Tribute to Dr. George Tiller

by Greg Smith, Eexcutive Director, Options for Sexual Health, Vancouver

June 18, 2009

It’s an honour to be here this evening, representing Options for Sexual Health, to pay tribute to Dr. George Tiller.

Most of us here have met Dr.Tiller.

We have met him in the voice of a woman in pregnancy counselling as she comes to the decision that is right for her with respect to an unintended pregnancy.  

We have met him in the eyes of a woman whose trust has been betrayed in a phony pregnancy options centre.  

We have met him in the confident poise of a young woman or man who, with reliable and supportive sexual health education, can assert and express healthy and informed sexuality.

We have met Dr. Tiller in the conviction of other care givers who, with courage and dignity, stand fast against the lunacy and violence of those who will not support and respect the right of all women to choose abortion as an option.

We have also met Dr. Tiller in everyone who stands for readily accessible, readily available, unrestricted and unlimited access to abortion for all women.

We can say the words that acknowledge and thank Dr. Tiller, and others who have fallen before him, for all they did.

But to truly honour Dr. Tiller there are things we must do here in BC and Canada, through our collective power and our individual skills and influence:

• We must ensure better access to medical and surgical abortion as an essential medical service, and secure access to mifepristone.
• With this must come better access to trustworthy and non-judgmental pre- and post-abortion counseling, and to pre- and post-abortion medical care, including ultrasound and medical follow-up.
• We must insist on reciprocal billing for abortion services under the Canada Health Act so women everywhere in Canada can know that their right to choice is real and respected.
• We need to increase the availability of abortion providers and assure them of the safety and security they deserve by preserving and enforcing Access Zone legislation
• We need to confront the deceit and harm delivered by so-called “crisis pregnancy centres” by revoking and denying their charitable status and stopping the use of public and United Way funds for their support.
• We all have a role to play in our circles and communities to enhance knowledge and understanding of the meaning of reproductive choice and the consequences of denying it to women.

And finally, in doing those things, we need always to be guided, not by the kind of unreason, cruelty and incitement to harm that caused Dr. Tiller’s death, but by the deep, thoughtful and loving commitment to care, support and respect that marks his life.

Thank you.