Washington Post Opinion Piece Examines O'Reilly's Role In Tiller Murder

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 08 Jun 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is "being incredibly disingenuous when he claims that he bears no responsibility for others' actions in the killing of Dr. George Tiller on Sunday," Mary Alice Carr, vice president of communications for NARAL Pro-Choice New York, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece. "When you tell an audience of millions over and over again that someone is an executioner, you cannot feign surprise when someone executes that person," she continues, adding that "O'Reilly knew that people wanted Tiller dead, and he knew full well that many of those people were avid viewers of his show. Still, he fanned the flames."

Carr writes that she has pledged to no longer appear on O'Reilly's show because she realized that her appearance "would only legitimize his speech and that no good would come of my efforts." She adds that when a producer called her to come on the show following Tiller's murder, she responded that, among other things, the community of abortion-rights supporters "hold[s] O'Reilly responsible for helping to create a climate in which hate was allowed to fester."

Carr notes that following Tiller's death, "O'Reilly had the opportunity to apologize for his words" and "say that this tragic outcome was something about which he felt sorry," but "[h]e didn't." She adds, "When restraint and perspective were called for, he fanned the flames higher." Carr concludes that she will not appear on O'Reilly's show because "if the murder of a man in a house of worship wasn't enough to make Bill O'Reilly repent, what hope d[o] I have?" (Carr, Washington Post, 6/4).

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