Arkansas Abortion Practitioner William Harrison Dies, Closed Center in July
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 27, 2010
Fayetteville, AR (LifeNews.com) — Arkansas abortion practitioner William Harrison, a 75-year-old who did 20,000 abortions before closing his abortion business in July, passed away on Friday. Harrison was well-known to pro-life Arkansans in the northwest portion of the state, where he did abortions in the town where the University of Arkansas is located.
Harrison died after a four-month bout with leukemia and he openly called himself an "abortionist" and, according to the Los Angeles Times, acknowledged, "I am destroying life."
Operation Rescue president Troy Newman told LifeNews.com in response that Harrison was known to mock Christians and their beliefs as they prayed for him outside his abortion clinic, and heretically called his post-operative patients "born again."
"I think it’s silly," Harrison told a reporter in February as he claimed people engaging in the 40 Days for Life campaign to raise awareness of the problem of abortion centers is ineffective. "Standing across the street and praying to end abortion — that doesn’t work."
The comment is somewhat surprising given Harrison’s previous remarks that "abortion cancels souls."
He "thanked" vigil participants for pointing out his location, because he doesn’t advertise and claimed people praying outside will help newcomers find his abortion business to schedule abortions.
Newman says he is thankful no one stepped up to do abortions in northwest Arkansas to take Harrison’s place.
"We are thankful that this man will never again have the opportunity to kill any more babies, hurt any more women, or cause any more human misery on this Earth," he said.
Newman says he is seriously concerned about Harrison’s soul and eternal destination.
"In the end, God always gets the last word. Our Christian faith informs us that one day we will all have to stand before God and give an account for our lives. Without faith in Christ, the outlook for Mr. Harrison’s meeting with his Maker is grim," he said. "We pray other aging abortionists around the nation will not follow Harrison’s example, but will instead find repentance and forgiveness for their bloodguilt through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ."
Juliet Cassell, one of the local coordinators of the 40 Days for Life campaign, said earlier this year she and local pro-life advocates were praying for Harrison.
"One of my biggest prayers is that he would have a conversion of the heart and use his medical skills and knowledge to promote life, not death," said Tiffany Dickinson, another of the 40 Days for Life coordinators.
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