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.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2009
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:40pm

LOL!

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2009
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:40pm

So you chose the title because that's what his adversaries call him?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2009
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:42pm

Hey, Kate...maybe it was a typo.


 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2009
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:42pm
Oh, I was wrong about it being a typo.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:43pm

Actually, I thought the title fit quite well.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2009
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:43pm

Context is everything.


 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2009
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:45pm

No doubt.


 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:46pm

Preborn children huh?

 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 8:56pm
I figure it's about on par with the "products of conception" and other terms untilized by those who advocate for abortion.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-25-2008
In reply to: postreply
Sun, 05-31-2009 - 9:17pm

You mean like z/e/f, a biologically and scientifically accurate term?

 


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