So let me include the obligatory 'this diary is not as good as it should be' statement here. It is rushed, since I just used my DVR for the first time to quickly type up a transcript of the interview.
Although I know these senseless acts of violence have existed for many years over the subject of abortion it is still quite confusing to me, as I am young, only 25, and have only been politically aware for 3 years now.
I was deeply moved by this interview and I felt that those who missed it needed to see the kind of pain that is caused from these dispicable attacks on our democracy, rule of law, freedom, and our values, such as the right of privacy.
Now for the interview...
On MSNBC, at around 9:45 am. Dr. Warren Hern of the Boulder, CO medical clinic was interviewed by Monica Novotny.
Monica: Dr. Tiller was only a hand full of doctors that performed controversial late tern abortions.
Dr. Hern now says he is the last doctor in the U.S. that also performs the same procedures; he is the founder and director of the boulder abortion clinic.
He was also a close friend of Dr. Tiller. Dr. Hern, we appreciate you joining us as we said you were close friends, we're sorry for your loss today. You were quoted as saying Dr. Tiller’s death was predictable, what was your reaction when you heard and why do you say that?
.
Dr. Hern: Thank you for inviting me, Monica. Dr. Tiller’s death is a profound tragedy for his family, friends, and his medical colleagues.
He is a very much a beloved person among us who work in this field and provide these services, he was dedicated, and a conscientious physician and very courageous and has survived other assassination attacks in 1993.
.
Monica: That's right, he was shot in both arms.
.
Dr. Hern: This was not an act of a lone deranged gunman, this is a result of 35 years of relentless and merciless anti abortion harassment, violence, and intimidation, hate speech, and violent rhetoric and this is the absolutely predictable consequence of that kind of mindless harassment and fanaticism.
.
Monica: Dr., you have faced similar threats, do you fear for your own life?
.
Dr. Hern: Well, we have lived with these kinds of problems for 35 years or more.
When I first started doing abortions in boulder, co., at a non profit clinic, I started getting obscene death threats in the middle of the night two weeks after we started. and the anti abortion people have made attempts on my life, threatened my life 1000's of times, every doctor who does abortions in this country is under this kind of threat.
.
Monica: But do you find yourself more fearful today in light of what has happened to your friend?
.
Dr. Hern: Well I think, clearly, the anti abortion people will stop at nothing, including assassination, to oppose their will on other people. Clearly I am alarmed, and my family is alarmed.
.
Monica: Is this something that the two of you, as doctors, given the threats you are facing, is it something the two of you discussed?
.
Dr. Hern: Oh, we talked about it all the time, sure.
.
Monica: And was there anything that Dr. Tiller said that remains with you today, was he fearful that this would happen?
.
Dr. Hern: What could I say...we are good friends; we call each other all the time to talk about cases, patients...our families [starts to tear up], and about things of common interest.
We had a good relationship, he invited me to his daughters wedding, and we skied together.
This is a tremendous lost for his family and for our society. He was a wonderful person who was very dedicated...and this...this shouldn't happen [continues choking up].
Dr. Tiller’s crime was that he helped women and the man who killed him tried to kill an idea, the idea is freedom.
So we don't need to invade other countries to find terrorists, they are here killing doctors who provide abortions.
The main difference between the American anti abortion movement and the Taliban is about 8000 miles.
.
Monica: Dr. Warren Hern, thank you for joining us today, we appreciate it.
.
Dr. Hern: Thank you.
So there you have it. More pain caused at the hands of christian conservative terrorists, all because their will, and beliefs, must be forced upon others.
I will be updating this diary with more information on Dr. Warren Hern.
UPDATE: Some more info (PDF warning) on Dr. Warren Hern:
BIOGRAPHY
WARREN M. HERN, M.D., M.P.H., PH.D, DIRECTOR
Dr. Warren Hern, Director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic, is a public health physician with over 35 years of experience with women's health issues. His awareness of the need for safe abortion services and advocacy of reproductive choice began during his experience as a medical student in Colorado and during his service as a Peace Corps physician in Brazil (1966-68). He was especially moved by the suffering of large numbers of Latin American women who were dying of illegal abortion. Their dilemma was similar to those Dr. Hern observed in American women as a medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (M.D., 1965), during his work in the Peruvian Amazon as a third-year medical student (1964), and during his internship at Gorgas Hospital in the Canal Zone (1965-66).
After returning to the United States from Brazil in 1968, Dr. Hern studied epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, during which time he concentrated on the relationships between fertility, health, and reproductive decisions. He was especially interested in the epidemiology of induced abortion in Latin America.
Following course work for his Master of Public Health degree at the University of North Carolina (1968-70), Dr. Hern was invited to become an official in the U.S. government's first family planning program for the poor, administered within the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) - The "War On Poverty" as the Johnson Administration had called it. His official title was Chief, Program Development and Evaluation Branch, Family Planning Division, Office of Health Affairs, OEO, Executive Office of the President. His job was to help set priorities for the family planning program (annual budget: $24 million), design programs, and evaluate them. In this capacity, he played a key role in providing federal funding for Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood to set up a statewide family planning program for poor women in Colorado.
Among the policy issues addressed by Dr. Hern and his colleagues at OEO was the use of US government funds for abortion and voluntary sterilization programs. Dr. Hern was instrumental in changing the government policies to permit the use of funds for voluntary sterilization services for those who wanted and needed them but could not afford them. He also prepared and fought for regulations that would protect poor people from sterilization abuse. White House suppression of his sterilization guidelines resulted in his conscientious resignation from his government office in June 1972. He testified about the harmful effects of the Nixon Administration suppression of these guidelines before the Senate Subcommittee on Health, Education and Welfare chaired by Senator Ted Kennedy in July 1973.
During his time in Washington, Dr. Hern was keenly interested in the developing efforts for the legalization of abortion. He attended oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Vuitch (the first abortion case to reach the Supreme Court), and the first oral arguments for Roe vs. Wade and its companion case, Doe vs. Bolton. He was active in citizen's groups such as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL) working for the legalization of abortion. His writings in national publications were reprinted and used by organizations such the Association for the Study of Abortion. It was during this time (1971-72) that he learned to perform abortions at PRETERM Clinic, the first non-profit abortion clinic in the nation's capitol.