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George Tiller

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George Tiller
Born
George Tiller

1941
Wichita, Kansas, U.S
DiedMay 31, 2009
Scientific career
FieldsAbortions

George Tiller (born 1941 - May 31, 2009)[1][2] was a physician in Wichita, Kansas in the United States. He was the medical director of an abortion clinic in Wichita, Women's Health Care Services, which specializes in the provision of late-term procedures done, according to their web site, "to the time in the pregnancy when the fetus is viable".

Tiller studied at the University of Kansas School of Medicine from 1963 to 1967. Shortly thereafter, he held a medical internship with United States Navy, and served as flight surgeon in Oakland, California in 1969 and 1970.[3]

The Women's Health Care Services clinic and its presiding doctor are the subject of activism by members of the pro-life movement. In particular, Troy Newman and Operation Rescue have made it their goal to see the clinic closed.[4]

The clinic itself is unusual in that it offers funerary services to its patients. Some of these services include photographs, footprinting and handprinting, baptism, cremation, arrangement for burial in or out of state, and arrangement for amniocentesis and/or autopsy.[5] Tiller has been the target of anti-abortion violence. On August 19, 1993, he was shot in both arms outside of the Wichita clinic by Shelley Shannon, who received an 11-year prison sentence for the crime.[1][6][7] On May 31, 2009, Tiller was shot to death as he walked into church services.[8]

Christin Gilbert

Christin Gilbert, a 19-year-old woman with Down Syndrome from Keller, Texas, died in January 2005 after a multi-day abortion procedure performed at Tiller's facility, though reports conflict as to whether the abortion was performed by Tiller himself or by LeRoy Carhart. Gilbert had been 28 weeks pregnant. The autopsy stated that Gilbert died of sepsis following the abortion.[9] Tiller was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Kansas Board of Healing Arts. After a petition from Operation Rescue, a grand jury was convened to probe the death,[10][11] which resulted in no indictments against Tiller.

The O'Reilly Factor controversy

On Friday, November 3, 2006, Bill O'Reilly featured an exclusive segment on his show, The O'Reilly Factor, saying that he has an "inside source" with official clinic documentation indicating that George Tiller performs late-term abortions to alleviate "temporary depression" in the pregnant woman.[12] According to reporting data provided to the Kansas Board of Healing Arts for the year 1998, all of the post-viable partial-birth (dilation and extraction) abortion procedures performed in Kansas during that year were performed because "the attending physician believe[d] that continuing the pregnancy [would] constitute a substantial and irreversible impairment of the patient's mental function."[13] Tiller responded to O'Reilly's statements by demanding an investigation into the "inside source" through which the information was leaked, suggesting that Phill Kline, then the Kansas Attorney General, was responsible. Kline denied the charge.

Trial and acquittal

Tiller went on trial in March 2009, charged with nineteen misdemeanors for allegedly consulting a second physician in late-term abortion cases who was not truly "independent" as required by Kansas state law.[14][15]

The case has become a cause célèbre for both supporters and opponents of abortion. Journalist Jack Cashill has compared the trial to the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals,[16] while NYU Professor Jacob Appel described Tiller as "a genuine hero who ranks alongside Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. in the pantheon of defenders of human liberty."[17]

On March 27, 2009, Tiller was found not guilty of all 19 misdemeanor charges stemming from some abortions he performed at his Wichita clinic in 2003.[18]

Death

George Tiller was shot around 10:00 am Sunday, May 31, 2009 while walking into Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita.[8] Local television station KAKE reported that a suspect fled the scene in a light or powder blue Ford Taurus.[19][20]

References

  1. ^ a b Phillips, Don. (August 22, 1993). "Violence Hardly Ruffled Protest Ritual." The Washington Post. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  2. ^ "George Tiller shot to death at Wichita church". Kansas City Star. 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  3. ^ "Our Medical Director." (n.d.). Women's Health Care Services site. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  4. ^ Sevcik, Kimberly. (July 28, 2004). "One Man's God Squad." Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  5. ^ "Remembrances and Special Requests." (n.d.). Women's Health Care Services site. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  6. ^ NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation. (2006). Clinic violence and intimidation. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
  7. ^ Crow, Karen. (August 19, 2005). A Violent Week in August. Choice! Magazine. Retrieved April 13, 2006.
  8. ^ a b Stan Finger (2009-05-31). "George Tiller Shot to Death at Wichita Church". The Wichita Eagle. The McClatchy Company. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  9. ^ AllWebCo Website Template
  10. ^ "Grand jury to probe abortion clinic." (2006). KTEN News. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  11. ^ Phillips, Rachel. (2006). "Abortion Doctor Subject of Grand Jury Investigation." KAKE News. Retrieved June 10, 2006.
  12. ^ O'Reilly, Bill (2006-11-06). "Killing Babies in America". The O'Reilly Factor Talking Points. FoxNews.com. Retrieved 2006-11-07.
  13. ^ "Abortions in Kansas 1998 Preliminary Data" (PDF).
  14. ^ Tiller Jury Selection, Kansas City Star, March 18.
  15. ^ Jury set in trial of Wichita late-term abortionist, Kansas Liberty, March 18, 2009
  16. ^ Why George Tiller is on trial in Wichita, World Net Daily, March 19, 2009
  17. ^ Los Angeles Times, March 21, 2009
  18. ^ "Kan. doctor acquitted in abortion case - Crime & courts- msnbc.com". Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  19. ^ "Abortion Doctor George Tiller Killed". Gray Television, Inc. 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  20. ^ "Source: Abortion doc Tiller gunned down at church". Associated Press. 2009-05-31. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
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