“Abortion is not about babies…it’s a matter of survival for women.”

Two years ago, today, I sat on the couch, stunned, as I read the news that another abortion provider had been killed.

It was a Sunday morning when Dr. George Tiller, perhaps the country’s most controversial, and steadfast, abortion provider was shot while attending church. I was reading the news online, as I did, when I saw the headline. My heart sank, and my rage rose. Tiller wasn’t the first provider to be ruthlessly murdered, and sadly, he probably won’t be the last (just last week a man in Wisconsin was arrested for plotting the first-degree murder of an abortion provider).

The elections of 2010 drove home the absolute, unqualified reminder that women’s right to safe, and accessible abortion is under assault. The Guttmacher Institute has tracked over 900 pieces of anti-choice legislation. According to the San Francisco Chronicle,  in April alone, 33 anti-choice laws were passed in 9 states. Last week the House of Representatives Committee on Rules rejected an amendment that would have reversed the ban on insurance covered for abortion for military rape survivors. (The Hyde Amendment bans federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. Since military insurance in funded by federal money…)I could go on. In fact, I could go on for HOURS. There is THAT much anti-choice activity right now.

But I digress. I started this blog to ask everyone to take a minute and reflect on George Tiller’s death. Watch this video where he talks about what it means to be a “Woman educated physician.”

He says, “Abortion is not about babies, it’s not about families….it is a matter of survival for women.” And he’s absolutely right. Abortion is about survival for women. Think about that. Survival. Not pleasure, not convenience – SURVIVAL.

Sign up for action alerts from NARAL, and Planned Parenthood. Donate time, or money, or blog space. Write a letter to the editor, and to your representative, and to your senator, or attend a rally. Do something. Anything. Get involved. Stay involved.

Women need to control their reproduction, or they’re not free.