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Blogs Comment On Tiller's Death, Sotomayor, Other Topics

The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries.~ "Dr. Tiller -- A Gynecological Superhero," Frances Irwin, Below the Waist: Kansas abortion provider George Tiller, who was shot to death on Sunday, was "a superhero" who "never failed to serve his patients regardless of the level of property damage, physical injury and intimidation he was subjected to as a result of his service," Irwin, who works for a Wisconsin-based family planning agency, writes. Irwin notes that, for nearly a year, the clinic she works at has been targeted by "pro-life" demonstrators. At various points they"ve carried signs reading, "Family planners promote child promiscuity," "Stop ALL Abortion," "Birth Control Leads to Abortion," and that new signs mention her by name. In the wake of Tiller"s death, Irwin writes that she "realize[s] that I could be intentionally injured by someone who opposes my work." She concludes, "To some extent allowing myself to worry about this feels like cowardice because Dr. Tiller was a superhero. And that"s a lot to aspire to" (Irwin, Below the Waist, 6/4).~ "Let"s Make an Abortion Deal," William Saletan, Slate"s "Human Nature": Some participants in the White House meetings to discuss abortion in the U.S. "aren"t trying hard enough" to find "common ground" and are "refusing the simplest concessions," Saletan writes. Saletan offers four recommendations to advocates on both side of the debate, including removing the distinction between reducing the number of abortions versus reducing the need for abortions. He writes, "No ordinary person sees a difference" between the two,"[s]o let"s focus on reduction through voluntary means and stop quibbling over how it"s described." His other recommendations include antiabortion-rights advocates conceding to increased access to contraception and both sides giving up "extremism." Saletan"s final recommendation is that abortion-rights opponents allow federal funding for reproductive health groups that offer abortion information or services. He writes that a ban on direct funding for abortions is "fine, " but the "indirect funding Obama restored is hardly radical," adding, "You might even discover that the most efficient way to prevent abortions in the long term is to fund the family planning organizations you keep trying to defund" (Saletan, "Human Nature," Slate, 6/4).~ "The ABCs of Antiabortion Activism," Tracy Clark-Flory, Salon"s "Broadsheet": Tiller"s murder "has opened up a Pandora"s box for pro-lifers, giving rise to all sorts of troublesome questions about the culpability of lenient law enforcement and the movement itself," Clark-Flory writes. She continues, "They certainly won"t find salvation from Pandagon"s Amanda Marcotte, who got her mitts on a disturbing antiabortion activist handbook" now online from Justice for All "that lays bare some of the lies, deception and cynical manipulation that might have led to Tiller"s assassination." According to Clark-Flory, "The single justifiable situation for an abortion is ectopic pregnancy, the manual explains," adding, "Deception of that sort is found throughout the handbook." She writes, "Activists are instructed that when confronting targets they are to pretend that they"re A-OK with contraception" so that "their mark will let his or her guard down and think that, you know, there"s actually a rational, fact-based discussion to be had." Clark-Flory continues, "The truth, of course, is that the manual goes on to arm activists with medical misinformation that they can spread about birth control." She concludes that Marcotte "puts this tactical deceit in perfect context: "It shows one face to the initiated and another to the public, especially on the topic of contraception. Once you realize this, the movement"s half-hearted denunciations of Dr. Tiller"s murder, coupled with the enthusiastic return to calling Dr. Tiller a monster, become all the more chilling"" (Clark-Flory, "Broadsheet," Salon, 6/4).~ "Late-Term Abortions: Facts
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Physician-Owned Hospitals Under Fire In Reform Bills, While One M.D. Moves Into Franchising

The mood in Washington to compromise with hospitals, pharmaceutical makers and physician groups is not extending to physician-owned specialty hospitals, Time reports. "Any health-reform package passed by Congress will likely deal a major blow to an upstart competitor of many hospitals. Buried in the 850-page House health-reform draft is a provision that could in effect ban further construction of doctor-owned, for-profit specialty hospitals and prohibit existing ones from expanding. тЂ¦ Senators Charles Grassley and Max Baucus, who lead the body"s powerful Finance Committee, have been vocal critics of the doctor-owned specialty-hospital model and the industry expects similar language to be included in any upcoming Senate health-reform bill as well."