At a nondescript white house on a narrow residential street in Wichita, Kansas, a cab pulls in to the driveway. Cutouts of Easter bunnies still adorn the windows, even though Easter is several weeks past. Out of the cab pop two young children, who run exuberantly to the door as the taxi pulls out of the driveway.
In the back seat still sits the children’s mother, but she isn’t on her way to work or on a day of busy errands. She is headed just two doors down from her children’s daycare to a large industrial-looking building with no windows. This ominous structure is Women’s Health Care Services, the infamous late-term abortion mill run by George Tiller. The woman has just left her children with the Abortion Babysitter, Alice Grim.
This arrangement is a new one for Alice, although she has been babysitting the kids of abortion workers for years. Tiller employee Marguerite Reed is a regular customer with her young daughter and newborn son. But now she is caring for the children of Tiller’s patients, who are brought to Wichita from around the country, often to provide cover for secret abortions that women are trying to keep hidden from the rest of the family.
“For a mother of young children to suddenly want to take a four to five day trip alone raises suspicions in some families,” said Operation Rescue sidewalk counselor Cheryl Sullenger. “So they make up a story about visiting relatives, or taking the kids on an outing, then sneak off to Wichita for an abortion.”
This day, the cab was delivering the mother of a 17-year old teenager who became pregnant out of wedlock. Issues of honor in a close-knit community of immigrants drove the mother to seek an abortion for her daughter, even though she is tormented by the impending loss of her first grandchild.
In order to keep the gruesome deed from her husband, the teen’s father, she brought along the younger siblings to cover the true nature of their trip to Wichita. The teenager had been delivered to the abortion mill earlier in the morning and was being joined by her mother once the younger children, oblivious to what was happening to their older sister, were safely settled at Alice’s house.
Alice is a 60-ish widow who is a rabid abortion supporter. Ironically, the house she rents for her home and daycare business is reportedly owned by Tiller. During the last presidential election, Alice proudly displayed signs in support of pro-abortion candidate John Kerry next to the tricycles and other toys scattered in the yard. And she is not timid about inserting herself into the abortion drama that unfolds daily such a short distance from her door.
Pro-lifers describe Alice as a woman with a surly disposition, openly hostile to the Christians who go to Tiller’s mill to pray and offer abortion alternatives to women. She has been known to back out of her driveway with her aged white mini-van, loaded with children, and intentionally bump vehicles belonging to pro-lifers. “We have learned not to park behind Alice’s driveway,” said Sullenger. “We heard that she hit another vehicle just last month. The police were called, but I have never heard of anything being done about it because the damage is usually minor.”
On the other hand, Alice will not hesitate to call the police if one of the pro-lifers happens to speak to her.
“She calls and accuses us of harassing her if we even say ‘good morning,’” said OR president Troy Newman, who has had problems with Alice phoning the police on him when he has gone over to greet her and give her the gospel. “She calls the police and makes a big scene. Actually, that tends to work in our favor because when abortion patients seen the police cruisers at the abortion mill, some will not go in.”
Last month, Alice informed the police that the daily pro-life presence so near her daycare has driven much of her business away. Her only clients were the children of abortion clinic workers, and if she lost them, she would be out on the street.
“Now we see that Alice has a new arrangement with Tiller to baby-sit the children of abortion patients,” said Newman. “This makes her a top-tier abortion collaborator. Not only does she profit from abortion, but her services make it easier for women to kill their pre-born babies.”
Newman and Sullenger question Alice’s ability to offer a nurturing environment for the children she cares for.
“I have seen Alice standing outside talking away with a police officer with whom she is friendly for over forty-five minutes while the children were inside the house unattended,” said Sullenger.
“What I find really horrendous about this whole situation is that the young children Alice cares for are being used as pawns. In the process, they are exposed to the seedy side of the abortion industry — the anxiety, lying, and deception, and the animosity pro-aborts have for Christians who pray for them,” said Sullenger. “I can’t imagine leaving my young child in that environment day after day. It really just continues to illustrate the low regard for children these people have.”
[Please join Operation Rescue in praying for Alice Grim’s repentance and salvation. —OR Staff]
It always amazes me when a persons name has an element of foreshadowing contained in it.
The main character – the abortionist – whose name rhymes with killer. Now a minor character – the abortion babysitter (can you even use those two words together?) Alice Grim.
It just goes to show that truth is stranger than fiction.
While doing research for my website, I went through some old phone directories. I was searching for the year that Tiller tore down the three buildings to expand his clinic.
While doing my research, I decided to take a peek at the neighbors. I found that Alice moved to this house in 1993… just two years after the huge Summer of Mercy pickets. So she knew EXACTLY what she was getting herself into. She is no “innocent” neighbor who “just happens” to live near Tiller. She planned it this way. She moved here BECAUSE Tiller’s mill is next door.
