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.
10 Responses to “Armed and dangerous”
This news is very sad. Dr Tiller provided women with excellent health care and support in what is probably the hardest decision of their lives.
Just because you disagree with someone, you don’t have to kill them!
Oh dear Len,
Seems like this Monday’s bloghopping is reading up sad, sad News….(also read sad news today at other Blogs too.)
The “Wild, Wild West” is still very much alive in the homeland. ‘Tis sad.
I’m sure that the assassin, and those celebrating his evil act, see no dichotomy between their beliefs and their actions. Some people believe in their cause no matter what…because the cause has become everything.
aw. how sad.
i am against abortion but i respect those women who are into it. Much more a doctor who are for women’s health and empowerment like Dr. Tiller. I agree with Jan. Just because you disagree with someone who has beliefs different from yours, you don’t have to kill him. Really really sad. I hope justice will be serve for Dr. Tiller and his family.
I thought the right-wingers proclaimed themselves “pro-life?” But apparently, they’re also pro-war and pro death penalty. Sounds hypocritical to me. If they were pro-life, they wouldn’t want any living thing to die.
A very popular misconception (no pun intended) among some people seems to be that the late term abortions that Dr. Tiller was performing were being done at the whim of and for the convenience of the mothers. It’s like people think that these women got to the sixth month in their pregnancies and suddenly decided… well, gee, I don’t think I want this baby after all. So they went to Dr. Tiller and he took it out of them.
Late term abortions are extremely rare in this country. In fact, there were only three doctors (now two) in the entire country performing them. They were done only when medically necessary to save the life of the mother and when chances of a viable birth were practically nil.
Dr. Tiller was not a murderer. He didn’t get his jollies out of killing babies. He was performing a very vital, though admittedly unpleasant, medical procedure on women who would have lost their lives without it.
For “Christians” to be casting judgment on this man and determining that he is now going to spend eternity burning in hell for what he did is just simply wrong. In so, so many ways.
Though America has a long history of killing people who are perceived to be killers, from capital punishment to preemptive wars. It isn’t exactly “pro-life” though.
so many wrongs on so many levels…
I’m a conservative, Christian, pro-lifer. Please don’t associate this extremist wacko with the conservative right – we don’t want him, either! Pro-life is a touchy subject, and I thank God I haven’t ever been in a situation like being pregnant from a rape or anything – the women who have to make those choices are in a position I wouldn’t wish on anyone. However, life is sacred, and I personally know young girls who have had multiple abortions as a form of birth control. If abortion was meant to only be used in cases where the mother’s life is at risk, they definitely would have been thrown in jail. This is a sinful world we live in, whether its babies or adults killed. Not a single one of us in this world is guiltless, and not one sin is better or worse than another. Please know that not all Christians out there are hypocrites. I think a lot of the hypocrites out there are people who fail to realize that everyone has a right to their own opinion, and just because they have their own doesn’t mean that it’s correct, either. I read your blog regularly. I don’t necessarily agree with you on everything, but it’s important to expose yourself to opinions other than your own. Otherwise, how will we even begin to understand each other? (Sorry – I know it’s a bit wordy!)