SCOTUS Rules Unanimously: Abortion Protesters Can Get Right In Your Face

Via Think Progress:

The Supreme Court unanimously struck down Massachusetts’ abortion buffer zone law on Thursday, ruling in favor of anti-choice protesters who argued that being required to stay 35 feet away from clinic entrances is a violation of their freedom of speech. The decision rolls back a proactive policy intended to safeguard women’s access to reproductive health care in the face of persistent harassment and intimidation from abortion opponents.

“By its very terms, the Act restricts access to ‘public way[s]‘ and ‘sidewalk[s],’ places that have traditionally been open for speech ac­tivities and that the Court has accordingly labeled ‘traditional public fora,’ ” the opinion states. “The buffer zones burden substantially more speech than necessary to achieve the Commonwealth’s asserted interests.”

Reproductive rights advocates had been hoping the justices would uphold the policy, which they say has gone a long way to ensure that woman can safely enter abortion clinics. More than 30 pro-choice organizations filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to rule in favor of Massachusetts’ buffer zone, which was approved in response to a mass shooting at several of the state’s abortion clinics.

Christianist groups are celebrating on Twitter. The above-linked article wryly notes that protesters are not permitted on the Supreme Court's 252-by-98 foot plaza. 

Coulter On Dr. Tiller Murder

"Tiller was terminated in his 203rd trimester."

To PETA, Murder Is Just One More Opportunity To Promote Themselves

The ghouls at PETA are seizing upon the murder of Dr. George Tiller and using his murder to promote themselves in his Kansas hometown.

One version of the billboard says, "Pro-Life? Go Vegetarian." The other says, "Pro-Choice? Choose Vegetarian." Both feature a photo of three baby chicks. Lindsay Rajt, campaign manager for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the billboards were prompted by the recent shooting death of abortion doctor George Tiller, who was killed Sunday at his church. The discussion of the value of life is front and center right now in the public conversation," Rajt said today. "We think we would be irresponsible if we don't talk about how we're all guilty of extreme cruelty to animals every time we sit down to a meal that includes meat." Rajt says her group doesn't know where or when the billboards will be posted. Her staff "approached the billboard companies today, and we're waiting to hear back about availability."

Olbermann: Fox News Incited The Murder Of Dr. George Tiller

President Reacts To Current Event

Within hours of the murder of Dr. George Tiller, President Obama issued a statement calling the crime "heinous" and expressing "shock" and "outrage." The president was equally quick to react to last week's Prop 8 ruling. Wait, what?

The Tiller-O'Reilly Connection

After Dr. George Tiller was murdered in his church yesterday, all eyes turned to Bill O'Reilly, who has railed against Tiller on his show 28 times since 2005. Via Salon:

But there's no other person who bears as much responsibility for the characterization of Tiller as a savage on the loose, killing babies willy-nilly thanks to the collusion of would-be sophisticated cultural elites, a bought-and-paid-for governor and scofflaw secular journalists. Tiller's name first appeared on "The Factor" on Feb. 25, 2005. Since then, O'Reilly and his guest hosts have brought up the doctor on 28 more episodes, including as recently as April 27 of this year. Almost invariably, Tiller is described as "Tiller the Baby Killer." Tiller, O'Reilly likes to say, "destroys fetuses for just about any reason right up until the birth date for $5,000." He's guilty of "Nazi stuff," said O'Reilly on June 8, 2005; a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida, he suggested on March 15, 2006. "This is the kind of stuff happened in Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union," said O'Reilly on Nov. 9, 2006. O'Reilly has also frequently linked Tiller to his longtime obsession, child molestation and rape. Because a young teenager who received an abortion from Tiller could, by definition, have been a victim of statutory rape, O'Reilly frequently suggested that the clinic was covering up for child rapists (rather than teenage boyfriends) by refusing to release records on the abortions performed.

The piece concludes: "O'Reilly didn't tell anyone to do anything violent, but he did put Tiller in the public eye, and help make him the focus of a movement with a history of violence against exactly these kinds of targets (including Tiller himself, who had already been shot). In those circumstances, flinging around words like "blood on their hands," "pardon," "country club" and "judgment day" was sensationally irresponsible."

Kansas Abortion Doctor George Tiller Shot To Death At His Church

Dr. George Tiller, the nation's most famous abortionist and the subject of decades of protests and lawsuits, was shot to death today at his Wichita, Kansas church.

Tiller, 67, was shot just after 10 a.m. at Reformation Lutheran Church at 7601 E. 13th, where he was a member of the congregation. Witnesses and a police source confirmed Tiller was the victim. No information has been released about whether a suspect is in custody. Police said they are looking for white male who was driving a 1990s powder blue Ford Taurus with Kansas license plate 225 BAB. Homicide detectives and Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston have arrived at the church.

Operation Rescue has issued a statement deploring the murder, but over on Free Republic their supporters are hailing the death of a "satanist." Pro-life groups have protested and blockaded Tiller's clinic since the early 90's. In 1993 Tiller was shot twice by an anti-abortionist who remains in prison for attempted murder.