed for a year to get pregnant. I wanted my sweet baby, but he developed a rare, progressive and fatal
syndrome that there is no treatment for. I am so thankful that someone was sensitive enough to care about my babys quality of life. Sometimes there is more to
consider than just rape, incest, or health of the mother. So many pro-lifers stand for life at any cost, but they never think that it can mean life without
hearing, sight, tumors that bleed incessantly on all male organs, some organs not enclosed in the body, too many arteries in the leg causing it to be 6 times
larger than the other leg, and numerour other problems. These are all problems that my sweet baby had. They don't fit in the pro-life box.
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mycharmedgirls |
#25 | |||
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AHC Expert
Posts: 1292 06/07/09 06:54 AHC Veteran |
Barefoot, I also went to see Dr Tiller and felt compelled to share my story as well. So many people are under the wrong impression that Dr Tiller provided late
term abortions to women who just changed their mind late in the game. I have to admit I was one of those ignorant people who thought you got pg, you had a
healthy baby and you lived the fairytale. That is before my ahc. While I do wish I never had to make that choice I feel priveledge that I was able to be seen
by Dr Tiller. He was a great man that died for a woman's right for her sick baby to die in peace.
Thank you for being a voice against these monsters that find joy in this sick and cowardly act. Kara |
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myluc |
#26 | |||
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AHC Veteran
Posts: 23 06/09/09 07:01 |
ughh...maybe i'm late to find this out but I didn't realize that The Women's Health Care Services is going to remain permanently closed. I am just
so saddened for Dr. Tiller's family as well as for all of the women who now might not get the help that they need.
I found the info. here: http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/06/09/dr-tillers-clinic-will-remain-closed/#comment-245185 |
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mimi |
Hope! | #27 | ||
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AHC Board Regular
Posts: 20 06/12/09 01:15 Newcomer |
The latest that I have heard is that Dr. Carhart from Nebraska has promised that late second -and "medically indicated" third-term abortions WILL
soon be available in Kansas. I don't know whether this means he is going to re-open Dr. Tiller's clinic or find another spot, but it is good news.
Blessings and peace to all of you who, like my daughter, have had to make heartbreaking choices. Even if the rest of the world doesn't understand.....I do.
Mimi
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mycharmedgirls |
#28 | |||
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AHC Expert
Posts: 1327 06/12/09 06:17 AHC Veteran |
I heard about this also. I am very happy to hear that Dr Carhart is taking up Dr Tiller's legacy. So at least the Terrorists did not win, this time.
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mimi |
no recent news | #29 | ||
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AHC Board Regular
Posts: 21 06/23/09 07:15 Newcomer |
I haven't seen anything more from Dr. Carhart re opening a clinic in Wichita or anywhere else in Kansas. I'm hoping he's just laying low for
awhile. I did read an article in the NY Times about the planned "vigil" by Operation Rescue to serve as a "memorial" service for, in their
words, all the babies who had died at Dr. Tiller's clinic. Apparently the pro-choice folks were on hand to protect the clinic from this demonstration so
that the anti-choice forces had to move elsewhere. They now feel they have successfully shut down all three of the clinics that provided abortion services in
Kansas. Hopefully we will here something about the fate of the clinic soon. My daughter just read a book called "An Exact Replica of a Figment of My
Imagination" by Elizabeth McCracken - a short read in which the author describes her first pregnancy that ended in stillbirth in France. The description
of her experience emotionally was very authentic to my daughter. I read it as well and was very moved. I would think it would be empowering for anyone who has
lost a baby for any reason. I'd like to donate to a fund enabling lower income women to obtain abortion as needed. Anyone know of any? I think NARAL has
set one up. Peace to you all out there, Mimi
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myluc |
#30 | |||
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AHC Veteran
Posts: 39 06/23/09 02:25 |
Mimi - thanks for the update. I really hope another health care facility opens up so that women can really have a safe place to go when they need help.
And I too read that same book by Elizabeth McCracken and found it to be amazingly helpful. I would recommend it to anyone really. I found what she wrote was so true to my own feelings and outlook on losing my own baby. |
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jendouville |
#31 | |||
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Newcomer
Posts: 3 06/26/09 12:04 |
Hello Everyone, I'm new to the site. I found it helpful reading everyone's comments about Dr. Tiller. He is my family's hero as well. We saw him
last December for our identical twin daughters (our first daughter had passed spontaneously and our other daughter's brain was completely destroyed since
they were sharing the placenta). It has been really hard dealing with his tragic death. I hope that someone will choose to reopen the clinic. He had told us
personally in December that he had hoped Dr. Sella would take it over when he retired. It's hard b/c she was commuting from CA every 3 weeks. I just hope
this tragic event does not scare doctors from helping women and families who are in this horrific situation. I think about all the families who are in our
shoes and won't be able to see Dr. Tiller. I thank Barefoot for publishing that letter. I also feel compelled to share my story with people.
