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I have pondered whether or not to make reference to the murder of Dr George Tiller, also known – to some – as Tiller the Killer, thanks to his willingness to perform late term abortions, and to others as a hero who helped those in need of help when others refused to do so.

In particular, his simple statement “Prenatal testing without prenatal choices is medical fraud” resonated with me, although ultimately I decided that the issue was beyond the scope of this blog.

However, Patricia E. Bauer has linked to a discussion in DoubleX magazine involving Ayelet Waldman, author of Bad Mother, and Elizabeth Weil, a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine.

The discussion covers the issues surrounding late-term abortions with a specific reference to Down’s syndrome and with honesty and candor, attempts to widen the debate with the hope of finding some common ground. It is certainly though-provoking. Perhaps that, ultimately, will be the legacy of Dr George Tiller. We can but hope.

I’d encourage everyone to read the discussion in full:

“I guess I should start by telling you what happened to us. I’m not telling to get your sympathy, but so we can have a conversation, the one that really needs to be had, about what late abortions are really like and why women have them.”

“It’s only once you join the Dead Baby Club that you realize how tragically large it is.”

“Which babies have defects so serious we think it’s OK to decide they can’t live? What do you think about a baby with cystic fibrosis? What about a blind or a deaf one? We all know great people born in horrible bodies. Should we be allowed to say, no thanks, I’d rather try again for a better-formed kid?”

“Every child should have access to clear and honest information about sex, and to birth control. Every woman should have access to prenatal care and to the health and other services that remove the economic imperative from the decision about whether to have a baby.”

“How do we capitalize on Obama’s promise of change—and the galvanizing horror of Tiller’s assassination—to move ahead the country’s abortion debate, particularly with regard to the late ones?”

“It’s so much easier to vilify a fantasy, but when the object of your loathing turns out to be your friend or your sister, then suddenly things become much more complicated, suddenly you become capable of seeing shades of gray when once the world looked black and white.”