Abortion Doctor Shot to Death in Kansas Church (Published 2009)

Abortion Doctor Shot to Death in Kansas Church (Published 2009)

Anti-abortion activists spent years trying to shut down Dr. George Tiller's clinic, which was one of the only places in the nation that provided late-term abortions — until one extremist murdered him while he was at church in 2009. After more than 40 years of medical practice, Dr. Tiller had a national reputation. He was the director of one of just three abortion clinics in the United States that provided women with late-term abortions — and he had become the target of pro-life activists. For decades, those who disagreed with the procedures his practice provided tried to have his clinic closed. Eventually, some protesters resorted to violence in order to fulfill that goal. Tiller survived at least two attacks on his life before one anti-abortion extremist murdered him in cold blood. Here is the story On May 31, 2009, George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, Kansas, who was nationally known for being one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late terminations of pregnancy (also known as "late-term abortions"), was murdered by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion extremist. Tiller was killed during a Sunday morning service at his church, Reformation Lutheran Church, where he was serving as an usher. Tiller had previously survived an assassination attempt in 1993 when Shelley Shannon shot him in the arms. Roeder was arrested within three hours of the shooting and charged with first-degree murder and related crimes two days later. In November 2009, Roeder publicly confessed to the killing, telling the Associated Press that he had shot Tiller because "preborn children's lives were in imminent danger." Roeder was found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault on January 29, 2010, and sentenced on April 1, 2010, to life imprisonment without any chance of parole for 50 years. This sentence was later reduced to allow for the possibility of parole after serving 25 years. George Tiller was shot dead on May 31, 2009, during worship services at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, where he was serving as an usher. The church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Tiller was shot in the head at point blank range; he was wearing body armor, as he had been since 1998, when the FBI told him he was being targeted by anti-abortion militants. After threatening two others who tried to prevent his departure, the gunman fled in a car. Witnesses described the vehicle as a powder-blue 1993 Ford Taurus. Calling the murder "an abhorrent act of violence"