Scott Roeder conviction draws renewed condemnation of Tiller murder

Wichita, Kan., Jan 29, 2010 / 16:27 pm

On Friday, a Wichita jury found Scott Roeder guilty of first degree murder for shooting abortionist George Tiller in his church last year. After news of Roeder's conviction, Kansas pro-life leader Troy Newman of Operation Rescue is reiterating the fact that Roeder's actions fell “outside the realm of Christianity and the pro-life ethos.”

Roeder, 51, was also convicted of two counts of aggravated assault for threatening two witnesses in the church with a gun on the May 31 shooting, moments after Tiller had been killed. Though parole is possible under Kansas law, a murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Roeder will be sentenced in March.

“Our reaction is the same as it was the day, the moment that we found out that Mr. Tiller was brutally murdered in his church,” Troy Newman president of the pro-life group Operation Rescue told CNA on Friday.

Newman also insisted that the murder of Dr. Tiller “does not comport in any way shape or form with the pro-life movement commitment in extending life and liberty to every individual nor does it comport with the age-old, 2,000 year old Christian ethic of laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

“This really falls outside the realm of Christianity and the pro life ethos,” he stressed.

In 2002, Operation Rescue moved their offices to Wichita, Kansas, “which, up until the time of Tiller's demise was the abortion capital of the world,” said Newman.

The Operation Rescue president also claimed that his organization had “demonstrable evidence to show it that Mr. Tiller was ready to forfeit his medical license based on an 11 count indictment” and that “it was a matter of a couple more months until the late term abortion clinic was going to close.” According to Newman, Dr. Tiller's business was down over 54 percent in the eight years that Operation Rescue worked in Wichita.

“This end is a terrible tragedy not only for Mr. Tiller but for the pro-life movement,” as Mr. Tiller was already preparing to close his clinic, said Newman.