Both sides of abortion debate denounce the murder of Dr. George Tiller
I heard of the murder of George Tiller yesterday after I returned home from Richmond. What one thinks of the abortion debate is immaterial. The murder of this man was tragic, immoral, and just completely wrong by any yardstick you care to use. Today, leaders of various anti-abortion groups met at the Supreme Court and denounced the murder.
Police have arrested Scott Roeder for the murder and they think he was simply acting on his own. Operation Rescue, a well-known anti-abortion organization, called the killing vigilantism and “a cowardly act.” I agree with the coward designation though I’d question the notion about whether to call it the act of a vigilante. Roeder, if he is indeed the shooter, walked up to a church and shot a man who was performing duties as an usher for his congregation. I can’t imagine God would be impressed with that.
Let’s hear the rest of the investigation, however, and be sure of what we’re doing. If he did it, however, make damned sure he’s incapable of ever doing it again.
Comments
Comment from ricjames
Time June 3, 2009 at 12:50
Agreed about the link and, to be honest, I didn’t even notice. The headline was “denounce” and that’s what the interviews were saying, so that’s what I reported. I hope it was just someone’s slip of a keypress that they used “discouraged” in this context.
Was it important that it was in church? Yes, and it was far more so than had be been engaged in an abortion or anything else. The reason I say that is 1) I believe attacking someone (aside from self-defense) in a place of worship is just worse than on the street and 2) if the shooter’s motivations were based on religious opposition to abortion then he’s shown a REAL disregard for God, for whom he likely claims to be acting. Again, investigation ongoing and I hope to hear more as more is known.
As to the hypocritical part… you’ll note that I said nothing of the kind in my post precisely because I wasn’t going to use the situation for political purposes. Both sides have engaged in that and I don’t approve of either. That’s why I didn’t say anything about it. I addressed the murder and the murder alone. That was the important issue and that’s where the focus should be. This debate is not moved by this tragedy and can/will continue elsewhere. I wanted to make sure no one could mistake my stance on the issue and that’s why I kept it focused.
Comment from Bob James
Time June 2, 2009 at 11:24
You emphasized that the victim was in a church at the time of his murder. Is that important? Would it not have been equally a problem if he’d been mowing his lawn? If he’d been performing an abortion at the time?
Of course, the denunciations were made in the same statement where the same groups blasted the White House for their support of abortion rights, and to question Sotomayor’s position on the subject. Not surprising that they did that, but then to call on Obama and Congressional leaders “not to use this tragedy for political gain” is ironic, if not hypocritical.
One weirdness I noticed in the link in your post. The title of the article is “Pro-Life Leaders Denounce Murder of Abortion Doctor George Tiller”, but the URL is http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/01/abortion-opponents-discouraged-doctors-murder/. “Denounced” has markedly different connotations from “discouraged”. I think this shows the article’s title was changed from its original form… a change I think was a good one, since the original seems to imply a more direct link between the murder and the anti-choice groups. And that link does not appear to exist.