May 31 2009
Armed and dangerous
The big news today seems to be the murder of Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas…
Doctor who performed abortions shot to death
Dr. George Tiller, whose Kansas women’s clinic was the epicenter of the state’s battles over abortion for nearly two decades, was shot and killed at his church Sunday morning, his family said.
Tiller, 67, was fatally shot shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday at Reformation Lutheran Church, Wichita police said.
Sunday afternoon, authorities took a man into custody near Kansas City after stopping a car that matched a description of the killer’s getaway vehicle, according to sheriff’s deputies in Johnson County, Kansas. No charges had been filed and a motive for the killing was not immediately known.
Witnesses provided a license number for a powder-blue Ford Taurus they said the killer used to speed away from the church, police spokesman Gordon Bassham said.
Tiller was one of the few U.S. physicians who still performed late-term abortions. In 1993, he was shot and wounded through both arms outside his Wichita clinic. Shelley Shannon, an ardent foe of abortion, was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting and is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison.
Tiller “dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality heath care despite frequent threats and violence,” his family said in a written statement.
“We ask that he be remembered as a good husband, father and grandfather and a dedicated servant on behalf of the rights of women everywhere,” the family said.
In a statement issued through Tiller’s lawyers, his family — a wife, four children and 10 grandchildren — said their loss “is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America.”
Warning: America’s right is angry, armed and dangerous.
Abortion is a hot button topic for the right wingers in America. It, along with gay marriage and gun control, is one of their favorite wedge issues. They get rather worked up about it.
I’ve never felt particularly strongly about abortion one way or the other. It has never really been an issue in my family or among my friends. I guess if I were pressed, I would come down on the side that says a woman should have control over her own body. I find it kind of ironic that those who oppose government sponsored health care on the grounds that government bureaucrats would then determine the kind of health care one receives (what exactly do they think the big for-profit insurance companies are doing right now?) are the very people who say that government should restrict the kind of health care available to women in this country.
At any rate, I hope Dr. Tiller’s assassin is caught and justice dealt swiftly. This business of killing people in this country because you disagree with them politically is getting entirely out of hand.
