Reporting on the murder of Kansas abortion doctor, George Tiller, on Monday’s CBS Early Show, correspondent Jeff Glor touted the doctor’s career, while not depicting it as controversial: "...a doctor in the middle of the abortion debate for 35 years...Tiller, one of only a handful of doctors in the country performing late-term abortions, when the mother's health is at risk." Glor later commented about the murder: "Abortion providers feared a chilling effect."
At the top of the segment, co-host Julie Chen declared: "President Obama says he is shocked and outraged at the murder of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country who provided late-term abortions." Following Glor’s report, Chen spoke with Tiller’s friend and attorney, Dan Monnat, and wondered: "Can you explain why Dr. Tiller continued his practice all these years, despite all the harassment?" Monnat portrayed Tiller as courageous: "Both Dr. Tiller and his family continually asked the question, if Dr. Tiller is not here to serve a woman's right to choose, who will be here to do it? There are only a handful of late-term abortion providers that remain in the United States, and in the world. Most of them have been terrorized and run off by the protesters."
The Early Show coverage made no mention of Tiller’s controversial career, including a recent investigation into whether he conducted 19 illegal partial-birth abortions.
Here is the full transcript of the segment:
7:00AM TEASE:
JULIE CHEN: U.S. Marshals are being sent in to protect women's clinics after the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller in a Kansas church yesterday.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It's heartbreaking. It's heart-wrenching that something in our community could happen as evil as this, in his church.
CHEN: We’ll speak with Dr. Tiller's friend and attorney.
7:12AM TEASE:
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: Up next, an abortion doctor gunned down in church. We'll bring you the latest on the investigation.
7:16AM SEGMENT:
JULIE CHEN: President Obama says he is shocked and outraged at the murder of Dr. George Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country who provided late-term abortions. Early Show national correspondent Jeff Glor is in Wichita, Kansas, with the very latest. Good morning, Jeff.
JEFF GLOR: Julie, good morning to you. Dr. Tiller had been threatened many times before, even shot once. But those threats usually took place outside his clinic. This happened inside his church. The accused shooter, Scott Roeder, was returned to Wichita late Sunday night after a shooting that shocked a congregation and very quickly the rest of the country.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN [CHURCH MEMBER]: You know, it's just heartbreaking. It's heart-wrenching that something in our community could happen as evil as this, in his church.
GLOR: Services had just begun when 67-year-old George Tiller, a doctor in the middle of the abortion debate for 35 years, was gunned down in the church lobby while serving as an usher.
GEORGE TILLER: My office had been blown up. In 1993, I survived an assassination attempt.
GLOR: Tiller, one of only a handful of doctors in the country performing late-term abortions, when the mother's health is at risk, is being remembered by his wife, four children, and ten grandchildren, who called the shooting an unspeakable tragedy. As a vigil was held in Wichita on Sunday night. Abortion providers feared a chilling effect.
SUZANNE POPPEMA [ABORTION DOCTOR]: I'm very worried about my fellow abortion providers. I just wish that we could somehow make it so that they will all stay safe.
GLOR: We did speak with the accused shooter Scott Roeder's ex-wife yesterday. She said she was not surprised this happened. And that she believed Roeder want to be a martyr for the cause. Julie.
CHEN: CBS's Jeff Glor. Thanks. Joining us now from Wichita is Dr. Tiller's friend and attorney, Dan Monnat. Good morning, sir.
DAN MONNAT: Good morning, Julie.
CHEN: Did Dr. Tiller have security?
MONNAT: He did have security, the clinic itself had extensive security. There were surveillance cameras all around it. It had a high – it had a high fence around it. There were metal detectors in the doorway of the clinic, and generally there are armed guards on the premises night and day.
CHEN: Do you know if there is anything that happened recently which may have been a precursor to yesterday's tragic shooting?
MONNAT: Well, it's hard to tell. But in the month of May, someone scaled the security fence at the clinic, cut all of the wires to the lighting in the parking lot and the surveillance cameras, climbed atop the roof of the clinic, and slit the membrane on the roof so that storm water would drain into the clinic. At that time we requested that the FBI take an active role in the investigation, and since then they have taken an active role.
CHEN: Can you explain why Dr. Tiller continued his practice all these years, despite all the harassment?
MONNAT: Well, for one thing, he had the support of his wife of 45 years, Jeannie, their three daughters and son, who stood behind him 100%. Both Dr. Tiller and his family continually asked the question, if Dr. Tiller is not here to serve a woman's right to choose, who will be here to do it? There are only a handful of late-term abortion providers that remain in the United States, and in the world. Most of them have been terrorized and run off by the protesters.
CHEN: How is his family coping?
MONNAT: Nothing can prepare you for this horror. They're, of course, devastated, and though over the years they've known about the bombings, the shooting, the protests, this is just unimaginable grief to each of them.
CHEN: Please extend our deepest condolences to his family. Dan Monnat, attorney and friend of the late Dr. George Tiller. We thank you, sir.
MONNAT: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Thank you.
