Dr. George Tiller, whose Wichita, Kansas, women's clinic has been the target of anti-abortion protests for years, was shot and killed at his church Sunday morning, his attorneys said. Laura Shaneyfelt, an attorney with the firm of Monnat and Spurrier, confirmed Tiller's death to CNN. The 67-year-old doctor was one of the few U.S. physicians who still performed late-term abortions. He survived a 1993 shooting outside his clinic.Rico says he's not all that much in favor of 'late-term' abortions, but he doesn't think killing the docs is the way to change that...
Wichita police said they were searching for a powder-blue Ford Taurus in connection with the killing, which took place outside Reformation Lutheran Church shortly after 10 a.m. Witnesses provided a license number of the car the killer used to speed away from the church, police spokesman Gordon Bassham said.
The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, which has led numerous demonstrations at Tiller's clinic, condemned the shooting as a cowardly act. "Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice," the group said in a statement. It offered its prayers for Tiller's family, "that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."
Abortion is one of the hottest buttons in politics, with opponents arguing the practice is tantamount to the murder of an unborn child. Abortion rights supporters argue that the decision to terminate a pregnancy is best left to the woman.
On its website, Operation Rescue refers to Tiller as a "monster" who has "been able to get away with murder", and abortion rights opponents have launched several efforts to get his clinic shut down.
In March, Tiller was acquitted of 19 counts of performing procedures unlawfully at his clinic. In 2008, a probe initiated by abortion opponents who petitioned state authorities to convene a grand jury ended without charges. The 1993 attack on Tiller left him wounded through both arms. An ardent foe of abortion, Shelley Shannon, was convicted of attempted murder and is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for the shooting.
If Tiller was slain because of his work, he would be the fourth U.S. physician killed by abortion opponents since 1993. In addition, a nurse at a Birmingham, Alabama, clinic was maimed and an off-duty police officer was killed in a 1998 bombing by Eric Rudolph, who included abortion among his list of anti-government grievances. Rudolph admitted to that attack and three other bombings, including the attack on the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, and is serving life in prison.
31 May 2009
That's one way to do it
CNN.com has an article about a solution to the abortion issue:
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