Supporters of the pro-choice movement are holding a rally in Vancouver Thursday night in tribute to an American abortion provider who was assassinated last month.

The event at Grandview Park will honour Dr. George Tiller, who was shot to death by a pro-life advocate in a Kansas church on May 31.

Joyce Arthur, with the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, said clinics in Vancouver referred patients to Tiller because there’s little access to late-term abortion services here.

“Many of us knew George,” said Arthur. “We thought it was import to honour him here because it’s not just an American issue. We had shootings here in the 1990s. We see similar hateful rhetoric here.”

Arthur said there’s a misconception that late-term abortions – those performed after 22 weeks – are performed on healthy fetuses.

“People think there are women out there who are having late abortions so they can fit into their prom dresses,” Arthur said, adding the reality is that most women who need the procedure planned their pregnancy.

“They discover late that there are severe abnormalities with the fetus that are not compatible with life.”

In other cases, the pregnancy puts the mother’s life at risk.

“It’s a scandal that women are forced to travel to Kansas for these procedures,” Arthur said.

Jill Doctoroff, director of Vancouver’s Elizabeth Bagshaw Clinic For Women, said there are few abortion providers trained to provide the complex procedures here.

“There are services available in the second trimester, but later than that, women are often going to travel to the United States,” she said.

Arthur said while most pro-life organizations have condemned Tiller’s murder, they are still responsible for fanning the flames of hatred for extremists.

“They might be condemning the murder in public, but privately they’re drinking champagne,” she said. “There’s a lot of that sentiment around that he deserved what he got.”

But Betty Green, president of Vancouver Right To Life, said the violent actions of a few extremists tarnish the name of the movement, which supports the right to life for all people.

“We’d rather see Dr. Tiller found guilty and be stripped of his licence to practice,” Green said. “We certainly don’t advocate killing anybody but would rather see justice. That’s not justice.”