Killer killed

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Killer killed
260
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.

Pages

Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 4:31pm

"It's the particular subject of the thread, along with the invalid analogy/comparison you provided concerning your own inability to have a given procedure.






iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 4:55pm

Every now and then I look around this thread and think we're in a cornfield somewhere in Iowa given how many scarecrows are sticking up.


And, we've yet to hear where this state, and surrounding states,

 


"      

Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 5:57pm

That's what I said, too. I opted out of the CVS because of the potential danger to the fetus.






iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 6:01pm
Hmmm.

 


"      

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-20-2009
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 6:03pm
As an aside, can I just say that I love the term "preborn"? I guess it's kind of like calling my 6 month old a pretoddler. Since he's a pretoddler, I should just put my boobs away and give him some spaghetti and a fork and let him feed himself, yes? Surely a pretoddler can do all that an actualtoddler can do, just as the "preborn" should be the same as the actualborn.
Image and video hosting by TinyPicLilypie Breastfeeding Ticker
Community Leader
Registered: 04-05-2002
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 6:07pm
Love "pre-toddler"!





iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 6:41pm

I seem to have survived ... rather be with them than Mr Tiller.

I don't know if the hospital wouldn't do them .... the physicians of the practice all refused to do them. In fact, I had to sign a form after I became pregnant acknowledging it.




Edited 6/11/2009 6:52 pm ET by postreply
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 6:45pm
In your opinion. You know what they say about those.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 6:48pm
Yep, in my opinion, an opinion based on your use of the term and the context within which it was used.

 


"      

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
In reply to: postreply
Thu, 06-11-2009 - 6:49pm
Well it would seem so-called women's health care advocates are only concerned with access for some procedures. How do you folks plan on dealing with the sudden shortage of one abortionist?

Pages