Horrible: Dr. Tiller's Wichita Clinic Will Shut Down For Good

This morning brought the distressing news that the Wichita clinic where Dr. George Tiller treated his patients will not reopen, following his death by an assassin's bullet on May 31.

"The family of Dr. George Tiller announces that effective immediately, Women's Health Care Services, Inc., will be permanently closed," read a statement sent to the reporters earlier today. "Notice is being given today to all concerned that the Tiller family is ceasing operation of the clinic and any involvement by family members in any other similar clinic."

We are proud of the service and courage shown by our husband and father and know that women's health care needs have been met because of his dedication and service. That is a legacy that will never die.

Like Dr. Tiller himself, the clinic that he ran was the target of decades of harassment, threats, and violence. After opening in the 1970s, it was the site of constant protest by anti-abortion activists. In 1985, it was bombed.

Following news of his murder, Dr. Tiller's colleagues expressed concern over the fate of his embattled clinic. In an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, Dr. Susan Robinson, a California gynecologist who used to fly out to Wichita multiple times a month to work by his side asked, "What's going to happen to all those patients? Where are they going to go?"