If I’m not mistaken… she was part of the reason that “Choices Medical Center” had such trouble with the Zoning Board. She didn’t have a whit of a problem when Tiller moved thre houses and expanded his clinic… no no that was fine. But when Pro-Lifers tried to convert the next residence (538 S. Bleckley) into a clinic that offered another choice besides abortion, THAT had to be stopped. THAT was a neighborhood nuicense in her mind.
Stuart
– - – -
From a 1999 news article…
But Stringfield and Tim Wiesner, the clinic’s executive director, said they’ve had to distance themselves from other abortion opponents. “We’re not directly linked to those people,” Stringfield said.
Alice Grim, a day-care provider who lives to the south of the clinic, disputes that claim. She said she has seen protesters use the clinic property as a staging area and for meetings.
Neighborhood residents protested the zoning change required for the clinic in 1994, saying it would create havoc.
reminds me of the ‘grim reaper’, reaping in profit in evil way. I can’t imagine these women who drop off their kids at some woman’s home they don’t even know???
Yes, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction…
Perhaps Ms. Grim would be interested to learn just what a disservice (to put it very mildly) she is doing these children; there are several very good articles on this at messengers2.com, as well as some appropriate children’s stories for post-abortive siblings…perhaps not. Either way, it’s a very useful site for parents who already have other children to peruse before killing a new arrival.
I keep reading all this stuff and am still blown away. I am one of those statistics, I’ve been to a planned parent hood and had a late term abortion, about 13 years ago. I had no idea what they did to my baby or had any idea how form my baby was at 5months. But what I really wanted to get out there is the fact that our tax dollars pay for these abortions. It paid for mine and that’s just sick. Welfare would rather pay for the abortion than to support the new family later on. And we need to stop the government from using ur money to kill these children of God, the welfare system makes it so easy. They call it an emergency pregnancy. They give you just enough medical stickers to get you through the doctors visits needed to “take care of the problem”. And no more is said. Every one needs to act and every needs to pray very earnestly.
Regarding the post by forgiven but still ashamed….
You have lived thru quite an ordeal, and make a very good point about “Welfare would rather pay for the abortion than to support the new family later on”
Sadly though, it is not just ‘welfare’ that takes this stand. This is especially true with some of the abortions for fetal anomoly. Ol’ Tiller has a list of kids he aborts, with things like Down syndrome, hydrocephalus, and other very specific conditions. (Several fetal ‘problems’ are listed on his stupid website.) Having known some of these families in the work I do, they are very expensive to raise. Many times there is a long nursery stay. Feeding issues, breathing issues, growth issues, etc. And once they get out, the cost goes on and on. In my state of MO, the government has threatened to cut state services for home therapies. Many of those recipients are abortion survivors.
Even some of the more outspoken abortion opponents, like myself, do not see the bigger picture and advocate as loudly for these kids down the road. Welfare cuts, reducing state spending for home services (at least in MO), and poor funding for state hospitals, in the end, actually hurts many of these abortion survivors harder than the general population. We must be careful how we throw around labels like ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice.’ There are some who are ‘anti-abortion,’ but are they really ‘pro-life,’ in the sense that they want these kids supported as they get older?? In my humble opinion, outlawing abortion and cutting state medical services for children, is indeed an oxymoron.
I think women who decide to terminate pregnancies in late term, are entitled to our understanding and compassion, given that their reasons are certainly grave and heartbreaking. Can’t we find compassion in our hearts to mind our own business and allow her to mind her own?
Compassion? Looking away while children die is compassion?
Grim is not minding her own business, Rosemary. Seems to me O.R. would be probably be happy if she would simply “mind her own business” and get out of the child killing business.
rosemary
women don’t decide to ‘terminate pregnancies’ – what they decide to do, ultimately, is to contract with someone to terminate the life of their child.
i don’t see how you can use the word ‘compassion’ to describe an act that destroys a child’s life.
while it may seem to you as simply that woman’s particular business, it’s no different, morally, than a woman who drowns her kids in a bathtub – these type of decisions ultimately affect all of us to one degree or another. they cheapen life and the respect for life at all levels.
Rosemary, how is abandoning a woman to the nightmare of killing her baby showing her any “compassion?”
Sooner or later the veil of denial will tear and she’ll have to look herself in the mirror every morning and remember what she did to her baby.
All the “Isn’t Tiller a great guy?” articles tell the same story — of weeping women, still half in shock from getting the diagnosis, begging on the abortion table for their babies to forgive them. It’s MERCY to abandon them to that?
With friends like Tiller, who needs enemies?
BTW, I’ve blogged this one, sending readers over here.
“Be a good boy and stay with the nice lady while mommy goes and kills the new baby!”
“# Rosemary Franklin Says:
May 23rd, 2005 at 12:38 pm
I think women who decide to terminate pregnancies in late term, are entitled to our understanding and compassion, given that their reasons are certainly grave and heartbreaking. Can’t we find compassion in our hearts to mind our own business and allow her to mind her own?”
Why can’t these people have compassion for their own children? and if we can’t tell them that their children are entitled to such compassion, how can you tell us we *must* have compassion for them?