An abortion facility in Montana announced that it is the latest recipient of the ‘Dr. George Tiller Award’ from the National Abortion Federation. Tiller was a late term abortionist who was murdered in 2009.
Key Takeaways:
- Blue Mountain Clinic in Montana announced it has received the Dr. George Tiller Award from the National Abortion Federation.
- George Tiller was a late term abortionist who was murdered in 2009.
- A former patient sued Blue Mountain Clinic for allegedly tricking her into an abortion she wouldn’t have otherwise had.
- Former Tiller patients have shared stories of their coerced abortions under pressure from doctors, parents, boyfriends, and facility staff.
The Details:
Blue Mountain Clinic, an abortion facility in Missoula, Montana, has received the Dr. George Tiller Award from the National Abortion Federation. The facility’s executive director, Tess Fields, shared the news in a May fundraising email. She called the award “one of the highest honors in our field,” and referred to Tiller as “a beacon of care, dignity, and courage.”
“We are deeply honored to carry forward the legacy of Dr. Tiller, who reminded us to always ‘trust women.’ We accept this award on behalf of the incredible, supportive community in Montana, our donors, volunteers, and of course our incredible patients who we are so honored to serve,” she wrote.
The award was established to honor the memory of Tiller, and is presented to abortion facilities for outstanding contributions to the field of abortion.
Reality Check:
Stories from Blue Mountain Clinic and Tiller’s facility seem to indicate that, despite the catchy slogan, they didn’t actually “trust women” to make their own decisions about abortion.
Blue Mountain Clinic
In 1997, Amy Blackburn sued Blue Mountain Clinic after the facility told her that though she was HIV negative, her baby had a 50% chance of having HIV like the father — and that the Blackburn herself would likely die within a few years. According to the lawsuit, staff at Blue Mountain Clinic urged Blackburn to have an abortion, which she did.
She later learned the truth: HIV does not spread in this manner from father to child.
Legal documents noted:
Prior to the procedure, Blackburn told the Blue Mountain Clinic counselor that she was seeking an abortion only because she feared her baby would be born HIV positive.
Blackburn claims neither the counselor, nor any nurse or doctor with whom Blackburn spoke at any time prior to her abortion, explained to Blackburn that an HIV negative mother could not deliver an HIV positive baby.
In addition, Blackburn alleges, no one discussed with her any of the risks associated with the abortion procedure.
Blackburn ended up in the emergency room twice with continued bleeding and cramping. She later developed depression and was hospitalized for two weeks for abortion-related emotional trauma.
Tiller
Women who saw Tiller also reported coerced abortions.
Late abortion doctor, George Tiller
Charging extra
One woman said her doctor pressured her to have an abortion after testing showed health issues for her baby. Already 24 weeks pregnant, he sent her to Tiller and his staff, whom she called “the wolves.”
She arrived “distraught and uncontrollably shaking.” She “sobbed,” and was told the cost was $4,000 — but if she waited, she would be charged an additional $500 for every day that went by, and even more money after 26 weeks.
She has struggled emotionally since the day of the abortion, saying her fiancé “forced” her to go through with it.
Telling her mom
Another Tiller patient said she was 17 years old when her mother took her to Tiller’s facility and forced her into an abortion.
She said that as soon as her mother was out of earshot, she told the nurse she did not want to go through with it, and that her mother was forcing her.
The nurse threatened to send her to a different facility across town that would “do it against your will.” She realized they would tell her mother what she had said if she didn’t go through with the procedure.
Staff didn’t care
Another woman said she was 19 when her boyfriend and his mother told her abortion was her only choice. She added that the mother was a judge, who she claimed had told her the baby would be taken away from her if she didn’t have the abortion.
At the facility, she said several times that she didn’t want to kill her preborn baby, but no one cared.
Stepmother’s coercion
A mother explained that her daughter didn’t want an abortion — and even though she shared custody of her daughter with her ex-husband, she was unable to protect her daughter from coercion.
Her daughter’s stepmother convinced her to have an abortion, and her daughter now suffers from mental breakdowns.
The Bottom Line:
None of these stories present the image of doctors who ‘trust women,’ but of those who are eager to make money from women and girls that they believe should have abortions.
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