US Features
Obama puts spotlight on murder of abortion doctor (News Feature)
By Pat Reber Jun 1, 2009, 1:44 GMT
Washington - US President Barack Obama condemned the murder of an abortion doctor who was shot down inside a Wichita, Kansas, church early Sunday, throwing the national spotlight on the decades-old bitter struggle over the issue.
George Tiller, 67, one of the country's few physicians who performed late-term abortions, was apparently shot in the head in the foyer of the Reformation Lutheran Church as he was serving as an usher for Sunday morning services, according to media reports.
Tiller, who was injured in 1993 in an attempt on his life, reportedly wore a bullet-proof vest to church that morning, as he often did in his travels around the community.
A 51-year-old suspect was arrested 180 kilometres away from the murder site, Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said, according to the Kansas City Star online.
'We think we have the right person arrested. We're going to get him charged,' Stolz said in broadcast remarks. The suspect faces one charge of murder and two of aggravated assault after he threatened two other church-goers with his gun.
Tiller is the eighth fatal victim of a violent assault by abortion protestors since 1993, according to statistics kept by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), the professional association of abortion providers in the United States and Canada.
Since the US Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that a woman's decision about abortion was protected by constitutional privacy guarantees, federal police have become involved in investigating such murders, attempted murders and hundreds of bombing and arson attacks on abortion clinics.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said that federal law enforcement officials were coordinating with local police. He directed US Marshals to 'offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation.'
Obama, a centre-left Democrat who supports access to legal abortion, took the unusual step of commenting on the killing. Earlier this month, he signalled his willingness to grapple with the issue in a graduation speech at a Catholic university and appealed for both sides to work together to help women facing unplanned pregnancies.
Obama said he was 'shocked and outraged' by Tiller's murder.
'However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence,' the president said in a statement.
The issue of late term abortion is used graphically by anti- abortion groups to promote their cause. In addition, there is debate over the definition of 'late term,' generally seen as the 21st to 27th week of pregnancy, depending on whether the fetus is viable.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 59 per cent of all US abortions in 2002 occurred before the eighth week of pregnancy; 33.3 per cent between 9 and 15 weeks; 4 per cent between 16 and 20 weeks; and 1.4 per cent after 20 weeks.
Tiller once said that third trimester abortion - the lst 12 or 13 weeks - was 'simply a part of abortion,' according to an interview broadcast from CNN's archives. He said however that if a doctor determined the fetus could live on its own outside the womb, the operation would not be performed.
Tiller performed late term abortions 'almost always in circumstances where something had gone horribly wrong with a pregnancy,' according to Peter Brownlie, president of the Kansas City-based regional Planned Parenthood office, who was quoted by CNN.
Tiller's murder comes less than a week after Obama nominated his first candidate for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, a moderate left-leaning federal judge whose possible position on abortion will be closely, if discretely, weighed by the US Senate, which must give approval to the life-long position.
Tiller's clinic had been targeted by bombs, shootings and vandalism over the years in Kansas, a stronghold of the anti-abortion movement.
The killing brought an outpouring of condemnation from both sides.
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said Tiller's murder sent 'a chill down the spines of the brave and courageous providers and other professionals who are part of reproductive-health centers that serve women across this country.'
The feminist organization National Organization for Women called it a 'cold-blooded murder' and an act of 'domestic terrorism.'
Anti-abortion groups also deplored the shooting.
Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, said her organization was 'shocked and very upset by what happened in Wichita,' adding that they 'value life' and 'completely deplore violence.'
Another anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, denounced 'vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning.'
COMMENT
blog comments powered by DisqusLatest Headlines in US
- 1. Mitt Romney Addresses Tea Party Summit Pictures
- 2. Seven injured as US Navy plane crashes into apartments
- 3. At least three injured in US Navy plane crash
- 4. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, others to face death penalty trial
- 5. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, four others to face death penalty trial
Older Talkback
page: 1
I'm not a christian, but you don't have to be a christian to have morals and to be pro-life. I say, GOOD RIDDANCE. Some people might say that I have a double-standard because I'm both against abortion, but I'm happy this man was finally killed. Just because I'm pro-life doesn't mean that I'm against the death penalty. If you take a life intentionally you are guilty of MURDER, and MURDER should all be punishable by DEATH. I can only imagine the number of babies this man killed.
