Pro-life groups condemn slaying of late-term abortionist

June 01, 2009

George Tiller, the nation’s most prominent late-term abortionist, was killed on May 31 while serving as an usher at his Lutheran parish church in Wichita. Pro-life leaders joined in condemning the killing.

“Kansans for Life deplores the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and we wish to express our deep and sincere sympathy to his family and friends,” said director Mary Kay Culp. “We value life, completely deplore violence, and are shocked and very upset by what happened in Wichita today.”

Tiller had risen to nationwide attention in 1991 when he became the focus of the "Summer of Mercy" initiative, during which hundreds of people were arrested outside his busy abortion clinic in Wichita, at the height of the campaign of civil disobedience orchestrated by Operation Rescue. Undaunted by the attacks and by later attempts to prosecute him for medical violations, Tiller became a prominent spokesman for the abortion industry. He also remained an active member of the Reformation Lutheran Church. More recently he had been in the headlines because of his heavy financial backing for Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who was chosen by President Obama for the Cabinet post of Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Tiller had survived an earlier assault in 1993, when a gun-wielding assailant left him with relatively minor wounds in both arms.

Wichita police have arrested Scott Roeder-- a Kansas resident with reported ties to an anarchist movement that justifies the use of violence to prevent abortion-- for the killing.

 

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Further information:

• Man charged in slaying of Kansas abortion doctor (CNN)
• George Tiller Shooting Suspect Caught, No Connection With Pro-Life Groups (LifeNews.com)
• Pro-Life Groups Soundly Condemn Murder of Abortion Practitioner George Tiller (LifeNews.com)