May, 28 2010, 11:31am EDT
Planned Parenthood Federation of America Statement on the Anniversary of the Murder of Dr. George Tiller
WASHINGTON
Monday May 31 marks the one-year anniversary of the senseless murder of Dr. George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, Kansas, who courageously provided needed reproductive health care to women facing some of the most difficult medical circumstances and complex pregnancies.
Despite facing violence and intimidation by opponents of legal and safe abortion throughout his career, Dr. Tiller remained committed to providing women and their families with compassionate care.
On April 1, Dr. Tiller's murderer, Scott Roeder, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Although the person responsible for Dr. Tiller's murder is being held accountable, the tremendous loss of Dr. Tiller will be felt for years to come by his family and friends and the women who may need critical care when faced with a complicated pregnancy.
Dr. Tiller's murder is a reminder of the threat abortion providers face every day. We appreciate the efforts of the Obama administration and the Department of Justice to work with the reproductive health care community to address the threats and harassment that our providers deal with daily.
Planned Parenthood's hope is that the virulent and inflamed rhetoric directed at abortion providers and women who seek abortion de-escalates. There is simply no place in civil society for this outrageous and frightening intimidation.
We mark the sad occasion of the anniversary of Dr. Tiller's death by remembering his family, his community and his patients across America who were touched by Dr. Tiller's courage and compassion.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is many things to many people. We are a trusted health care provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar organizations around the world. Planned Parenthood delivers vital health care services, sex education, and sexual health information to millions of women, men, and young people.
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Amid Spying Fight, House Passes Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act
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While applauding the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of a bill to ensure that "law enforcement and intelligence agencies can't do an end-run around the Constitution by buying information from data brokers" on Wednesday, privacy advocates highlighted that Congress is trying to extend and expand a long-abused government spying program.
The House voted 219-199 for Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which won support from 96 Democrats and 123 Republicans, including the lead sponsor, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio). Named for the constitutional amendment that protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, H.R. 4639 would close what campaigners call the data broker loophole.
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Wednesday's vote followed the House sending the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act to the Senate. H.R. 7888 would reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows for warrantless spying on noncitizens abroad but also sweeps up Americans' data.
The House notably included an amendment forcing a wide range of individuals and businesses to cooperate with government spying operations but rejected an amendment that would have added a warrant requirement to the bill, which the Senate could vote on as soon as Thursday.
Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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Jeramie Scott, senior counsel and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center's Project on Surveillance Oversight, also praised the House's FANFSA passage on Wednesday.
"The passage of the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale underscores the extent to which reining in abusive warrantless surveillance is a bipartisan issue," Scott said. "We urge the Senate to take up this measure and close the data broker loophole."
Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU, similarly said Wednesday that "the bipartisan passage of this bill is a flashing warning sign to the government that if it wants our data, it must get a warrant."
Hamadanchy added that "we hope this vote puts a fire under the Senate to protect their constituents and rein in the government's warrantless surveillance of Americans, once and for all."
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As The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein and Daniel Boguslaw noted:
Since 2011, the U.N. Security Council has rejected the Palestinian Authority's request for full member status. On April 2, the Palestinian Observer Mission to the U.N. requested that the council once again take up consideration of its membership application. According to the first State Department cable, U.N. meetings since the beginning of April suggest that Algeria, China, Guyana, Mozambique, Russia, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, and Malta support granting Palestine full membership to the U.N. It also says that France, Japan, and Korea are undecided, while the United Kingdom will likely abstain from a vote.
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"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war," the group added.
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