What an irony that he died in a place of worship. Maybe his god was finally fed up with his hypocricy? I've no sympathy for a man who would dare kill defenseless children in their mothers' wombs. I hear that if the children survived the abortion he'd murder them anyway by sucking their brains out or strangling them to death? This man SICKENS me. GOOD RIDDANCE. This man got what he deserved. So may it be to all murderers of unborn children. Death to them ALL.
To whining 'pro-women's rights' people: What about the rights of the child? Or does the child have no rights as long as a doctor keeps its head stuffed in your v*gina? You want something to do with your body? GET A HYSTERECTOMY and STOP KILLING CHILDREN. I'm GLAD this man is dead. Guilty of murder. Justice was done. All such men should be tried this way. Maybe there is a god after all.
And please spare me the excptions of rape and fetus anomaly. I suppose a raped woman shouldn't be forced to carry another man's child. And when an abortion is actually needed because there is a medical condition present, and it is the only way to address the medical condition, then it can't be helped. I'm not against necessary medical procedure. But 60,000 babies? 60,000 BABIES? I need to be convinced that 60,000 babies because of rape, or because the child is deformed etc. Read up on the Wichita trial! If Tiller falsely designated children as 'non-viable,' then he would have murdered children that mothers would have actually wanted!!! This man was a FRAUD!!! Forget the fact he murdered children, to me that's not a point of contention. What about the children of mothers who actually wanted their children? Michelle Armesto-Berge aborted her child at the behest of her MOTHER. Four years later she finds out Tiller falsely designated her unborn as 'unviable' so that he could KILL IT!!! THIS MAN KILLED A BABY A WOMAN WANTED! Who's 'choice' are we supposed to be fighting for here? Absolutely relieved this man is dead. A medically fradulent mass-murderer, he needed to have been condemned by our country's laws a long time ago.
Murder is also abortion. What an irony!
the logic behind this murder seems to be......
if you can't get someone to stop doing something, kill them.
he will not do any more abortions. in an atmosphere of hate and fear, a few more doctors will stop. this is what this murderer is looking for.
so you have to ask yourself if this is the kind of country you want to live in ?
freedom is only available to those who are willing to pay the price.
the price is sometimes blood.
have a nice day.
Pro-life people are heartless and evil. According to CNN, most of the women who went to see Tiller was because their life was in endanger if they had the baby. Not many doctors does late abortions even if the woman's life is endangered. In some countries where abortion is totally illegal, the women have no choice but to die.
How evil is that
'Murder is also abortion. What an irony!'
Then pro-abortionists should have no trouble with this. It's only late-term abortion, what's wrong?
Oh, I know what's wrong, Tiller's abortionist forgot to stuff his head in another woman's v*gina.
I'm pro-life.
I'm also pro death-penalty.
Death to mass-murderers.
A scourge on our society.
60,000 fetuses died because a woman's life was in dangered?
Really?
How many of those were actually fetuses that put a 'woman's life in danger,' or because of 'rape' and not fetuses that Tiller falsely called 'non-viable fetuses' just so that he would be lawfully allowed to KILL them?
Read up on the Wichita trial. Google 'Why George Tiller is on trial in Wichita.'
I've no sympathy for a medically fraudulent mass murder who should have been executed a long time ago.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
puts a bullet into Good-Riddance's head, hopefully while he is at his prayers, I will say good riddance to bad rubbish. And then donate money to that man's defense fund.
You're not pro-life, you're pro-death, and more specifically, pro women's death. Everyone who denies women their right to ensure the health of their body is a death-dealer of the worst kind.
Obama, now that he has got the mandate needs to be more decisive. He should ensure that all such abortion doctors are safe. Also, closely observe activists who do not believe in woman's rights and if they commit a crime, catch them quickly and get them the maximum possible penalty.
Explain how partially delivering a baby, crushing its skull, stuffing the baby back in and delivering it again is healthy for a woman? Women do not 'need' abortions anymore than they 'need' a hole in the head.