CHEN:: You're welcome.
—Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.




















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late term abortions when mother's health is at risk?
June 1, 2009 - 11:06 ET by katainkentsurvivablity at 7 months is very possible. I'd like to know the statistics for this 'handful'.
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Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past - George Orwell - 1984
22 weeks: 0-10% survival
June 1, 2009 - 20:34 ET by GrannyGrump4224 weeks is 6 months. So by 7 months (28 weeks) there's a far greater than 90% survival rate.
More to the point:
If, as Tiller's supporters asserted, his patients were suffering from medical conditions that made continuing the pregnancy too great a risk to their lives or health, why didn't they have labor induced or emergency c-sections done in fully equipped hospitals at home? What health-threatening or life-threatening pregnancy complications could they possibly have been suffering for which the prescribed treatment would be three days at the Wichita LaQuinta with their moms?
actually
June 1, 2009 - 20:46 ET by katainkentI'd be curious how many late term abortions fit the 'mother vs child' choice he performed.
The other statistics I am somewhat familiar with. I am a mother of twins. I found out at 27 1/2 weeks, when I started having preterm labor. I was told that if I'd had them they would be very small and likely in the hospital for a long time. I went on bedrest until 36 weeks with medication to stave off the labor, so as to be sure to give them the best possible chances. That was 14 yrs ago. I see they've pushed back the line even further.
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Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past - George Orwell - 1984
I would guess that exactly
June 1, 2009 - 21:38 ET by GrannyGrump42I would guess that exactly ZERO of his patients actually had health or life threatening pregnancy complications, because if a woman did her own ob/gyn would care for her in a local hospital, not send her a thousand miles to spend three days at the LaQuinta with her mom.
The real reasons? I blogged them here:
http://realchoice.bl...
I'll give every 4th one as an example:
Count Four: On July 8, 2003, tiller performed an abortion on a 28-weeks pregnant woman without determining fetal viability. There was no note of any medical condition of the mother.
Count Eight: On November 18, 2003, Tiller did an abortion on a patient who was 29 weeks pregnant, without any basis for the abortion documented.
Count Twelve: On August 19, 2003, Tiller performed an abortion on a patient who was 31 weeks pregnant, without any documentaion of what the supposed medical justification was.
Count Sixteen: Blurred, so I can't determine the date of the abortion. The patient was 28 weeks pregnant. There was no documentation of the supposed medical justification for the abortion.
Count Twenty: On August 19, tiller performed an abortion on a patient who was 26 weeks pregnant, without documenting the supposed medical justification.
Count Twenty Four: On August 26, 2003, Tiller did an abortion on a woman who was 25 weeks pregnant without documenting the alleged medical justification.
Count Twenty Eight: On November 4, 2003, Tiller did an abortion on a woman who was 25 weeks pregnant, without documeting whatever her medical problem was supposed to be.
You live by the sword you die by the sword
June 1, 2009 - 11:09 ET by The Smokin FrogI was pretty surprised on the light reporting of this. All I can say is "you live by the sword you die by the sword." George Tiller is out of business, and it is a shame that our justice system was not the agent of justice in this case. But still, I wonder how many people, babies, he killed.
Re how many
June 1, 2009 - 11:35 ET by slickwillie2001Fox News put together an estimate of 60,000 he personally did away with. Partial birth and late term were his specialty, so it's safe to assume that the majority of them were that type.
Actually Tiller did what he
June 1, 2009 - 20:41 ET by GrannyGrump42Actually Tiller did what he called (to his patients) "Managing the pregnancy with planned delivery of a stillborn."
Step 1 was to inject digoxin (the same drug used in lethal injections to execute criminals) directly into the baby's heart, killing him.
Step 2 was to insert laminaria (dried seaweed sticks) into the mother's cervix to dilate it.
Step 3 was to sent the mother to the LaQuinta overnight, with her mom or whoever she brought with her.
Step 4 was to bring her back and swap out the laminaria for more, fresh laminaria.
Step 5 was to send her back to the LaQuinta overnight with her mom.
Step 6 was to inject drugs to induce labor.
Step 7 was to send her into the bathroom to expel her rotted dead baby's corpse into the toilet.
Step 8 -- optional -- was to have staff fish the baby out of the toilet, clean it up, and hold a "memorial service" complete with on-site "chaplain services" and photos.
Step 9 was to toss the corpse into the onsite commercial grade crematorium.
And remember, these women were supposedly facing health crises, such that terminating the pregnancy was necessary to prevent loss of life or bodily function. And he kept them for three days in the LaQuinta with rotting corpses in their bodies.
→ Granny
June 1, 2009 - 20:44 ET by Cool ArrowSounds like a great idea for a reality show.
Wonder why the lefties aren't pushing for it?
But I guess it's a private sacrament.
Fourth trimester abortions
June 1, 2009 - 11:23 ET by snaggletoothieFourth trimester abortions is the term Ann Coulter has used for the so called late term abortions. I personally never understood how we got from Roe v Wade approving 1st trimester abortions to 3rd and 4th trimester being legal. None of which excuses or completely explains the doctoe's death.
