Acquittal Of Kansas Abortion Provider Tiller Could Be 'Pyrrhic Victory,' Washington Times Opinion Piece Says

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 09 Apr 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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The recent acquittal of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller "might ... be a Pyrrhic victory, i.e., one that is really ruinous to the victor," Washington Times columnist Cheryl Wetzstein writes in an opinion piece. She continues that reasons for this include that "the mountain of bad press just keeps growing, [Tiller] is in his senior-citizen years, and there might be a pro-life Republican in the [Kansas] governor's mansion in a few months. All of these are game-changing events." Wetzstein notes that antiabortion-rights protesters "have been on [Tiller's] case since the 1980s," and he "has endured investigations, a firebombing and an attempted murder." She adds, "He is every bit a hero to the pro-choice community as he is a monster to pro-lifers. But, at age 67, are the headlines and the hassle still worth it?"

Wetzstein writes that Tiller faces charges from the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts, which could suspend or revoke his medical license. She continues, "No one knows how expediently this KSBHA complaint will be handled or what its determination will be." In addition, "No one knows whether pro-life Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) will win his party's nomination" for Kansas governor in 2010, Wetzstein says. She concludes, "No one knows whether Dr. Tiller's recent acquittal is just the latest in a long line of pro-choice successes, or it is a King Pyrrhus moment, in which victory comes at such a high cost that another one like it will utterly undo him" (Wetzstein, Washington Times, 4/7).

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