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Broken windows into abortion doctor's life

COLUMN ONE

Decades of threats have taught Colorado clinic founder Warren Hern to live and work under tight security. But they didn't prepare him for the slaying of his friend and fellow doctor George Tiller.

June 05, 2009|DeeDee Correll, Correll writes for The Times.

He and the other doctors won a verdict of about $108 million, although an appeals court later reduced that to $16 million.

Enyart has no sympathy. "The perpetrators of widespread injustice like slave traders and Nazis expect to go home and live in tranquillity. That's an absurd expectation."


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These days, Hern's clinic -- a drab, yellow-brick building across the street from a hospital -- is not the epicenter of protest as it was in the '80s and '90s. But opponents regularly show up, and Enyart said his group pickets outside Hern's home on holidays every year.

This week, after the news of Tiller's death, the streets outside the clinic were quiet. But inside, one staff member described her tension: "Tight jaw, low-level anxiety."

But the doctor said he had no choice but to show up for work. "We're pretty busy taking care of people who said they couldn't find anyone else to do it."

A staff member knocked at the door, and Hern stood to go. He had patients waiting.

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