A History of Violence: The Deceptive Face of the Anti-Choice Movement

Gunshots rang throughout the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas on May 31st, 2009. Abortion provider Dr. George Tiller had been murdered in his own church by anti-abortion activist Scott Roeder.  The murder of Dr. Tiller made national headlines, but it took the public assassination of a respected abortion provider for the media to examine the violent rhetoric and behavior of the so-called “pro-life” movement.

Dr. Tiller (Photo Credit: Feministe)

Earlier this month, in Kalispell, Montana, the receptionist for All Families Healthcare arrived at work on a Tuesday morning to find the clinic’s interior transformed into a sea of paper, broken glass, and overturned furniture. A suspect named Zachary Jordan Klundt has since been arrested for the vandalism. Klundt is the son of Twyla Klundt, a board member of the crisis pregnancy center Hope Pregnancy Ministries, and an anti-abortion activist who has a history of inflammatory rhetoric directed at All Families Healthcare. Unlike Tiller’s murder, this event has not made national headlines. Coverage that is out there has come primarily from Montana-based news outlets,  the pro-choice movement’s online networks, and the progressive blogosphere.

Friday Femorandum: Not That Steve Martin

Every Friday, we bring you all the repro news that’s fit to reprint! Here’s what happened in reproductive politics this week:

Another anti-choice bill works tirelessly to solve a problem that doesn’t exist: “Despite no evidence that sex-selective abortions are happening in the state at all, a sex-selective abortion ban passed the South Dakota House last week,” reports Feministing. Oh, turns out the ban is also racist.