Rightgrrl Condemns the Shooting of Barnett
Slepian
October 26, 1998
Rightgrrl would like to express its unequivocal condemnation of the
shooting of Barnett
Slepian, an Amherst, New York abortion practitioner. Such
violent, anti-life actions are contrary to everything we believe in and
completely contrary to the pro-life ethic held by the millions in the
mainstream pro-life community. Our heart goes out to the family of Barnett
Slepian, and we at Rightgrrl hope that the guilty party is caught and
punished to the full extent of the law. Rightgrrl does not condone any
type of violence in the name of "pro-life". Such actions are repugnant and
absolutely wrong.
During this tragic time, we noticed that the media is not paying
attention to the anti-violence, mainstream pro-life groups, but prefer
to focus on some of the extremists who are NOT a valid part of the pro-life
community. Why aren't the statements from Feminists for Life, the
National Right to Life Committee,
or the National Coalition for Life and Peace in the news? All of these
organizations have sent out press releases completely condemning this
violence. Yet, it seems as if the most quoted person in the media is the
fringe extremist Donald Spitz. We ask that the media start paying
attention to the mainstream pro-life organizations who have always
condemned the use of violence in any way, shape of form.
All groups, pro-life and pro-choice, must work together to stop these
horrendous actions. It is easy to point fingers at all pro-lifers, and
to place blame on anyone who holds a pro-life belief. All this
finger-pointing does though, is further validate the actions of the extreme. By repeatedly
breaking down distinctions between protestors and violent
criminals, by continually linking the pro-life movement to these lunatics,
the message that is sent to these terrorists is that they ARE part of the
pro-life mainstream. This undercuts the pro-life community's efforts to
make clear to these people that violence is unacceptable, that they
are indeed NOT welcome in pro-life circles, and that what they do is
contrary to what we're all working for.
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