Pentecost Sunday 16 years ago: the murder of Doctor George Tiller

As he was handing out the church magazine and accompanying believers to their places as a volunteer usher in Wichita (Kansas, USA), the doctor George Tiller (1941–2009) was fatally shot. He left behind his wife, four children and ten grandchildren – as well as his health centre, where he had been performing abortions for almost 40 years.

His murderer, the militant anti-abortionist – and, in his own words, Christian – Scott P. Roeder, confessed but did not plead guilty, as, in his eyes, the act was justified. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2010. 

George Tiller, his staff and his patients had already been the target of attacks and demonstrations by anti-abortion activists on several occasions. In 1993, there had already been an attempt on his life by a member of the Christian-fundamentalist anti-abortion movement Army of God, and, in 1985, an explosive device exploded in his hospital. Tiller had been habitually wearing a protective vest since 1998, because the FBI had informed him of the constant massive threat posed by militant anti-abortion activists.

Tiller was the fourth doctor to be murdered by anti-abortion campaigners in the USA. His father had performed abortions before him, though, at that time, they were still prohibited (up until 1973). In 2022, the citizens of the state of Kansas voted in a referendum to maintain the right to abortion (during the first 21 weeks of pregnancy). Both George Tiller and his father were devout Christians. “The women in my father’s practice… taught me that abortion is about women’s hopes, dreams, potential, the rest of their lives.” George Tiller had set up a quiet room for his patients in his clinic and employed a chaplain.

These murders and the numerous other attacks and assaults, including against women having abortions, strikingly show that there is no convincing argument for denying women autonomy – especially not in a democracy, whose foundation is, indeed, the autonomy of its citizens. The representatives of paternalism towards women instead try to assert their social model, which stems from monarchy and fascism, with violence and intimidation. 

Fortunately, there have been no further murders of doctors since this tragic murder in 2009. Other acts of violence and assaults have also decreased significantly since that time. This may be viewed as a sign that the project of democracy, supported by a clear majority of the population, is strong enough to prevail against fundamentalist forces.

In this spirit, the MUVS has also launched two popular petitions:

- Remove abortion from the penal code and abolish the still applicable threatened penalty of 1 year in prison

- Dispense the abortion pill over the counter, without a prescription, because a woman with an unwanted pregnancy does not need paternalism

Learn more at www.bevormundung-is.org

Film documentary After Tiller: https://weta.org/watch/shows/pov/after-tiller