Most of us won’t be affected by today’s closing of Women’s Health Care Services Inc. Until Dr. George Tiller was murdered, I thought little about the Wichita clinic or, for that matter, about late-term abortions; if pressed I would say that late-term abortion is the place to “draw the line” in abortion legislation, unless the mother or child is in physical danger.
Now I’m reading the stories of women whom Dr. Tiller aided, of their situations and their decisions to abort their pregnancies. While these stories don’t cancel the need for Christians to wrestle with abortion and possibly to support restrictions through legislation, the stories shake us loose from any moral high ground we thought we had reached in our own decisions—and sensitize or resensitize us to human suffering.
They also persuade me of Dr. Tiller’s moral commitment to these women even when he was under constant threat of death. I honor both his compassion and service, and I honor the suffering of these women, men and their families.