In Esquire (September 2009), there is a compelling story by John H. Richardson called "The Last Abortion Doctor" about Dr. Warren Hern, literally the last person performing late-term abortions after the slaying of Dr. George Tiller.
In it, Hern recounts the story of a 14-year-old patient who told him he and all of his staff should be killed for performing abortions. "Why are you here?" he asked. "I have to have an abortion. I'm not old enough to have a baby." When asked if he should be killed before or after he did her abortion, she replied, "Before." He refused treatment and sent her away.
He also allows in the profile:
"You never get used to this. You can't. We're hardwired to protect small, vulnerable creatures, especially babies. The fetuses may not be babies, but some are pretty close."
Prominent doctor George Tiller of Kansas—known to abortion foes as a man whose women's health clinic performed later-term abortions in extreme cases and who was vilified as a murderer by the right wing for the past 20 years—was gunned down in cold blood AT CHURCH today. This story is a microcosm of the abortion argument—the religious nuts who think terminating an unwanted pregnancy is the same as shooting an adult man probably timed this to coincide with today being the anniversary of the 2003 arrest of anti-abortion TERRORIST Eric Rudolph.
Then you have anti-choice crazies Operation Rescue issuing a statement deploring his murder, though they demonized him relentlessly and could not resist mentioning in their statement, "We pray for Mr. Tiller's family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."
The man's clinic has been bombed and vandalized and he was shot in both arms once before (that lunachick is still imprisoned, thankfully). It was only a matter of time before this happened. Especially with explicit cheerleading from the likes of Bill O'Reilly:
Tiller was charged with performing late-term abortions without consulting a truly independent second source; he was exonerated. That was not good enough for his enemies; he was executed.
They must be desperate, seeing that President Obama will have two, three or more chances to alter the makeup of the Supreme Court. Expect more.
UPDATE: President Obama has denounced Tiller's assassination in no uncertain terms, even as anti-choice leader Randall Terry seems to blow it off and reiterate his side's duty to "protest" abortionists everywhere—including at their churches, which is where Tiller was assassinated.
Watching President Obama addressing Notre Dame, it seems impossible to envision him ever losing an election. He is so smooth and yet his smoothness is heartfelt. He really sells you on the idea of unity. He also—as he has done in most of his major addresses I can remember—mentioned gay issues in the context of his remarks on our common ground. He said both gay activists and Evangelicals can share a common revulsion for the ravages of HIV/AIDS while having very different perspectives.
In WeHo, where I am for work.
The most powerful aspect of his speech was the story of the Civil Rights Act, which identified the only living member of the commission responsible for recommending the principles that made up the act as a Notre Dame priest. Listening to his passionate remarks on the subject of our common ground and our equal rights, I could not help but at first feel disappointed that he has so far played it safe on gay issues. However, I came away feeling more certain than ever that far from needing to evolve (or graduate) on gay issues, he has already connected those dots in his head, and it is only a political matter of timing.
Is that delusional or blind faith? Nope. Just my educated read on this person. I hope I'm right.
UPDATE: I'm not sure if political timing can ever be a good thing when people like this are being discharged from the military on a regular basis in the meantime. I think President Obama needs to step forward on Don't Ask, Don't Tell and instruct his mouthpiece to Don't Make Excuses.
One of my best-hidden passions is for a-ha, which along with Alphaville deserves the title of most shamefully overlooked pop band of all time. Their debut album Hunting High And Low is one of my Top 5 of all time, including Madonna—every song on that record drives me crazy to this day, mostly due to lead singer Morten Harket's soaring, operatic voice, so mournful and emotive. Hearing him sing, I always feel like he doesn't even have to try, he just opens this throat and modulates the sounds.
I didn't realize until probably 2000 that they had continued to record successfully through 1994 in Europe, and was thrilled to discover that a successful appearance at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in 1998 had led them to officially regroup:
This exquisite song's closing 20-second note (15 or so here) is the longest in UK chart history.
The gorgeous "Dark Is The Night," live from Oslo in 2005.
I snapped up all their releases, amazed to discover they hadn't lost their edge, that Morten hadn't lose his intimidating falsetto and that he also looked about the same—what's in the water in Norway??? Throughout his 40s (he's 49 now), he's actually looked hotter than ever:
A crotch-tastic appearance in 2002 (age 42) on Graham Norton.
But as much as I love their music, I seem to go into a-ha black holes every so often and miss out on major news. Like, I had no idea they played a gig at Irving Plaza right here in NYC in 2005—their only U.S. date in 20 years:
What the fuck was I doing? I was well aware of them, as they'd just played a technically-challenged set from Berlin for Live 8:
Fucking hot in his li'l denim caprisss!
And I also missed the memo that Coldplay loves a-ha so much they have performed with group member Mags as recently as September of 2008:
Two other important facts had escaped me until today—for one, they have a new album dropping in June along with a tour. I'm going to have to figure out if I want to hunt them down somewhere. But the other fact is that Morten, lovely Morten, is apparently a huge "reactionary conservative" who has become a prominent anti-abortion spokesperson in Norway.
I feel like Elaine on Seinfeld when she discovers her boyfriend can't wait for the Supreme Court to change so abortion can be outlawed! Oh, Morten. You just did a D&C on my heart.
Or like little Tom Of Finland, haplessly falling in love with the Nazi barbarians at the gate.
After the jump, some great footage of a-ha, including the first version of their earliest hit that they apparently released in Norway prior to serious remixing and international acclaim, and 16 more images of Morten without many clothes...
Freshly ensconced in the ovum oval office in DC, President Obama has performed a D&C on the anti-choice movement by proclaiming a renewed commitment to honoring the legacy of Roe v. Wade and by rescinding Reagan-era rules that have forbidden foreign agencies that are involved in abortion advocacy from receiving U.S. dollars.
Why shouldn't he?Even Catholics realize that abortion is a personal choice. The country has moved on...will the anti-choicers? Not likely, which is why Obama's order regarding those foreign agencies came late in the day on a Friday.
