Anencephaly: What did Dr. George Tiller do?

June 2, 5:02 PMSF Health News ExaminerJefferson Adams

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Janet FitzGerald holds a sign during a candlelight vigil for Dr. George
Tiller at a park in Lawrence, Kan., Sunday, May 31, 2009. Tiller, one of
the nation's few providers of late-term abortions despite decades of
protests and attacks, was shot and killed Sunday in a church where
he was serving as an usher. Dr. Tiller specialized in a condition called
anencephaly, which is always fatal to the baby, and often tot he mother.
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Who was Dr. George Tiller, and what did his medical practice and death have to do with a condition called anencephaly?

Dr. George Tiller, was a late-term abortion specialist killed recently after being repeatedly targeted in what many are describing as a campaign of domestic terrorism against abortion practitioners in general, and specifically against the few doctors in the United States who perform very late-term abortions.

Dr. George Tiller was one of the few doctors to specialize in aborting babies with a fatal condition called anencephaly. In an anencephalic fetus, the neural tubes never fully close, causing partial brain and skull loss. Essentially, the baby is missing most of the top of his or her head. Babies with anencephaly always die before or shortly after birth. Anencephaly is often potentially fatal for the mother as well.

Aborting a fetus with anencephaly is legal, but very few doctors perform late-term abortions, partly due to the controversy, and partly due to the rarity of the condition. One reason so few doctors specialize in this procedure is that only about one out of 150,000 to 200,000 babies born in the United States each year suffers from anencephaly.

Many people wrestle with the question of whether parents who know their baby suffers from anencephaly, should they have the right to terminate the pregnancy? Others wonder if people who do not face the situation should even weigh in. The law varies by state.