Abortion Doctor Killed

Dr. George Tiller was assassinated while in church in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday, May 31st, targeted for legally performing abortions. His death might have been prevented simply through enforcement of existing laws.

The 67 year old doctor faced constant threats and incidents of violence and vandalism including a previous assassination attempt in 1993. Dr. Tiller’s clinic is one of just three in the nation performing late-term abortions after the twenty-first week of pregnancy. Tiller is the eighth abortion provider to be killed since 1977.

Democracy Now! speaks with longtime colleagues of Dr. Tiller, plays excerpts of Dr. Tiller’s 2008 address to the Feminist Majority Foundation, and hears from an abortion provider at a nearby clinic who says he warned the FBI of suspect Scott Roeder just days before Tiller was killed.

Amy Goodman’s Column: Dr. George Tiller Didn’t Have to Die
The death of Dr. Tiller might have been prevented simply through enforcement of existing laws. His alleged killer was seen vandalizing a Kansas City clinic, Aid for Women, both the week before and the day before the murder, putting glue into its door locks. The manager of that clinic, who calls himself “Jeff Pederson” to protect his identity, told me he called the FBI and local police both times, but the vandal, the alleged killer Scott Roeder, was not arrested.

Amy Goodman’s Column: Listen to this Column

June 10, 2009: Family of Slain Abortion Provider Dr. George Tiller Announces Permanent Closure of Wichita Clinic
The family of murdered abortion provider Dr. George Tiller has announced the permanent closure of his Wichita, Kansas clinic, eliminating one of the few medical practices in the country that performed late-term abortions. We speak with a close friend of Dr. Tiller’s, Dr. Warren Hern, who is one of the last doctors in the country to perform late-term abortions. We’re also joined by a genetic counselor critical of her group, the National Society of Genetic Counselors, for not putting out a public statement condemning Dr. Tiller’s murder.

June 03, 2009: Abortion Clinic Manager Reveals He Warned FBI of Suspect in Murder of Dr. George Tiller, Says Killing Could Have Been Avoided
We speak to the manager of a Kansas City abortion clinic who says he twice told the FBI last week about the suspect in the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, including the day before the killing. The suspect, Scott Roeder, vandalized the Aid for Women clinic by locking its doors shut. Using the pseudonym “Jeff Pederson” to protect his identity, the clinic manager says Tiller’s death could have been avoided had the FBI acted on his warnings.

June 03, 2009: ‘This Shouldn’t Have Been Ignored’: Tiller Colleague Dr. Susan Robinson Reacts to News FBI Was Warned on Suspected Killer
Days before she heads back to Wichita for her colleague Dr. George Tiller’s funeral, Dr. Susan Robinson reacts to the news that another abortion clinic had warned the FBI of the suspect in Tiller’s killing.

June 03, 2009: Tiller Killing Spurs Renewed Calls for US to Reverse Longstanding Passivity on Anti-Abortion Extremists
To many critics, the murder of Dr. George Tiller, the eighth abortion provider to be killed since 1977, highlights the US government’s refusal to take seriously the threat of domestic right-wing, anti-abortion extremists. We speak to author and journalist Frederick Clarkson, who has written extensively on anti-abortion violence, and Chip Berlet, senior analyst at Political Research Associates and co–author of Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort.

June 03, 2009: In 2008 Speech, Dr. Tiller Outlined Views that Underpinned Lifelong Commitment to Reproductive Rights
We play an excerpt from a March 2008 speech by Dr. George Tiller before the Feminist Majority Foundation. Discussing his vision for a just and more humane society, Dr. Tiller said, “We’ve given war, pestilence, hate, greed, judgment, ego, self-sufficiency a good try, and it failed. We need a new paradigm that consists of kindness, courtesy, justice, love and respect in all our relationships.”

June 01, 2009: Dr. George Tiller (1941-2009): Murdered Abortion Provider Remembered for Lifelong Dedication to Women’s Reproductive Health
Supporters of reproductive rights are mourning the killing of the abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. The sixty-seven-year-old Tiller was shot Sunday as he attended services at his Wichita, Kansas church. The gunman fled the scene, but a suspect was later caught in a Kansas City suburb. The suspect, fifty-one-year-old Scott Roeder, has a history of involvement in anti-abortion activism and was once arrested and jailed on explosives charges.