And about the Elizabeth McCracken book, I found it a wonderful resource. The feelings are definitely there. |
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christiemomto3 |
#32 | |||
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AHC Expert
Posts: 1155 06/27/09 06:39 Agatha Christie
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Mimi - The National Network of Abortion Funds is collecting donations in Dr. Tiller's memory
for lower-income women to have access to reproductive services. From the NNAF website:
"The George Tiller Memorial Abortion Fund will provide assistance to the same women Dr. Tiller served: women seeking abortions in their second-trimesters, women facing extreme obstacles to abortion, and women who often must travel from their homes to obtain the abortion care they need. The Fund will assist with the cost of the procedures as well as the costs of travel and lodging. Notably, this Fund will be available to patients of the late Dr. Tiller's clinic, Women's Health Care Services in Wichita, at such time when the clinic is able to regroup and reopen. To donate to the Fund in Dr. Tiller's name, please make checks payable to: NNAF, and specify in memo line (or enclose note) that they are for George Tiller fund. Send contributions to: George Tiller Memorial Abortion Fund
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nene0572 |
#33 | |||
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AHC Expert
Posts: 1322 10/30/09 07:24 AHC Veteran |
Deanna~ I was much like you before AHC. I was ProChoice, but just never knew the magnitude of risks these few doctors took to protect women's reproductive
rights. It took me months of reading blogs, posts here and news articles online to realize my voice needed to be heard too. I wanted to shout from the
rooftops my experience. A ProLife doctor was a main motivator and boy if he only knew how much HIS decision to turn me away after agreeing to start my
induction has changed MY mind on telling the world that we need to protect women's reproductive rights. I was angry when he didn't show up at the
hospital and when the nurses called him and they were told it was against his morals to perform an abortion, I was floored. I never looked at my decision to
tx my pg as an abortion. I really thought the "A" word was for women that didn't want or couldn't afford a baby. I've learned a lot and
have made it a point to educate others as well. It was many months, actually one year and a day after Zeb's EDD I got the courage to share my story on
MySpace. I titled it "I'm the face of abortion". Thank you for getting the courage to leave your post here. I understand why a lot of people
can't talk about it, but I NEED to talk about it. It has helped so much in my healing. I've learned even more by sharing my story. I have not had
anyone say anything to my face negative about my choice. Thankfully. I know one day I might but I'm hoping by then I will be far enough in my healing
that it won't set me back. I hope that if by chance you have someone come across this that they are caring and understanding in anything they have to say!
May Dr. Tiller rest in peace!
{{{{{HUGS}}}}}
Renee' Mommy to Zeb Michael born to heaven 4-10-06 due to Multicystic Dysplastic Kidneys/No Amniotic Fluid |
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deanna06 |
#34 | |||
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AHC Board Regular
Posts: 70 10/31/09 01:10 |
I just found this old thread and wanted to comment on how my perspective on Dr. Tiller has totally changed. I have always been pro-choice (influenced my
personal voting decisions, donated to NARAL, refused to support a student I really like in a pro-life walk, etc.) but when I heard about Dr. Tiller's
murder I was blissfully unaware of the horrors of a poor pre-natal diagnosis. I was past my 12-week mark, had a very good quad screen, multiple ultrasounds
that were normal and when I heard about the murder on the news, it never even crossed my mind that I would ever have to make an HBC (I didn't even really
know what an HBC was). I was of course saddened about Dr. Tiller's murder but, at the same time, the media spun such a negative image of Dr. Tiller as a
"partial-birth abortion, baby killer" that it never even occured to me that he was helping women with poor pre-natal diagnoses. Based on the media
coverage I thought he was aborting healthy babies for women who just had a change of heart, etc. I obviously still didn't condone his murder but I thought
about my presumably healthy baby growing inside of me and thought, "Wow, how could anyone wait that long and terminate a pregnancy past the first
trimester?"
Fast forward to June 23 when I received the first indication that anything was wrong. I guess I was "lucky" in that I was able to have my tx done at a reputable hospital near my home at 20 weeks. Since that time I become a reluctant "expert" on birth defects and abortion past the first trimester. I consider myself highly educated and pretty well-versed in current events, politics, and feminist issues and I can truly say that I had NO CLUE about the much-needed services that Dr. Tiller provided to women who have been given what is probably the worst news of their lives! I just don't know if it is possible for someone who has not gone through this to truly understand what Dr. Tiller (and the few remaining like him) are actually doing. I'm embarassed to admit my complete ignorance on this subject previous to my own experience. I'm sorry I had to go through this to truly appreciate Roe v. Wade and the brave work of the doctors and nurses who literally risk their lives to preserve our right to make decisions for ourselves and our beloved babies. Rest in Peace Dr. Tiller Deanna |
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