Dr. George Tiller, one of the few physicians in the nation to provide late-term abortions, was shot to death this week at his church in Wichita. Police quickly arrested the alleged gunman, a Kansas man with a history of associating with militant anti-abortion and anti-government groups. Tiller, 67, had performed abortions for more than three decades and was a frequent target of anti-abortion activists. He survived a shooting in 1993. The eighth abortion provider killed since 1977, Tiller died while handing out bulletins in the church foyer while his wife, a choir member, was inside the sanctuary. Abortion-rights supporters held vigils in several cities, and Attorney General Eric Holder pledged to provide federal marshals to protect abortion clinics.
Authorities filed first-degree murder charges against Scott Roeder, 51, who in 1996 served time in prison on charges of illegally transporting large quantities of gunpowder and a homemade fuse in his car. The conviction was later overturned on the grounds that his car had been improperly searched. “He wanted a scapegoat,” said his ex-wife, Lindsey Roeder. “First it was taxes—he stopped paying. Then he turned to the church and got involved in anti-abortion.”
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