Dr. George Tiller, an assassinated late-term abortion doctor, is presented explaining there are risks involved with many different careers, and he would prefer a short term fulfilling career, than one with “mediocrity” in the opening scenes of the 2013 film After Tiller, directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson. With a voiceover narration of a 9-1-1 call and news reports, it is explained that Dr. George Tiller was assassinated; multiple attempts to take his life had happened throughout the years, but someone finally succeeded. The film gives the point of view of the only four doctors left in the country that perform late-term abortions, or abortions after the twenty-first week of pregnancy has begun, and why they chose this path for themselves. It also gives insight on the parents making the decision to abort their children, many due to disease or fatal illness, and the pain and struggle the doctors and patients go through making the final decision.
After the introduction of the film, a fading screen soon reveals the Abortion & Contraception Clinic of Nebraska, and protestors praying outside of the entrance. A woman, whose face is not shown, is then shown being given an ultrasound by a nurse and Dr. LeRoy Carhart, one of only four doctors left in the country that perform late-term abortions. He’s then seen consoling the patient. Carhart explains that Tiller’s life path affected everyone that followed in his footsteps deeply. He goes on to say that he must finish the mission, just as Tiller and himself were taught in the military.
Switching scenes, a Dr. Susan Robinson appears explaining that she had to continue the work Tiller started along with one Dr. Shelly Sella in New Mexico. It’s explained that the doctors alternate weeks flying out to New Mexico because they are currently living in California. Sella is then shown in pictures with Tiller explaining that she felt a connection with him, and she misses him. She’s then seen in a support group with at least four or five women and men explaining why they are deciding to get the abortion so late. One woman explains that her baby was diagnosed with arthrogryposis and would not be able to bend at her joints. The father explains they did not want to put their daughter through a life full of pain, and he begins to cry explaining he was the third child in his family to have a baby, and everyone was excited for the pregnancy. Another woman then explains that the brain of her child would not ever fully develop and her baby’s father says that he just wants his baby to have a good quality of life.
The film switches perspectives and shifts to a clinic in Boulder, Colorado with a similar scene to the Nebraska clinic: protestors outside speaking about how horrible the practice is, and they finish by praying. Dr. William Hern is then presented with a patient explaining that she was relieved after her procedure. Hern further explains that the woman should go to the police and report that she was raped. Delivering babies, Hern explained, was what he loved doing in medical school. He also explained that “there was one ward of women recovering from child birth, and two wards with women recovering from illegal abortions.”
Carhart is then brought back to the screen with his wife, and she explains, “He sleeps at night, I’m the one who can’t sleep…I just still worry.” Carhart further explains the reason he does late-term abortions and he justifies it by explaining the women he saw in medical school that tried to take abortion into their own hands because it was not yet legal; he said one woman said to him, “I tried using a chopstick.”
In New Mexico, a counselor named Susan is then shown on the screen explaining the procedure to someone on the phone. She explains the day-by-day process of the “labor and delivery” that will take place, and emphasizes that it is not a surgery to who she is speaking with. A nurse is then shown with another counselor explaining the difficulty of a situation with a woman who wanted to keep her baby. The counselor is then shown with the woman asking her questions about the pregnancy. The woman explained she was twenty-six weeks when she found out about the fatal illness the baby had: Walker-Warburg lissencephaly. She explains that every doctor explained he would be in a “vegetative” state, and she did not want him to be in pain.
Dr. Susan Robinson is then brought back onto the screen explaining that her job is so sad that she cannot help but cry. She said seeing a woman hold her baby that had a fatal illness is heartbreaking. She explains that the only time they get to “say hello to their baby, they have to say goodbye to it too, you can just see it rips them apart.” She is then seen exiting the clinic explaining in a voiceover narration that the sadness is what makes her career path so “trying.”
Carhart is then reintroduced onto the screen observing his daughter ride her horse. He explains that an act of terrorism took place when someone went and lit the barn on fire to try and kill the horses out of spite of his career path. He explained that “if they wanted me to quit, then I would quit everything else.”
