Wichita, KS – MSNBC will air a documentary about the murder of late-term abortionist George Tiller on Monday evening, October 25, 2010. Producers of the documentary heavily relied on Operation Rescue files and interviewed Operation Rescue President Troy Newman for the program.
“We completely understand the liberal bent of MSNBC and expect it to be heavily slanted toward the pro-abortion position. We were concerned with the involvement of talk show host Rachel Maddow, who is a radical abortion apologist who has grossly mischaracterized Operation Rescue and members of our staff on her nightly program. Never the less, we felt it was necessary to participate for several reasons,” said Newman.
The producers of the documentary wanted to tell two stories, that of the “saintly” George Tiller and that of Scott Roeder the “devil.”
“We agreed to do the show — even though we knew they would vilify us — because we had a third story to tell, and that is the story of the tens of thousands of innocent babies killed by abortion during Tiller’s long and checkered abortion career,” said Newman. “It remains to be seen whether or not MSNBC allows that story to be told, but we hope they keep their word to do so.”
MSNBC agreed to show images of aborted babies during the program.
Over a seven-year period, Operation Rescue engaged in an effort to expose Tiller’s horrific late-term abortion business and convince authorities close his abortion clinic for good. OR’s campaign publicized a shocking number of botched abortions requiring emergency hospitalization, discovered and publicized the death of 19-year old Christin Gilbert from a botched third-trimester abortion, and helped to convene two grand juries. Operation Rescue cooperated with the Attorney General’s office, which eventually prosecuted Tiller for committing illegal late-term abortions. While the criminal prosecution was unsuccessful, the attention set the stage for a disciplinary petition against Tiller’s license that was based on a complaint filed by Operation Rescue.
The following are just a few results of Operation Rescue’s seven years of work in Wichita, Kansas:
The number of late-term abortions dropped 54% in Kansas (based on stats from KDH&E) A second abortion clinic, Central Women’s Services, was bought and closed by OR and now serves as our national headquarters. Kansas State Board of Healing Arts discipline of Tiller on eleven causes of action was a certainty. (In fact, the KSBHA is now in the process of disciplining Tiller associate Ann Kristin Neuhaus on eleven very similar counts based again on Operation Rescue’s complaint.) Tiller had shut down his political action committee, ProKanDo, once the largest and most influential PAC in the state. Tiller had announced his retirement to his office staff just two weeks before his murder.
But before the KSBHA had an opportunity to act, Tiller was murdered by a lone gunman in a brutal act that Operation Rescue was among the first to denounce.
In fact, Operation Rescue and its staff have a long history of peaceful activism and good working relationships with law enforcement agencies.
“We fully expect to be vilified in the MSNBC Tiller documentary, but the truth of the matter is that Operation Rescue worked for seven years within the law and with governmental oversight agencies, law enforcement, and legislators to expose what we believed was criminal activity at Tiller’s late-term abortion clinic and bring him to justice. In the process, the nation became more aware of the tragic nature of late-term abortions and abuses within the abortion industry. Working with other groups, hundreds of babies were spared from abortion by tireless sidewalk counselors, including OR staffers, who never lost sight of the plight of the pre-born nor diminished in desire to save innocent lives. It is because of our combined work that Wichita today remains abortion-free and a safe haven for women and their pre-born babies.”
The MSNBC documentary is scheduled to air October 25, 2010, at 9:00 pm Eastern time. Check your local listings for time and channel in your area.