Washington - US President Barack Obama condemned the
murder of an abortion doctor who was shot down inside a Wichita,
Kansas, church early Sunday, throwing the national spotlight on the
decades-old bitter struggle over the issue.
George Tiller, 67, one of the country's few physicians who
performed late-term abortions, was apparently shot in the head in the
foyer of the Reformation Lutheran Church as he was serving as an
usher for Sunday morning services, according to media reports.
Tiller, who was injured in 1993 in an attempt on his life,
reportedly wore a bullet-proof vest to church that morning, as he
often did in his travels around the community.
A 51-year-old suspect was arrested 180 kilometres away from the
murder site, Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said, according to
the Kansas City Star online.
'We think we have the right person arrested. We're going to get
him charged,' Stolz said in broadcast remarks. The suspect faces one
charge of murder and two of aggravated assault after he threatened
two other church-goers with his gun.
Tiller is the eighth fatal victim of a violent assault by abortion
protestors since 1993, according to statistics kept by the National
Abortion Federation (NAF), the professional association of abortion
providers in the United States and Canada.
Since the US Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that a woman's decision
about abortion was protected by constitutional privacy guarantees,
federal police have become involved in investigating such murders,
attempted murders and hundreds of bombing and arson attacks on
abortion clinics.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said that federal law enforcement
officials were coordinating with local police. He directed US
Marshals to 'offer protection to other appropriate people and
facilities around the nation.'
Obama, a centre-left Democrat who supports access to legal
abortion, took the unusual step of commenting on the killing. Earlier
this month, he signalled his willingness to grapple with the issue in
a graduation speech at a Catholic university and appealed for both
sides to work together to help women facing unplanned pregnancies.
Obama said he was 'shocked and outraged' by Tiller's murder.
'However profound our differences as Americans over difficult
issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of
violence,' the president said in a statement.
The issue of late term abortion is used graphically by anti-
abortion groups to promote their cause. In addition, there is debate
over the definition of 'late term,' generally seen as the 21st to
27th week of pregnancy, depending on whether the fetus is viable.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 59 per cent of all
US abortions in 2002 occurred before the eighth week of pregnancy;
33.3 per cent between 9 and 15 weeks; 4 per cent between 16 and 20
weeks; and 1.4 per cent after 20 weeks.
Tiller once said that third trimester abortion - the lst 12 or 13
weeks - was 'simply a part of abortion,' according to an interview
broadcast from CNN's archives. He said however that if a doctor
determined the fetus could live on its own outside the womb, the
operation would not be performed.
Tiller performed late term abortions 'almost always in
circumstances where something had gone horribly wrong with a
pregnancy,' according to Peter Brownlie, president of the Kansas
City-based regional Planned Parenthood office, who was quoted by CNN.
Tiller's murder comes less than a week after Obama nominated his
first candidate for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, a moderate
left-leaning federal judge whose possible position on abortion will
be closely, if discretely, weighed by the US Senate, which must give
approval to the life-long position.
Tiller's clinic had been targeted by bombs, shootings and
vandalism over the years in Kansas, a stronghold of the anti-abortion
movement.
The killing brought an outpouring of condemnation from both
sides.
Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said Tiller's
murder sent 'a chill down the spines of the brave and courageous
providers and other professionals who are part of reproductive-health
centers that serve women across this country.'
The feminist organization National Organization for Women called
it a 'cold-blooded murder' and an act of 'domestic terrorism.'
Anti-abortion groups also deplored the shooting.
Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, said her
organization was 'shocked and very upset by what happened in
Wichita,' adding that they 'value life' and 'completely deplore
violence.'
Another anti-abortion group, Operation Rescue, denounced
'vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning.'
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