Robinson and her previous patient was brought onto the screen, both crying. The patient cries to Robinson saying she could not thank her enough for the precious gift she gave them. She goes on to say that the people “who shout at you from the outside…” are yelling out of hate, and the “exact opposite is happening in the inside of the building.” Robinson thanks the patient and asks her if she has any regrets. The patient answers that she had none because her son, Hudson, would have been in pain either way, and she did not want him to suffer.
The film changes perspectives and shows Hern and his mother. His mother says she does not think many people pay attention to abortions much until someone publicizes it in some way. Hern asks his mother how many bullying phone calls she has received, and she answers with, “oh, I don’t know Warren. People call, and I just hang up.” She supports her son by explaining that she does not pay attention to it because she only wants him to be happy. Hern is then shown getting his picture taken and then entering a ski lift, stating in narration that the threats he has received from prolife supporters has affected his life outside of his career greatly. He goes into greater detail by explaining an attack that took place where someone shot five bullets through the front window of his clinic, and every day he waits to be killed.
When doctors began to get shot, that’s when Robinson decided to go into the work of abortions. By “pulling your head in” to bullies, that does nothing to help the problem, so the other option people have is to go, “Oh yeah?” and Robinson explains that is why she still does the work she does. She is shown with her husband and explains that he is very supportive of her, although it is hard to travel on such a regular basis. Dr. Sella is reintroduced also explaining that her wife is also supportive of her work, although the traveling takes a toll on her marriage. She states, “that’s just how my life is.”
Carhart explains that with a new act in place, he must send women to the only other doctors in the country that perform these late-term abortions, although many cannot afford it; even if they can afford it, they may lose almost everything in their life while getting the abortion.
Dr. Hern is then shown with a patient whose pregnancy was completely planned, but her baby would suffer from severe mental disabilities. As she scrunches a tissue in her hand, she explains that she would not want her daughter to suffer. Hern then consoles the patient and hugs her.
Carhart and his wife are then shown searching for a new potential clinic in Maryland. Many are then shown protesting the potential clinic in court. A voiceover of a newscast then explained that a “deed restriction” was then placed on a property that Carhart was supposedly considering. “The day Dr. Tiller was murdered, we have been in a war,” explained Carhart.
Sella speaks to a patient about finances. The patient explains she could not afford a child, and has saved most of her money to get the procedure. She explains that she has not been taking care of herself, and she drank in the beginning of her pregnancy and did not take any prenatal vitamins. She said she is getting to the point where she is O.K. with her decision and hopes that “God will forgive” her. Sella further explains in her interview that the reason she struggles is because she is aware that it is a baby and the argument of it only being tissue cannot be made anymore. “It sounds barbaric, doesn’t it?”
Carhart is brought back into the picture looking at different properties with his wife to open his a potential clinic. He finds a landlord that will rent to him, and signs a lease.
Dr. Sella is then shown in her interview again saying that the community of Wichita is solely responsible for the assassination of Dr. Tiller. She explains that, “everyone loved him when they needed him. When their kid needed an abortion. But that was all secret.”
The landlord who rented to Carhart was then targeted. Protestors picketed at his daughter’s elementary school. After these protests occurred, the landlord explains to Carhart that his father also performed abortions, and he has been attacked for it his entire life. He explains that he will allow Carhart to continue his practice because he will not give into the bullies. Carhart says in an interview that the loss to Dr. Tiller’s family was “the biggest loss that occurred.”
As the film closes, Hern explains that he has to be an abortion doctor. It was something that he had to do to help people. He is seen with his family visiting his mother and then driving back home. The film screen goes black and words appear on the screen stating that Dr. Carhart was able to open his practice in Maryland, even with the protests, and the screen fades into the credits (After Tiller).
Work Cited
Shane, Martha, Lana Wilson, Greg O'Toole, Warren M. Hern, Leroy Carhart, Susan Robinson, Shelley Sella, Hillary Spera, Emily Topper, Andy Cabic, and Eric D. Johnson. After Tiller., 2014.
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