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The 1986 Bombing of Tiller's Clinic |
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| BIOGRAPHY
WHAT METHODS DOES TILLER USE TO KILL BABIES? WHAT DOES TILLER DO WITH THE DEAD BABIES? DOES
TILLER PERFORM LATE-TERM ABORTIONS ONLY IN CASES OF HARDSHIP? DOES A BABY EVER SURVIVE AN ABORTION? LIES!
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Late on the evening of June 9, 1986, someone detonated a homemade bomb on the roof near the east entrance to Tiller's clinic.
The blast punched a hole through the roof and scattered some papers and files in Tiller's office.
Investigators look for evidence after the blast. Considering all that happened that week, the timing of the bombing couldn't have been worse for Pro-Lifers. The day after the bombing, the National Organization for Women (NOW) filed a Federal lawsuit against several pro-life activists accusing them of a violent conspiracy and a "reign of terror" against abortion clinics. This lawsuit (NOW vs. Scheidler) dragged through the courts for 17 long years until NOW finally lost the case at the US Supreme Court in February 2003.
Accompanying the NOW case, proabortion activists were pushing the FBI to monitor and profile all Pro-Life activists including those who had no criminal record. NOW was certain a conspiracy existed among Pro-Lifers, even though the FBI said they had found no evidence of conspiracy. Two days after the bombing, the Supreme Court issued one of the most important abortion decisions since Roe v. Wade. In this case (Thornburgh vs. the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologist,) the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that states could not put certain restrictions on abortion.
Three days after the bombing, the National Right to Life Committee held their annual meeting in Denver. The bombing cast a pall over the convention. Interestingly, the National Abortion Federation (NAF) met in Kansas City the week of the bombing. Tiller attended at least some of the NAF meeting, but he made the three-hour trip from Kansas City to Wichita before the bombing. He came to the clinic shortly after the blast to blame Pro-Lifers... Clinic director George Tiller said shortly after the blast, "I think we have to look very carefully at the right-to-life groups. People certainly have said they want to shut us down." Wichita Eagle-Beacon, June 11, 1986 No one was ever arrested or charged for the bombing. Tiller has given a detailed account of the 1993 shooting, but he has been tight-lipped about the details of the 1986 bombing. Even today, the bombing is carelessly mentioned in most newspaper articles written about Tiller. The bombing has been a public relations bonanza for Tiller.
Tiller hugs a supporter after the blast. Click here to read about the massive "Summer of Mercy" protests in 1991.
SOURCES: Many articles in The Wichita Eagle and Wichita Eagle-Beacon Correspondence with Luhra (Tivis) Warren - former Tiller employee Image sources are displayed by stopping your mouse on the picture. This may not work with some browsers. |