BulletMagnet

FloM will declare his undying love for the work of Dave Stewart. He will die because I kill him.

I'm surprised no one mentioned this before, but these are no ordinary abortions. Late-term abortions such as those Dr Tiller and his colleagues performed are not like other abortions, neither are they performed under similar circumstances. Normal abortions, the end of an unwanted pregnancy, are performed much, much earlier. These, however, are invariably exceptional circumstances. These are not abortions done on a whim. When women discover that they are pregnant and don't want it, they get an abortion fairly quickly, what comes out is indistinguishable from a chicken of the same age. But Dr Tiller terminated pregnancies that were usually eagerly awaited, that the parents wanted to carry to full term, until something went terribly wrong. The parents truly want to be anywhere else but Tiller's clinic, preferably at home, preparing for their child's life. These are later-term therapeutic abortions: they are necessary for the mother's health. Be it that she has mental health problems, they have discovered something seriously wrong with the child and/or the pregnancy process that threatens the mother, she contracts a disease that neither child nor mother will survive while she is pregnant etcetera. Many would be the victims of rape who are in no state to terminate their unwilling pregnancies any earlier. More often the child would have profound, unimaginable medical problems, was already dead or dying, formed without a head etcetera. And these situations take a major toll on the mother, mentally and physically. Dr Tiller's clinic was renowned for the thoughtful patient support it provided: counselling, support groups, religious services for the lost child etcetera. Here was a man and his staff who genuinely cared about women's health, and every day, because of people who deem women valuable only when pregnant, of people whose concern for human life ends at birth, he and his staff risked life and limb in order to provide this valuable and necessary service to women, many of whom had to travel a great distance indeed because of the actions of the fringe pro-life terrorist groups have frightened away many potential doctors and killed a few more. As far as the far-reaching consequences go, these misogynists may have already won. We have lost a great man and suffered a major blow to women's rights and women's health.

No non-orientable passages? Damn. No wonder I'm feeling a bit nauseous. Is there a non-euclidean suite I can recuperate in?

I am relieved. You would have thought an extended episode like that would inflict some severe psychological trauma, or at least kill my liking for them. I guess not.

A Jurassic Park cocktail and one cream cheese... uh... bagel, please. *flinches*

I am awake.