Another Doctor Murdered by Right Wing Terrorists

Dr. George Tiller was murdered Sunday while serving as an usher at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita Kansas, the first such killing since the death of Dr. Barnett Slepian in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1998. Doctors David Gunn and John Britton were murdered in Pensacola Florida in 1993 and 1994.

Police have arrested Scott P. Roeder, 51, of Merriam Kansas. Roeder, associated with the Freeman Militia in the 1990’s, was arrested in 1996 after sheriffs deputies pulled him over for having a homemade license plate on his car. They found ammunition, a blasting cap, fuse cord, and a pound of gunpowder in his trunk. He was found guilty of criminal use of explosives and sentenced to probation, but his sentence was overturned on appeal. Roeder told acquaintances that he considered the killing of “abortion doctors” to be justifiable homicide.

President Obama released a statement on the shooting.

"I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence."

Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, today issued the following statement on the murder of reproductive health care provider Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, KS.

“The entire Planned Parenthood family is deeply saddened by the murder of Dr. George Tiller. While he was not a Planned Parenthood provider, he was an integral part of our community and his loss is felt by all of us.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and those close to him who are suffering a personal tragedy. Dr. Tiller was the epitome of high quality medical care underscored by deep compassion for his patients. He provided critical reproductive health care services, including abortion services to women facing some of the most difficult medical circumstances. He was continually harassed by abortion opponents for much of his career - his clinic was burned down, he was shot by a health center protestor, and he was recently targeted for investigation only to be acquitted by a jury just a few months ago.

“None of this stopped George Tiller from his commitment to providing women and their families with compassionate care that others were unwilling to offer. His death is an enormous loss for the patients who relied on him, his dedicated staff, the medical community and for women and their families across America.”