By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Operation Rescue, the aggressive anti-abortion group based in Wichita, Kan., made tracks to distance itself from the murder early this month of abortion doctor George Tiller.
But now the group, which hounded Tiller for years, is turning its sights on LeRoy Carhart, the Nebraska-based physician who regularly assisted Tiller.
Operation Rescue has put out the word that it wants to hear from women who sought abortions from Carhart in the last five years. It's doing a "research project" on Carhart, according to its website.
If experience is any guide, this "research project" will result in unverifiable and downright bogus allegations, which the group will make public. It's the sort of information that just might inflame an unbalanced person like Scott Roeder, the man accused of shooting Tiller in his church -- where, by the way, Operation Rescue had protested and disrupted services numerous times.
But when tragedy occurs, Operation Rescue's leaders are shocked and appalled. Or so they say.
Follow me on Twitter
Delicious
Digg
Actually pro-choice IS pro-abortion
pro-choice is not pro-abortion. Don't be ridiculous.
http://www.cjonline.com/interact/blog/groenhagen/2009-03-09/pro_choice_pro_abortion
It's Barb's side that offers the bogus allegations
http://www.cjonline.com/interact/blog/groenhagen/2009-06-25/newspaper_publishes_letter_with_bogus_claims
So, uh, Danno? Question for you.
Planned Parenthood Inc., the masters of inflaming the public
If PPI is so good at inflaming the public, how come there haven't been any incidents of pro-choice people shooting pro-lifers or blowing up Operation Rescue offices?
yep
I would guess
...that editing my comment was intended to protect some individuals. Nice job in proving my point, Yael.
DanBeyer -
Nice try - but it won't happen. The Star's famous in-depth investigations in the Sunday Star will NEVER include investigating abortionists. Even if someone at the Star thought about doing it, the far-left supporters of our supposed-objective paper would raise hell and nip it.
.
Also DanBeyer - for the Star to do an investigation of the abortion industry, the report would be like "the fox watching the hen house", which means they wouldn't find anything to report. It would be like Kim Jung Il saying he had no nukes.
First
yes the Star is very much against the tactics of Operation Rescue. As are most rational people. But then again, this is the Star.
And the whole "pro-choice" "pro-abortion" semantics debate? Who cares. I see that exchange here as nothing more than pettiness. Again. I'm sure Interface was dying to use stupid and idiot in his comment--as he always has been allowed to do.
Third, artwill, Kay Barnes is a Friend of the Star--no criticism will be given on this site. In fact, go re-read the Star's endorsement of her when she was running for Congress. I believe the words were "her knowledge and experience are needed in Washington."
What did I tell you?
Take for example Kansas' own Sherman A. Zaremski. An abortionist who surprisingly was never charged for covering up child rape, he performed abortions on 11 year old girl and her sister who were repeatedly raped by their pedophile step-father. The abuse resulted in four pregnancies, and the girl later gave birth to twins on her 12th birthday. He didn't think it necessary to report the continuing abuse to any authorities. Also too the number of civil suits against abortionists for just this criminal activity has been growing. Couple that with the fact that abortionists across the country are fighting against laws that would mandate reporting ALL instances of pregnancies of girls under the age of 15, that many law enforcement agencies including Johnson County as well as several state legislatures are looking into this now, and you've got more than enough probable cause to investigate this.
To show your readers once and for all if this is bogus or not.
Another of Dan's unfounded allegations. As regular as clockwork.
The problem here is that Phill Kline had 4 years to take care of these 'law-breakers' when he was state AG. And another 2 years as county DA.
Remember the charges Phill filed and the resulting trials? Yeah, me neither.
So I take it Dan is admitting Phill was a failure.
Cue the 'system is corrupt and Planned Parenthood pays off lawmakers' post fom Dan.
Womb with a View
There are many silly comments on this site. Let me note, in response to one poster below, that the Star does virtually NO investigative reporting and that includes especially the P&L and other projects backed by the "developer" buddies of Barnes-Cauthen who are placing much of KCMO's assets and revenue in its pockets. This is by far more of a threat to quality of life in KC than this issue.
But, the silliest comments by far on this site are those identifying pro-choice with "pro-abortion." I for one and certainly many others favor the use of public and charitable resources to assist women who wish to bear THEIR children. One can favor the choice of a woman without being in favor of abortion. This should be clear and easily understood by all except simpletons or the most ideologically motivated. To confuse the two is a sick ideologic/theocratic motivated ploy. Additionally, the call for police action that comes between families and their physicians is dangerous to medical practice and human welfare. Just think for a moment where this might lead. There are private spheres of life, and I don't want wombs with a view. If you have religious scruples, I welcome you to them, but don't try to press these on me. You will have a real battle if you do.
They won't do it Dan.
Babs and the Star are 100% in the tank as being pro-abortion. Also PP as an organization and many of their employees ARE pro-abortion, where do you think those hundreds of millions in 'excess money' (that's what they call their profit since they are supposed to be 'non profit') comes from? It isn't from selling prescriptions to minor children without their parents knowledge, it's from abortions.
If PP really cared about women's health they would:
Provide referrals for low cost mammograms.
Be the first in line to report rapes of underage children.
Be more than willing to have their surgical abortion clinics abide by all medical safety standards that apply to any other outpaitient surgical facility including surgeons/oral surgeons offices where minor procedures are performed. This one really get's me. Why, if you claim to be in business to protect women's health, would you fight any attempt to require your surgical clinics to abide by the same required safety standards as an oral surgeons office, or other outpatient surgical center?
Bab's and the Star won't do any investigative reporting. The only 'investigative reporting' the Star apparently does any more is investigation of the alcohol available in the P&L district.