I was already in so much shock and grief over the assassination of Dr. George Tiller. And then I read this on my way out of work this morning. Nowhere does this forced-birther-pandering asshole mention that Dr. Tiller provided medically necessary abortion services for doomed pregnancies. I was filled with so much rage that I just couldn’t sleep past 3 hours, even though I have another 12-hour night shift tonight and will be so tired I’ll have a hard time seeing straight. I want to set the record straight and am going to submit the following to as many newspapers and blogs as I possibly can. I woke up crying and my husband just hugged me and didn’t say anything about my being too obsessed with abortion rights like he usually does.

It was with shock and deep grief that I read of the vicious, cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller. While he was at church, no less. And then I read the journalistic accounts and I was filled with cold rage at the lies that are being spread about this truly great man, this champion for women’s lives. The accounts mention that he provided late-term abortions and then went on to quote the anti-abortion rhetoric regarding his “slaughter of thousands of little boys and girls.”

The record must be set straight. Dr. George Tiller provided third-trimester abortions to women with doomed pregnancies. The majority of the fetuses were already dead, the rest would not survive past birth if they went to term. In many cases, both woman and fetus would die if the pregnancy continued. These were very much wanted pregnancies that went horribly wrong. Contrary to anti-abortion aspersions, no woman obtains a third-trimester abortion simply because she no longer wishes to be pregnant and wants to fit into a prom dress or a bikini. Third-trimester abortions are illegal for any reason other than severe fetal deformity and grave threat to the health or life of the pregnant woman.

“Pro-lifers” tried time and time again to get Dr. Tiller’s medical license revoked, but those efforts were shot down in court every time because Dr. Tiller only ever performed medically necessary third-trimester abortions. They shot at him, they stalked him, they vandalized his property, and they forced him to take security measures that ultimately failed. So dedicated was he to saving women’s lives that he pushed on despite these vicious acts of terrorism.

My heart goes out to his wife, his children, and his grandchildren. Though we did not personally know Dr. Tiller, the assassination of this compassionate, loving and exceedingly courageous man has left a hole in the hearts of millions of us.