October 26, 1998
As I compose this letter -- another in a never ending series -- one more family is grieving the loss of a father, husband, brother, and son. I can certainly sympathize, in the true definition of the word, with the Slepian family in their time of loss. You see, I am all too familiar with the murderous tactics employed by those who claim to be working in defense of righteousness. However, wolves appear in sheep's clothing; and the world is littered with false prophets and truths. . . yet I drift.
As many of you know, Dr. Barnett Slepian is the latest casualty in an increasing war on civil liberties. As churches burn throughout the Southeast, homosexuals are beaten to death in the Northwest; a victim of police brutality rots somewhere in an anonymous jail, and a nameless wife lies on the floor beaten by a "loving," patriarchal husband; and yet another abortion provider is dead in the morgue, victim of an assassin's bullet.
The sniper had, obviously, stalked Dr. Slepian; furthermore, as the attack occurred at his home, the assassin knew his target well. Dr. Slepian was killed in his kitchen while in his Amherst, New York home. Dr. Slepian's murder increases the current death count to seven -- eight if you include Mobile's Dr. Patterson who was, supposedly, the victim of a "botched robbery."
Only days before the most recent assassination, the National Abortion Federation released a member alert reminding clinics and providers to be especially careful during this time of year. Three Canadian doctors have been shot in their homes by snipers on or near Remembrance Day (a Canadian holiday similar to Memorial Day in the U.S.). In addition, the alert announced that a doctor in Rochester, New York had been shot in his home by a sniper on October 28, 1997, and warned that both Canadian and U.S. abortion providers needed to increase security at clinics and at their homes during this time.
Dr. Slepian's tragic slaying only reinforces the theory that there is an organized, systematic, and bold attack on your civil liberties. If you think this only happens to abortion providers then you need to rethink your position. While you may consider abortion to be an issue which has no effect on your life, statistics prove that someone you know has had an abortion. In addition, individuals who try to limit civil liberties and freedoms typically attack the most unpopular freedoms first. Admittedly, abortion is an unpopular issue to defend; however, the women's suffrage movement was also considered unpopular in its early days; the anti-slavery movement was seen as a radical, terroristic movement; the civil rights movement was viewed by Southern politicians and white religious leaders as a Communist (which means evil in the South) civil revolution; homosexual groups are viewed as pedophilic, immoral individuals bent on corrupting the youth; and those committed individuals who are dedicated to the struggle for free choice are portrayed as murderous, NAZI, Satanists who survive on an insatiable blood lust. As I write, and as you read, conservative, religious groups are uniting to undo all the progress we have made. Obviously, there is no more time to debate the issues while we run for our very lives!
It is imperative that every social leader engaged in the struggle for freedom stand together in opposition to the current attack on Dr. Slepian. We the Pro-Choice, racially-integrated, sexually-secure, and freedom-committed are the true forces of righteousness. It is our civil duty to rebel against those whose mission it is to rob us of our freedom of choice! Please get involved! Write your editor, your congressman, and your clinic; tell them you support abortion services. Do not be afraid to STAND UP for your rights. It is your responsibility to secure freedom for your children; do not hesitate or it will be too late. One murder is unacceptable; any more are the fault of our lack of action.
Please, before it is too late, make a committed stand.
[posted October 29, 1998]
Reproductive Freedom Index | R&R Main Page
Join Refuse
& Resist!
305 Madison Ave., Suite 1166, New York, NY 10165
Phone: 212-713-5657
email: info@refuseandresist.org