Terrorism in Wichita

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 6/2/9 | Debra J. Saunders

[SmithL]

If law enforcement officials believe they can prove that Scott Roeder is guilty of Sunday's shooting death of abortion doctor George Tiller at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kan., then they should work to put him away for life. Roeder is being held on first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

In killing Tiller, the gunman did more than commit one violent act that ended a man's life. The slaying also served to intimidate abortion providers - and perhaps chase some professionals out of the practice altogether. Thus by use of violence, the shooter set out to achieve that which he could not achieve through the democratic political process.

Boulder, Colo., abortion doctor Warren Hern called the killing "a political assassination in a historic pattern of anti-abortion political violence. It was terrorism," according to the Associated Press.

Unfortunately, the National Right to Life Committee issued a statement that lacked Hern's clarity and outrage. The statement extended sympathy to Tiller's family, then condemned "any such acts of violence regardless of motivation. The pro-life movement works to protect the right to life and increase respect for human life. The unlawful use of violence is directly contrary to that goal."

I understand that anti-abortion activists considered Tiller's practice of late-term abortions to be heinous in and of itself - and they had a moral argument. But that moral argument is undermined by the shooting of a doctor - in a church, of all places.

And it doesn't help when Randall Terry, an anti-abortion activist, tells reporters, "George Tiller was a mass murderer. We grieve for him that he did not have time to properly prepare his soul to face God. I am more concerned that the Obama administration will use Tiller's killing to intimidate pro-lifers into surrendering our most effective rhetoric...

[Star Traveler]

Well, I want to see laws changed to outlaw abortion, and give the death penalty to all that participate in abortion — those that answer the phone, those that file paperwork, those that have the abortion, and then those who do the abortions...

[mgc1122]

“I haven’t been following Tiller, but does his death mean that one or more babies will not be aborted?”

I can’t say with any certainty one way or the other, but his death does mean he won’t be doing any of them.

[reagan_fanatic]

Try this one on size for 'terrorism':

At least one baby has survived an attempted abortion at Tiller's clinic. "Baby Sarah" survived and was later adopted. She lived a few short years. During the attempted abortion, Baby Sarah turned away from the needle. So instead of injecting the lethal drug into Baby Sarah's heart, Tiller injected it into the side of her head. This left her alive but blind.

The trauma caused her mother to deliver early. Baby Sarah was born in the parking lot at Wesley Medical Center where hospital staff left her to die. A day later she was still alive. A hospital employee took pity on her, and she was adopted a few hours later by the Brown family.

Baby Sarah died a few years later due to complications caused by the attempted abortion.



How's that for 'terrorism'?

[Voter62vb]

“”I understand that anti-abortion activists considered Tiller's practice of late-term abortions to be heinous in and of itself - and they had a moral argument. But that moral argument is undermined by the shooting of a doctor - in a church, of all places. “”

That is quite a jump, Debra.

The moral argument is not undermined by the act of one person. Nor does that act by one person tarnish the the goodness of so many people.

It appears, somewhat, that people care less about the doctor and his family than in their incessant and ravenous attack of people who have a moral problem with abortion. Looking across the responses, it sometimes appears as if the aborta-marketers were relieved and felt the killing was "just what was needed" to break the tide towards life...

[CharlesWayneCT]

The slaying also served to intimidate abortion providers - and perhaps chase some professionals out of the practice altogether. Thus by use of violence, the shooter set out to achieve that which he could not achieve through the democratic political process.

What he did was wrong. However, this is what happens when you are precluded from achieving things through the democratic process. If the courts hadn't taken this issue out of the hands of the people, there would be little need for any crazy people to feel they were powerless and needed to resort to violence.

Also, until we actually see an abortion provider quit, the whole notion of intimidation is moot. Of course, there are millions of Americans who won't walk the streets at night because of gang violence, so maybe if we are worried about intimidation we should put federal marshalls there, where the real problem is, rather than guarding hundreds of abortion clinics where there has been one killing in the past 3 years (oh, except the killing was in church, not at the clinic).

[Let's Roll]

“...but his death does mean he won’t be doing any of them.”

That point seems to be lost in the debate. Tiller’s killer probably does believe that God will take care of punishing Tiller, but the “law” in this country did nothing to stop the partial birth abortions Tiller seemed so proud of performing. So now he has been stopped from performing them.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Two, because the attack on the recruiting station was also an act of terrorism meant to intimidate people and keep them from signing up for the military.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Probably, because he was the one of the few that was politically well-connected enough to perform illegal abortions and get away with it.

[ak267]

SFC on the AR recuitment shooting

....crickets chirping

....”nothing to see see here folks, no radical Islam here. Move along, move along.”

[gorilla_warrior]

Is abortion murder or is it not? Will you do nothing if you happen upon a psychopath who is stabbing a baby in the skull and vacuuming his brains out? Are you going to stand by and watch him do it again? Will you call the cops, knowing that they will refuse to answer the call? Will you run to a black-robed tyrant judge, knowing that you will get nothing pseudo-intellectual equivocating? Will you go to the voting booth, and cast your vote for one of two lying thieves? All of this pious condemnation of violence is just a pathetic excuse for cowardice.

[MrB]

All the next guy has to do is found out who and how much to bribe, and he’ll be just as “in” as Tiller was.

Of course, in order to get that much cash, he’ll have to up his “throughput” at the “clinic”.

[MrB]

Henry, is that you?
(tagline)

[Star Traveler]

Both the abortionist and the shooter are guilty of murder.

And, all the people who help in those clinics are guilty of murder. Those who answer the phones, who file paperwork, who talk to the women who come in, and so on..., are guilty of murder.

And the women who come in for abortion are guilty of murder...

Now, all that has to be done is for the U.S. to get the laws straightened out and convict all those people of murder.

[SmithL]

The left and right are measured by different standards.

Right or wrong, fair or not, that’s the way it is.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

"I understand that anti-abortion activists considered Tiller's practice of late-term abortions to be heinous in and of itself - and they had a moral argument. But that moral argument is undermined by the shooting of a doctor - in a church, of all places."

The moral argument is unconnected to the murder. Two wrongs do not make a right. The moral argument stands and the justified condemnation of Tiller's murder does not negate the moral argument against abortion.

[bert]

Death is a highly under rated motivator

[TurtleUp]

Thus by use of violence, the shooter set out to achieve that which he could not achieve through the democratic political process.

She is right that this killer should go to prison for life with no possibility of parole (or get the death penalty), but she's wrong on this one point. The murderer set out to achieve that which he could not achieve over the undemocratic and unconstitutional decree of the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade and related cases. This murder is still wrong, unforgivably evil, and an inappropriate tactic for achieving political objectives, but democracy has nothing to do with our current abortion situation.

[Red in Blue PA]

They’re more concerned about what happens to this guy than the terrorists who kill hundreds held at Guantanamo.

Speaks volumes about their character, or more appropriately, their lack of it.

[mgc1122]

An article in the Washington Times on October 27,2003 reported that the National Coalition of Abortion Providers said that, in 1997, there were approximately 3,000-5,000 partial-birth abortions annually.

AGI reports found that 2,200 were performed in the year 2000.

Seems to be already trending down. Infanticide, no matter how much perfume is sprayed, is tough to sell.

[MrB]

All the political and democratic remedies were tried.
The governor and the AG just simply ignored these laws and helped Tiller avoid prosecution for their violation.