'After Tiller' takes its name from Dr. George Tiller, the pioneering physician who conducted third trimester abortions, and was murdered by an anti-abortion zealot in Wichita, Kansas in 2009. The documentary chronicles the four doctors who trained under him and now are the only physicians in the world who conduct this complicated procedure.
The documentary begins chillingly with a 911 call from the scene (Dr. Tiller's church), where he was murdered. We then begin to meet the four physicians, all of whom to this day, face death threats. One of the physicians, Dr. LeRoy Carhart, defiantly informs us that he won't give into "terrorists." We see him ending up moving his clinic from Nebraska to Maryland after Nebraska passed a law that abortions could not be conducted after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Drs. Susan Robinson and Shelley Sella alternate at a clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Robinson makes it clear that she won't and can't accept every case. Everything is done on a case by case basis; sometimes, a woman is too far along in the pregnancy or there isn't a compelling enough reason to say yes. Sella is circumspect: she admits that she's not aborting a 'fetus' but actually a baby, that is stillborn, and she struggles with that idea.
Dr. Warren Hern practices out of Boulder, Colorado. The documentary highlights how his decision to do this kind of work, had for a long time left him lonely and taken a personal toll on his psyche. The continuing threats against him led to the breakup with his first wife and it was only much more recently, that he met another woman and got married.
The value in 'After Tiller' is that it shows that there are very good reasons why late abortions are necessary. The most compelling reason revolves around women who find that their babies, due to fetal abnormalities, will be born with severe birth defects or only live for a short while, in great pain. There is also the case of women who are raped. It's quite understandable why women in this situation, would not want to give birth. During the film, women are interviewed (their faces are not shown), who find themselves in these harrowing positions.
There are also cases where teenagers get pregnant and are unaware (or are in denial) about the pregnancy. They simply are not emotionally prepared to give birth or raise a child. Before any of the doctors agree to the abortion, they carefully make sure if this is what their patients want. They don't browbeat them into anything as pro-lifers have suggested.
One can only feel contempt for a great majority of the anti-abortion zealots who are constantly harassing these professional practitioners. After all, women have the right to do what they want with their own bodies, especially when they're faced with the excruciating reality of raising an extremely handicapped child. Don't expect the anti-abortion crowd, these holier than thou hypocrites, to volunteer to raise severely handicapped children themselves for the rest of the child's life (some of whom grow to adulthood unable to speak or walk). The same goes for rape victims.
And what of teenagers who aren't ready to have a baby? Is it right to insist that a teenager who is merely a child, to give birth, and then is unable to raise the child properly? Imagine the consequences to that child when they're either neglected, abused or even abandoned. All because a fanatical group insists on an abstract concept called the 'sanctity of life' without examining the reality of a woman's situation.
Ultimately it is the lack of flexibility that drives the anti-abortion crowd. They're not interested in what's going on with women who are simply not in a position (or ready) to give birth. They expect everyone else to make extreme sacrifices but when push comes to shove, they would not make those sacrifices themselves.
'After Tiller' boldly does an excellent job, highlighting the professional job the four doctors do in conducting late trimester abortions. The more people see this film, they will have an understanding why in many cases, the late trimester abortion is a necessity, instrumental in saving women, from a future life of dread, that they have no desire to experience.
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