Actually what Ann Coulter
June 1, 2009 - 20:42 ET by GrannyGrump42Actually what Ann Coulter was referring to was the practice of finishing off the baby if it happened to be born alive during the abortion.
Life Protestor vs. Life Terrorist
June 1, 2009 - 11:32 ET by aakaakaakThere are right to life protestors who hold up picket signs and march and sign petitions. They are putting their voice out there and doing what they can respectfully. They try what they can to promote the right ideals and get appropriate legislation passed.
Then there are right to life terrorists who throw blood at doctors, hang signs of dead babies on highway overpasses and leave death threats on answering machines. One of them just killed someone in cold blood. They don't try to make a change, they just want to destroy the enemy. In this case it's a doctor who thought what he was doing was right. It won't change anything in America. If anything it will steel people against legitimate protestors and legislation. It will hurt, not help the pro-life movement.
Which do you want seen? Life protestors or Life terrorists?
http://www.americanw...
response
June 1, 2009 - 12:18 ET by lotr1. When one considers the number of "abortion providers" in the USA, murder of abortionists, however tragic, are extremely rare occurences, and are in fact statistical outliers... Of course, there ought be to zero murders of abortionists, but alas, every movement has its share of extremists.
2. This does not qualify as terrorism. It's not like the killer set off a bomb in a hospital where abortions are performed, indiscriminately killing innocent patients, non-abortionist doctors, nurses, misc staff and children. A specific individual was targeted and executed.
"Let's wrap him up, alright?" -- Keith Olbermann
Whenever an abortionist
June 1, 2009 - 20:43 ET by GrannyGrump42Whenever an abortionist kills a patient, the response of the abortion lobby is to dismiss the death as an aberration. These deaths happen about ten times a year. (That the CDC admits to.)
No matter how heinous the malpractice -- having a "hand holder" assist with general anesthesia, shoving a hemorrhaging patient out the door in a wheelchair to bleed to death, massively overdosing a patient then leaving her unattended to lapse into a coma -- we're told that we're not to let these "few bad apples" color our opinion of abortion practitioners in general. Think of the hundreds of abortionists who didn't kill patients this year!
But when an abortionist gets shot, the perspective changes. Suddenly the act of JUST ONE PERSON is a reflection of the roughly 160 million other people who object to abortion. His actions are representative. All those antichoicers are JUST LIKE HIM. We're not to look at the actions of the 160 million prolifers who didn't shoot an abortionist. We're only to look at this one guy. He's representative.
Ten dead patients a year aren't a sign that abortionists are sloppy.
One dead abortionist every ten years, however, is a sign that prolifers are violent.
Which is just the sort of logic I'd expect from the movement that asserts that you honor motherhood by killing babies.
No sleep lost here
June 1, 2009 - 14:33 ET by ROTORHEAD77What I can't believe is that somebody of this "abortion provider's" infamy had the wherewithal to attend Sunday services. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Any person who shall make excuses in order to terminate developed human life, in the late-term no less, deserves a fate no different.
Tiller played the victum card.
June 1, 2009 - 14:40 ET by sevenIn tillers recent trial, he was accused of owning a doc that provided second opinions required in late term abortions. I listed to parts of the trial and his attorneys mentioned the bombing and attempt at his life to gain sympathy with the jury. Women that with guilt and remorse that got depressed and commited suicide after abortions couldn't testify.
Tiller was so abominable
June 1, 2009 - 17:07 ET by GrannyGrump42Tiller was so abominable that even the majority of prochoicers would have been appalled had they known the truth.
He did abortions on women who hadn't given consent, at the behest of their parents or boyfriends.
He did post-viability abortions for single episodes of "depression" or "reaction disorder", not because of severe maternal health risks.
He kept his third trimester patients in a motel room for three days with their babies rotting inside them -- a practice that cost a mentally disabled teenager her life. When she collapsed at the motel, her parents put her on a luggage cart and hauled her to their minivan to take her to the clinic; when the girl was in cardiac arrest, Tiller's staffer was on the phone with 911 telling the dispatcher that the patient was awake and alert and talking to them; when the medics arrived, they found Tiller's on-duty abortionist making such an amateurish attempt at resuscitation that they thought he was a bystander. Christin Gilbert is dead because of Tiller.
A baby was left blind, paralyzed, and mentally retarded because Tiller injected formaldehyde into her brain.
THIS is their hero, who wasn't at all "controversial"?
GrannyG... Thank YOU. I
June 1, 2009 - 17:12 ET by bigtimerGrannyG...
Thank YOU.
I forgot all about that horrendous case...so glad you are here to remind or inform others about this.
I was thinking about you yesterday afternoon and evening...hoping you would show up.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Thanx. Have you been to my
June 1, 2009 - 20:28 ET by GrannyGrump42Thanx.
Have you been to my blog? Realchoice.blogspot.com