Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, is unabashed in saying that the murder could help the antiabortion movement. “This is a teaching moment,” he said when reached by phone Sunday night. “We can talk about what a vile, evil man [Tiller] was, and discuss all the different ways that he killed children. Dr. Tiller was one of the most evil men on the planet. Part of my goal is I’m going to shore up pro-life leaders to not flinch, not fear, not waver.”
Whether you are pro-choice or anti-abortion, this should be a call to work even harder to make sure that women and children have the care they need at every step of the way. To work for change in our prison system so that more children can be raised in two-parent families and more men can learn from their mistakes and become productive members of society— role models, even. To work for change in our health care system so that women have the resources to plan their pregnancies. To work for effective gun control laws so that people who want to kill other people have a harder time doing it. And to foster dialogue with people you disagree with, so that men like Randall Terry find themselves irrelevant.
For the record, I’m pro-choice. But I try to approach these issues with an open mind and an understanding that other people are also trying to do what is right. I refuse to let Randall Terry change that.
