Killer killed
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| Sun, 05-31-2009 - 4:39pm |
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090531/D98HDH9G0.html
Abortion doc George Tiller gunned down at church
By ROXANA HEGEMAN
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - Late-term abortion doctor George Tiller, a prominent advocate for abortion rights wounded by a protester more than a decade ago, was shot and killed Sunday at a church in Wichita where he was serving as an usher and his wife was in the choir, his attorney said.
Tiller was shot during morning services at Reformation Lutheran Church, attorney Dan Monnat said. Police said a manhunt was under way for the shooter, who fled in a car registered to a Kansas City suburb nearly 200 miles away.
National anti-abortion groups had long focused on Tiller, whose Women's Health Care Services clinic is one of just three in the nation where abortions are performed after the 21st week of pregnancy.
In 1991, the Summer of Mercy protests organized by Operation Rescue drew thousands of anti-abortion activists to this city for demonstrations marked by civil disobedience and mass arrests.
Some abortion opponents had resorted to attacks against Tiller long before Sunday's shooting. A protester shot Tiller in both arms in 1993, and his clinic was bombed in 1985.
Anti-abortion group Operation Rescue issued a statement denouncing the shooting.
"We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down," said Troy Newman, Operation Rescue's president. "Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning."
Capt. Brent Allred said Wichita police were looking for a gunman who fled in a 1993 light blue Ford Taurus registered in the Kansas City suburb of Merriam, Kan. No other details about the shooting were immediately released.
The phone line at the home of Tiller and wife, Jeanne, had a busy signal Sunday.
Tiller began providing abortion services in 1973. He acknowledged abortion was as socially divisive as slavery or prohibition but said the issue was about giving women a choice when dealing with technology that can diagnose severe fetal abnormalities before a baby is born.
"Pre-natal testing without pre-natal choices is medical fraud," Tiller once said.
After the 1991 protests, Tiller kept mostly to his heavily guarded clinic, although in 1997 he opened it to three tours by state lawmakers and the media.
Tiller remained prominent in the news, in part because of an investigation started begun by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, an abortion opponent.
Prosecutors had alleged that Tiller had gotten second opinions from a doctor who was essentially an employee of his, not independent as state law requires. A jury in March acquitted Tiller of all 19 misdemeanor counts.
"I am stunned by this lawless and violent act, which must be condemned and should be met with the full force of law," Kline said in a written statement. "We join in lifting prayer that God's grace and presence rest with Dr. Tiller's family and friends."
Abortion opponents also questioned then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' ties to Tiller before the Senate confirmed her this year as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary. Tiller donated thousands of dollars to Sebelius over the years.

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Nothing new about people needing protection for a variety of reasons.
Nothing new about businesses needing security for various reasons.
Not really sure why Dr Tiller (or any other abortionist or person in this particular line of legal work) are deserving of any special recognition. Except for those that have decided abortionists should be held in higher esteem than other people.
Hey, it was your analogy/comparison, so asking for some examples based on your analogy/comparison is fair game.
How many celebrities have been killed specifically because of their profession?
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Oh, I see your confusion, once again. I thought it was obvious but needs to be explained in simpler terms for you, as often the case.
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Why is it okay to go after a man who was allowed by law to perform services that I am sure that he had permission from the patient to perform, and call him and his church all sorts of names but not okay to go after real criminals?
"Why is it okay to go after a man who was allowed by law to perform services that I am sure that he had permission from the patient to perform, and call him and his church all sorts of names but not okay to go after real criminals? Yes, I believe in abortion rights, I have never had one nor would I have one, but why should I listen to a bunch of men who say don't have one when they can't get pregnant or have a period once a month (trust me they couldn't handle the pain?)"
So we shouldn't pay any attention to pro-life men? Then why pay attention to pro-choice men? They don't get pregnant either.
I don't know what the doctors are recommending. I know that any doctor who wanted me in a clinic when I was going to die isn't one I'd trust to be my physician.
But like I said, to each their own.
"Oh, I see your confusion, once again. I thought it was obvious but needs to be explained in simpler terms for you, as often the case. I believe women should have access to all LIFE SAVING legal procedures. Obviously, yours was not a death issue because you're here. You've yet to state which legal procedure you were denied. But, no, I won't fight for a pregnant woman's right to a tummy tuck, or many such procedures, though they are legal."
How was anyone denied access to Mr Tiller and his services? Certainly everyone knew where his clinic was.
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