Abortionist George Tiller Murdered - Is Christianity Responsible Once Again?

Once again, many good-hearted, true and sincere Christians must find themselves begging to be separated from whoever would do such a thing as kill an abortion doctor.

Since abortionist George Tiller was murdered yesterday in his church, a quick search on the web reveals new articles with titles like "The Culture of Life Strikes Again" and "The Sick Side of Pro-Life." And talk abounds about holding all of Christendom responsible for inciting the murder just because of "pro-life speech." This is an appeal to pro-choicers and opponents of the Christian faith: PLEASE do not generalize. Here are statements denouncing the murder from many pro-life organizations:

Kansas Right to Life Condemns Tiller's Murder;
Nevada Right to Life Condemns Tiller's Murder; and
Concerned Women for America's Statement Against Tiller Murder.
For another Associated Content Source with many pro-life organizations' statements against the assassination, see Kathryn E. Darden's article here.

You can't make generalizations about all Churches and Church-goers. This is just as wrong as saying "all gays are this" or "all blacks are that." A church that accepted George Tiller as a member or attendee of their church should stand as proof to the world that there is Christian love even for someone whom many Christians would feel committed a grave sin day after day in his clinics. And there are Christians who are pro-choice or who struggle with the pro-choice/pro life dilemma in their personal convictions.

An abortionist who went to church must have had some inner struggle going on in his heart and mind with what he was doing as a profession. But the someone who would KILL him in a church could not possibly be stable-minded in any way. There is no news yet whether the person now in custody was a church member, or a "Christian," or someone who just walked into the church looking for Tiller. Tiller was killed in the lobby, so anyone could have followed him in. Yet everyone's jumping to conclusions.

One of the Ten Commandments says "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13). This applies to both Tiller and his murderer. Another biblical principle, "Vengeance is the Lord's" (Isaiah 61:2, Romans 12:19 and more) is something the murderer was either not aware of, or didn't care because of his own deranged mental condition. Because, again, no sincere Christian living the Christian life would do such a thing.

There are only two entities that Tiller should have had to answer to for his career:
One is his God. The other is the Kansas court system, which has certainly been slow to make Tiller answer for as many as 19-30 violations of Kansas' ban on late term abortions at various times.

A 2007 case with 19 counts against Tiller, established by then-Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison, was especially strong, because Morrison was basically a defender of the abortion industry. Morrison had been chosen for the position by Kansas' pro-choice Governor, Kathleen Sebelius. And yet, he brought the charges against Tiller, who was widely known to be a Sebelius supporter.

A district court dismissed claims by Tiller's attorney that the charges of illegal late term abortions were false. However, a court has recently overturned all charges - almost in timing with Sebelius' confirmation as Obama's new Health Secretary. Sebelius had also appointed abortion practitioner Howard Ellis - who gave up his medical license in Missouri to avoid disciplinary action - to the Kansas Board of Healing Arts, and has also appointed a pro-abortion activist from Tiller's political action committee to the Human Rights Commission.

There is already a liberal movement to declare some sort of "George Tiller day of mourning." I say, OK - as soon as liberals recognize Sanctity of Life Week, where we mourn the loss of more than 47 million abortions in this country, and the legalization of American taxpayer's dollars going to foreign countries for abortion. It sickens me that this figure can be ignored while we mourn a comparatively short string of heinous and terrible abortion clinic bombings and abortionist murders.

Tiller's murder was abominable. Regrettably, so was Tiller's abortion record:
Tiller, whose decades-long practice was based in Kansas, freely admitted he practiced late term abortion, including partial birth abortion (PBA). In fact, he made it clear that he would abort babies the day before a delivery due date, if he deemed it "necessary." In PBA, the baby is still in the womb by literally only inches before the procedure would be considered murder of a live baby.

Another type of late-term abortion practiced by Tiller was the D&E (dilation and extraction), in which larger babies must be torn apart bit by bit and extracted via the vagina. Another procedure resembles a Caesarian section, but with the express purpose of allowing the baby to suffocate outside the mother.

Kansas law states that late-term abortions can only be performed "when a continuation of the pregnancy will cause a substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman" (K.S.A. 65-6703). However, Kansans for life have been struggling to get other parts of the same law to require a point of fetal viability (the point where the baby has a good chance for life). But currently, it's left open to the "physician's judgment."

George Tiller's website, which appears no longer available today on the Internet, spoke of eligibility for elective late-term abortions. That means there is no medical emergency - it's just a choice.

See some misunderstandings about legal abortion in my two-part Abortion Series, here (Part 1) and here (Part 2). For more current Associated Content articles from the pro-life viewpoint about George Tiller's murder, see Randy Inman and Becky Whittemore. Other AC writers who have posted articles on this issue are welcome to leave their link in a comment on this editorial.

Other Sources:
Obama Administration admits stall to Sebelius' approval:http://www.lifenews.com/nat4860.html.
19 Charges against George Tiller: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kcur/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1106228/KCUR.News/Charges.Filed.Against.Abortion.Provider, and
http://www.nowpublic.com/health/dr-george-tiller-admits-performing-abortions-day-delivery.