Cheryl Sullenger, the senior Vice-President of the anti-choice group Operation Rescue is very, very hurt and upset. What hurt her feelings, you ask? Well! Abortion provider Warren Hern took out a full page ad in the Denver Post in which he had the utter gall to refer to some people in the "pro-life" movement as terrorists.
In the letter, addressed to girl genius Marsha Blackburn, who is currently "investigating" Hern to make sure he's not selling any fetal tissue -- a thing no one is actually doing outside of the fevered imaginations of anti-choice activists -- Hern says,
You and your Republican Party are vigorously allied with a violent terrorist movement that threatens the lives of women, their families and healthcare workers. As part of this sham “investigation,” your letter to me and letters to other physicians constitute a program of target identification for anti-abortion assassins. You can deny this, but it is a fact.
Your “investigation” is legislative harassment that endangers our lives. The blood of any of us who are assassinated is on your hands.
Sullenger could hardly believe that Hern would use such language to describe her and her compatriots!
“Hern’s warped perception of the work of a peaceful pro-life movement that sacrifices to aid pregnant women and provide loving alternatives to abortion – acts that he considers ‘terrorism’ — reveals how much Hern is deceived by his own fears and prejudices.
[...]
Hern’s hateful missive is typical of “liberal-speak.” Anyone who disagrees with the Left is hated, disrespected, castigated, bullied, and demonized.
Now, she would have a point, perhaps... if she were not actually a terrorist herself .
You see, in 1987, Sullenger was involved in a failed plot to bomb an abortion clinic, for which she was sentenced to three years in prison. The only reason the gasoline bomb didn't go off and hurt anyone is because its fuse was blown out by the wind. So, she's literally an attempted terrorist who is quite indignant about someone classifying her as a terrorist. We aren't sure how exactly the firebomb would be classified as a loving alternative to abortion, as fire and bombs both tend to be rather harsh.
Following her stint in prison, Sullenger aided Scott Roeder in stalking abortion provider George Tiller, providing him information on Tiller's whereabouts and court dates. Roeder then used that information to murder Dr. Tiller. Operation Rescue also operated a site called "Tiller Watch," where they published Dr. Tiller's home address -- presumably not so people could send him Christmas cards. They also regularly attempt to stalk and harass employees of abortion clinics into quitting their jobs. Lovingly.
Banned by law from blockading clinics as it did in its early days, Operation Rescue has taken its offensive to the front lawns and mailboxes of clinic workers. In Wichita, members of the group rummage through employees' garbage in search of incriminating information. They tail them around town as they run errands. They picket clinic staffers at restaurants while they're inside having dinner and castigate them while they're standing in line at Starbucks.
Oh! And you know Paul Hill, who murdered abortion provider John Britton in Pensacola, Florida? Sullenger and Operation Rescue were VERY upset that he was not allowed to argue "justifiable homicide" in court. The woman positively reeks of love.
Now -- do all anti-choice people go around bombing clinics and helping to get abortion providers murdered? Do all of them suggest that people who kill abortion providers should be allowed to argue justifiable homicide? No, of course not. But you know who does? Cheryl Sullenger! The very last person on earth who should object to Dr. Hern's characterization of the more militant and violent branches of this movement and its firebombs of Christ's perfect love.
[ Raw Story ]
She wouldn't be my first choice.
Oh, she does, you can count on it.