Would it be OK for me to stuff you into a woman's dilated vagina and kill you? Would your rights be annuled by the fact that you were in another woman's body?
Killing a baby as its being born. Or even once its born because the abortion didn't go as planned.
THAT is 'pro-death.' It is murder. It is murder and murderers should be dealt as such.
Good, riddance.
how many people are in the room as an abortion is being performed and really know what the he** they are talking about??? Don't believe everything that's printed for or against abortion until you actually walk in the same shoes. Radicals tend to believe each and every thing they've ever read or heard as long it goes along with their thinking.
The religious nut who committed this vile act today, and the sick group to which he belongs, claims his actions were 'justifiable homicide.' Oh sorry, but to make such a legal claim means you acknowledge the same secular, lawful system that already permits doctors to perform this procedure. You can't have it both ways, moron. You committed murder. Too bad your 'thingy in the sky' gave you a commandment, 'Thou Shalt Not Kill.' There were no conditions or exceptions attached. So, scumbag, you're going to rot in your hell for all eternity. Think about it, scumbag, all these years you'll still be alive. A year after you die, you'll still be rotting in hell. Ten years after, too. A hundred years. A thousand years. Ten thousand years. Ten million years. Forever. Oh, that's right... if you fall on your knees at some point before you die and proclaim your sorrow and say that you've let the 'thingy in the sky' come into your soul, you can avoid all that? How convenient. In the end, you're just a piece of crap, a emotional little girl who couldn't keep from wetting her panties, and who's about to rot and then rot again. Good riddance? I say, good riddance to one more religious nut. Under President Obama, I hope the FBI now rounds these psychopaths up and throws them in Gitmo where they belong. Oh, that's right... we're closing Gitmo. Okay, then throw them just a bit offshore of Gitmo where the sharks are plentiful. Let their 'thingy in the sky' protect them.
...what kind of murder would this president NOT condemn?
But curiosity should go as far as to investigate the world around you SP4 ,yours never go beyond cryptic insinuations .Can you rephrase your question to include a more substantial subject ? It lacks meaning.
...rarely needs to be explained. In your case, however, I'm happy to oblige.
The president condemns this murder. Just, exactly, what kind of Murder would this president not condemn? Would not the highest law official in the land condemn all murder?
No.
This president actually voted for a bill that said, if a baby were accidentially born out of an attempted abortion, the law would allow the doctor to refuse treatment for the accidentally born child.
Oh yeah, THAT Murder.
Golly, seems pretty damn clear to me. Tell us professor, how are you doing on this now? If I can help, just say the word.
Aha those murders ,why didn't you say that immediately.Those stories pertain to the fertile imagination of the usual hysterical posters we've spotted in front of the abortion clinics .Not to real life .Try again SP4 and please do yor best to convince us that suddenly you care about human lives.That would be a new discovered virtue for you.For you Tiller is a baby killer,correct ?
..aside from the fact that he's a sick son of a bitch who sticks a scapel into a fully gestated fetus coming out of the womb, do I advocate for his murder too? Heck no. Do I object to it anymore than any other murder?
No.
Every abortion can't be colored with the same crayon. There are circumstances that even SP isn't privy to, and those who think they have all the answers usually can't see the forest for the trees. Some people have a vested interest for or against abortion for one reason or another, others just take sides for the thrill they get out of causing and being involved in turmoil.
...understand, I do not advocate for this excuse of a doctor's murder, I only question why his should be singled out from all the others by the highest authoity in the nation.
...I happen to be a big fan of Roe V. Wade becuase
1) it grants the states the power to regulate abortion and
2) it says a state cannot ban an abortion for no reason.
go on SP4 you are the one that crawled out of the bucket are'nt you.
..I think even that would be better than some smartass white boy who, left without an argument, retreats into the simple insult. For that person, we use the term 'total birth abortion'.
If you're going to have a battle of wits Brian....make sure you come at least half-armed.
page: 1
Murderers For JesusJun 1st, 2009 - 02:10:22
Time for some good old fashioned Christian crucifictions. The Romans had the right idea all along.
Report this comment