The Murder of George Tiller - Story and Reactions To His Death
Disagreeing with the act of abortion is not justification for killing a man who performed abortions.
George Tiller's Death
Dr. George Tiller, 67, was shot and killed while ushering at his church on Sunday. His clinic, Women's Health Care Services of Wichita, Kansas, was one of three providers in the U.S. that performed abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy - a point at which the fetus is considered viable. This made him a long-term target of the extremist fringe of the anti-abortion movement.
In 1985, his clinic was bombed and in 1993, he was shot in both arms by an anti-abortion protester. Thousands came to Wichita in 1991 to demonstrate as part of Operation Rescue's Summer of Mercy protests; many engaged in civil disobedience and were arrested. During this time, Tiller received protection from federal marshals.
Security was always an issue for Tiller, who employed a bodyguard for himself and hired a private security team for his clinic.
George Tiller's Life
Tiller did not set out to be a divisive figure in the field of reproductive rights. According to the Associated Press:
[H]is path was altered by a 1970 plane crash that killed his father, mother, sister and brother-in-law.George Tiller's ImpactThe former Navy flight surgeon was left with his father's family practice in Wichita, and he soon learned a secret. One of his father's patients asked him whether he, like his father, would perform abortions.
At first, Tiller said, he did not believe his father had risked his medical license by performing then-illegal abortions. But after the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortions in 1973, Tiller began providing them....
Tiller in 1997 said his "gifts of understanding" helped him bring a service to women that aided them in making their dreams of a happy, healthy family a reality.
Tiller...said abortion was as socially divisive as slavery or prohibition.
But he said the issue was about giving women a choice when dealing with technology that can diagnose severe fetal abnormalities before a baby is born.
"Prenatal testing without prenatal choices is medical fraud," Tiller once said.
Tiller contended that he pioneered the use of sonogram imaging during procedures, a process that has since been adopted by abortion providers nationwide.
Tiller's murder is a major quake along the ever-volatile abortion faultline, with some wondering how this will impact the confirmation process of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, whose position on abortion is not yet clear. Although both pro-choice and anti-abortion organizations issued statements condemning the killing, Randall Terry of Operation Rescue called Tiller a "mass murderer."
Commentary on Tiller's murder within the pro-choice and pro-life communities:
- Bonnie Erbe at US News & World Report - "Tiller Murder Is Terrorism, and All Pro-Life Extremists Are to Blame"
- Gabriel Winant at Salon - "O'Reilly's campaign against murdered doctor"
- Mike Hendricks at the Kansas City Star - "With Tiller slaying, abortion opponents lose their moral standing"
- Susan Brooks Thistlethwaithe in the On Faith blog at the Washington Post -"The Killing of George Tiller: A "Pro-life" Murder?"
- Steven Ertelt of LifeNews.com - "George Tiller Shooting Suspect Caught, No Connection With Pro-Life Groups"
- From Fox News - "Pro-Life Leaders Denounce Murder of Abortion Doctor George Tiller"
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Comments
From my understanding this guy belongs to a group that the FBI regards as terrorist. So
lets waterboard him to see what we can find out. Maybe we’ll stop another terrorist attack like the one he commetted!
If it really works, as many right wingers say, then what’s the problem?
What are they soft on terrorist? Water board the S.O.B. then give him life in prison a fate worse then death.
How many commandments are broken when someone is gunned down in church?
Thanks for having the courage to opine about this, Linda.
From the Leach “Salt Shaker” website (mentioned as being “scripturally” supportive of Tiller’s assassination), regarding killing abortion doctors:
“…so far, the only way to save hundreds, arguably thousands of unborn lives, now, has been to destroy abortion buildings or kill abortionists.”
Also: “But he does not take life seriously who condemns physically stopping the most brutal, violent murder in America today! He cares not about violence who sees it not in tearing unborn babies limb from limb but only in physically stopping it!”
Link:
http://www.saltshaker.us/AmericanIssues/Life/Prolife.html
These kinds of sites are the heart of the extremist anti-abortion movement of which Troy Newman and Randall Terry (Operation Rescue), and, obviously, Scott Roeder, are a part of.
These kinds of sites and their dogma should be more widely reported, to allow the world’s populace a closer look at the mindsets of these domestic anti-abortion terrorists.
Perhaps in bringing these individuals to light, we’ll prevent a re-run of yesterday’s Tiller tragedy.
Its a sad day when someone who killed 60,000 innocent babies is regarded as some kind of Martyr. More like Murderer. Please don’t humor us.
It is a worse day when a man enters a church with a gun, murders another person in plain sight for religious/political reasons, and is hailed as a hero.