To a certain point, I can understand what motivates a guy to load his gun and, in a very premeditated fashion, go out and kill an abortion doctor. Particularly a late-term specialist who is estimated to have performed five figures' worth of abortions.
However, it's horrifying that Dr. George Tiller was shot dead this weekend for essentially performing his job within the confines of the law. (I also think abortion, since it is a gruesome and delicate medical procedure, should only remain legal if reasonable restrictions are in place.)
It's just that I can't bend my mind around how you would rationalize gunning down a man, presumably in God's name, during a Sunday morning worship service.
I've explored this from a couple vantage points. The killer must have believed the doctor was doing Satan's work unwillingly? The killer was convinced the man was in church just for show or out of habit? The killer was a fragile mind easily nursed into vigilante behavior? The killer was an atheist who despised abortion rights?
Either way, Dr. Tiller helped end as many as 60,000 pregnancies. (That's the estimate of the right-wing Washington Times.) With so many people considering him a mass murderer, you have to wonder why the doctor lived as long as he did. And that is a sad commentary.
P.S.: I snagged this from the non-right-wing New York Times:
"Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group based in Wichita, said he had always sought out 'nonviolent' measures to challenge Dr. Tiller, including efforts in recent years to have him prosecuted for crimes or investigated by state health authorities.
'Operation Rescue has worked tirelessly on peaceful, nonviolent measures to bring him to justice through the legal system, the legislative system,' Mr. Newman said, adding, 'We are pro-life, and this act was antithetical to what we believe.' "
At least there's that.
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