You cannot claim to hold no responsibility for what other people do when you call for people to besiege Tiller’s clinic, as O’Reilly did in January 2008. And this was after Tiller had been shot in both arms and after his clinic had been bombed.

O’Reilly knew that people wanted Tiller dead, and he knew full well that many of those people were avid viewers of his show. Still, he fanned the flames. Every time I appeared on his show, I received vitriolic and hate-filled e-mails. And if I received those messages directly, I can only imagine what type of feedback O’Reilly receives. He knows that his words incite violence.

That is why I made a personal pledge to no longer sit across from him after he called for people to converge on Tiller’s clinic. I realized that appearing on the show with him would only legitimize his speech and that no good would come of my efforts.