By Kathleen Gilbert
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 30, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The late Wichita abortionist George Tiller was awarded posthumously with the International Planned Parenthood Federation's top honor over the weekend, according to the Wichita Eagle.
The abortionist's widow Jeanne received the group's Medal of Honor for “outstanding individual contribution to sexual and reproductive health” on his behalf. George Tiller was shot and killed May 31 at his Lutheran Church.
Tiller, whose booming late-term abortion business was once the source of national controversy, had boasted of killing over 60,000 children in the womb over the course of his 30-year career.
The award was presented in a Washington, D.C. ceremony by Alexander Sanger, grandson of Planned Parenthood's eugenicist founder Margaret Sanger.
“For 30 years, George Tiller stood up to protests, harassment and assaults, even being wounded some years ago in a shooting,” said Sanger.
Sanger praised Tiller for offering abortions to “women who never imagined they would ever need it – women with a wanted pregnancy that had gone terribly awry as it progressed.”
As advertised on his web site, Tiller was prepared to offer several services for such parents following the killing of their “wanted” child in a eugenic abortion. These included mementos such as a lock of the child's hair or “fetal footprints,” “memorial services” conducted by a staff chaplain, and even baptisms of the baby's remains.
The clinic also gave parents a chance to bond with the child's corpse following the abortion, in a bizarre process Tiller described in a 1996 promotional video as an “identification and separation encounter.” Tiller said the staff would bring the child's body to the parents, where they would be told “what's right with your baby” and “what's wrong with your baby,” and encouraged to comprehend that “this is your baby and you have had a delivery.”
Shortly after Tiller's murder, Planned Parenthood of America President Cecile Richards also praised Tiller as “a hero to those seeking help in the most desperate of situations.”
Operation Rescue President Troy Newman told the Eagle that he stood by his condemnation of Tiller's slaying, but said the abortionist deserves no award.
“He's become St. George to the abortion movement now because he was martyred to their cause,” Newman said.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
How George Tiller Drove his Own Employee to Join Operation Rescue
Kansas Late-Term Abortionist George Tiller Shot and Killed – Pro-Life Groups React