Last Thursday, a federal court in Eastern Washington sentenced Donald Hertz to be confined to his home for 180 days and receive five years probation for threatening Colorado abortion provider, Dr. Warren Hern, and his family, including his 92 year-old mother. The threats followed three weeks after the tragic May 31, 2009 murder of Kansas abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller. Hertz was charged with a felony for making threats across state lines and a misdemeanor for impeding a reproductive health clinic, but received the probation sentence as part of a plea bargain. In response to the probation sentencing, Kathy Spillar, the Executive Vice President of the Feminist Majority Foundation commented, “we need to send a strong message that this is domestic terrorism, and it must be treated as seriously as international threats.” Hern remarked to the Associated Press, “We were terrified…I believed this threat, and so did every member of my family.” Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation, clarified, “these are not just a threat to Dr. Hern and his family but to all women who need his services.”
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