Abortion Provider Dr. George Tiller Assassinated

Sorted under anti-choice extremism on June 1, 2009

George Tiller Dr. George Tiller, a man who dedicated his life to women’s rights and reproductive freedoms, was murdered in the foyer of his church while handing out the church bulletin.

Dr. Tiller had become subject to much scrutiny from anti-choicers not only in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas, but across the country due to the fact that he was only one of less than a handful of abortion providers in the country to provide late-term abortion services. Throughout the past few decades, Dr. Tiller as well as his clinic, Women’s Health Care Services, had been victims of domestic terrorist attacks.

In 1986, a bomb exploded on the roof of the Women’s Health Care Services clinic. In 1991, approximately 2,000 protesters were arrested outside of his clinic during summer-long protests. In 2003, Dr. Tiller was shot in both arms by an anti-choice activist while driving away from the clinic. After a long, six year investigation of his practice, Dr. Tiller was recently acquitted of charges that claimed he had performed 19 illegal late-term abortions in 2003. And on May 31, 2009, Dr. Tiller was assassinated.

Do not let the spin of anti-choice extremists shield you from the truth–As Cara over at Feministe stated yesterday, the murder of Dr. George Tiller is indeed an act of terrorism.

I, along with all people who believe in the rights and reproductive freedoms of women everywhere and continue to fight to keep access to abortion safe, legal, and rare are saddened and horrified by the death of Dr. Tiller.

The death of Dr. Tiller is the first death of an abortion provider since the 1998 murder of Dr. Barnett Slepian who was shot by a sniper in his home in the Buffalo area.

A suspect in the murder of Dr. Tiller has been arrested and identified publicly as Scott P. Roeder, who was a member of an anti-government group in the 1990’s and a staunch abortion opponent. Roeder was arrested without incident on I-35 in Johnson County, three hours after shooting Dr. Tiller dead. He is said to have acted alone and will be charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

I will be posting more information as I receive it, but what we must keep in mind is that abortion providers not only in this country, but all across the world have dedicated their lives to the reproductive and emotional health of the women in their communities. This is an unfortunate and devastating moment where we must remember that these people are performing services that are needed, that are legal, and that in some cases, they give their lives for.



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  • Dr. Tiller's death is such a tragedy because I believe this should not happen. We don't need to go to extremes just so we can fight for what we believe in and change the way people think about controversial issues, like abortion. What Roeder did was, like what has already been said, just hypocritical.
    I, myself, think that abortion is wrong and cruel. But I accept all the criticisms people who prefer to have a choice say about it. I think it's just about respecting what others believe in, and hoping that they respect your opinions too.
  • Well, I always think that abortion is inhumane, but then again they said that the word "inhuman" has many definitions this days.
  • I am so angry... I could fucking hit someone. I've been avoiding (as far as possible) reading the pathetic excuses that the anti-choicers have, but I'm just so tired of it all...

    When websites have pictures of doctors with bulls-eyes on them, and when there is a "Tiller Watch" and when other people post lists of where doctors live, there is NO WAY that anyone with any intellectual or moral integrity could claim that this wasn't the desired outcome. Wasn't an expected outcome.

    I read Obama's words on the topic, and as has been pointed out, if he seriously is shocked that this happened, after Dr. Tiller had already had death threats and bombs and attempts on his life, then I have a greatly reduced respect for Obama's intelligence.

    This is the logical and devastating outcome of the campaigns of terror that anti-choice groups have been implementing for years. This is the ONLY logical outcome of years of rhetoric calling doctors "murderers" and "killers." If anyone thinks for even a SECOND that they can get away with saying that it was an "abberation" or a "very disturbed man" instead of placing the blame SQUARELY where it belongs, with the very disturbed anti-choice culture, I have something very important to tell you: Go Fuck Yourself.
  • This is shocking, I can't beleive the abortion debate come to this!
  • Oh great. Talk about hypocritical; a pro-lifer killing an abortionist. What we really need to make this even better is to give the killer a death sentence.

    I can only imagine that the man who shot Tiller was acting under his own distorted version of beliefs being fed to him by his religion and whatever media outlets that may have coincided with those religious beliefs.

    In my opinion; he acted no differently that an Al Qaeda follower or suicide bomber might have acted.

    I'm not blaming religion per se, but sometimes when you mix ideology with an unstable mind these things happen.

    Ironically, this does nothing to promote the so-called "Pro-Life" movement.

    Whether you believe in a woman's right to choose or not; this is not the answer.
  • a article that deserves to be discovered
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