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Special Report

Carole Joffe: Inside George Tiller’s Clinic

First published online:

| DOI: https://doi.org/10.1363/psrh.12057

In May 2009, Dr. George Tiller, one of the few U.S. providers who performed third‐trimester abortions, was assassinated at his church by an antiabortion activist. Dr. Tiller was admired in the abortion community not only for his courage—he and the staff of his clinic in Wichita, Kansas, had long been targeted by protesters, and he had continued his work despite an earlier attempt on his life—but for the thoughtful and sensitive care his clinic provided. Five months after Dr. Tiller’s death, Carole Joffe, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, flew to Wichita to interview his former staff members. She reported her findings in a 2011 issue of Perspectives and recently discussed her experience in an interview with one of the journal’s editors. That interview originally appeared on Perspectives@50, a blog celebrating the journal’s 50th year of publication, and is reproduced in our June issue.