Abortion Practitioners “Are Ostracized From Their Own Medical Profession”

After Kansas physician Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed at his church for providing abortion care, his former employee, Julie Burkhart, vowed to take a stand. She bought Tiller’s clinic, and several others, and worked tirelessly to ensure that people in her home state and beyond would continue to have access to quality women’s healthcare. Amid death threats and a suspect arson at a Wisconsin facility, Burkhart says she is committed to protecting her patients and medical providers who are at higher risk of prosecution and extremist violence now that Roe has been overturned. Burkhart says she knows firsthand how scary it can be to go up against overzealous anti-abortion advocates. “It started with a pastor-- Pastor Mark Pollack bringing his flock into my neighborhood, into my house. Holding signs that I consider to be death threats towards myself and my family. And passing out fliers at least within a five block radius to my neighbors, which also had death threats, I believed. Ultimately, I was taken to court by this person. I was exonerated. Which I was very happy about. But it just shows you how these anti-choice extremists...can and they will abuse the law.”Aug. 21, 2022