Dr. George Tiller Murdered: Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

Dr. George Tiller was serving as an usher at Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas, when somebody shot and killed him.

Dr. George Tiller's Death - Statements About an Abortionist and the Law

Dr. Tiller's attorneys had a statement about his death:

"...'Our loss is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America. George dedicated his life to providing women with high-quality heath care despite frequent threats and violence.'..."
(FOXNews)

The "high-quality health care" Dr. Tiller provided was killing babies in the third trimester. Not many doctors were willing to kill babies at a point where they look like babies.

Dr. Tiller's death prompted another statement, this one from Operation Rescue, a group which - by Tiller's attorney's standards - is against "high-quality health care" for women:

"...'We are shocked at this morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down,' said Troy Newman, Operation Rescue's president. 'Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning.'..."
(FOXNews)

Dr. Tiller's "clinic," Women's Health Care Services, had been bombed in 1985, and he was shot in both arms in 1993. I don't think either of those acts was a good idea: although I believe I can understand the probable motive behind them.

"Understanding" and "agreeing with" are two rather different things. I can also understand, I think, why some people believed that cripples and the feeble-minded should be sterilized, at least, for the good of 'the race.' That doesn't mean I agree with proponents of eugenics.

The Murder of Dr. Tiller was a Bad Thing to Do

I am not at all happy that Dr. Tiller is dead. Not because I think it's a good idea to kill babies: but because Dr. Tiller was a living human being. I'm a Catholic, and have strict instructions to love people. Even people who do things that aren't very nice.

I would prefer to live in a country where someone like Dr. Tiller would have been restrained from killing babies. But, that's not the way America is right now. And, being a Catholic, I cannot support vigilantism.

"...By the Middle Ages, Christians widely accepted the civil power's right to put evildoers to death. Even so, the Church was quick to condition this right. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), for example, points out that only a public authority may judge and execute a serious offender where the society's defense is at stake, and where the offender's reform is not expected. St. Thomas leaves no room for private vigilantism...."
("The Gospel of Life and the Sentence of Death: Catholic Teaching on Capital Punishment" Rev. Augustine Judd, O.P., via USCCB)

The Catholic Church does permit capital punishment, under circumstances which I do not believe have existed in America since, possibly, frontier days. There's more on the subject, in the Catechism (2265-2267, for starters).

Whoever killed Dr. Tiller committed murder, and I hope the legal sanctions against such behavior are applied - short of the death penalty. People who kill other people for personal reasons are not, in my opinion, safe to have around.

Murdering an Abortionist is Wrong - So is Killing Babies

Killing Dr. Tiller was wrong. Killing an adult, or a child after a certain age, for personal reasons, is illegal in America. More to the point, for me, it's wrong.

That's because "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person—among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life...." (Catechism 2270)

Dr. Tiller's innocence might be debated, but killing him was objectively wrong.

Related posts:

• "The Right to Peaceful Assembly: As Long as the Government Approves"
  (May 28, 2009)
• "DHS Report Identifying Veterans and Pro-Lifers as Potential Terrorists (Quietly) Withdrawn"
  (May 14, 2009)
• "'Hand of Hope' Spinal Bifida Case - Eugenics, Ersatz Compassion, and Life"
  (May 6, 2009)
• "Fear of Right-Wing Extremism: Commie-Hunting in Reverse"
  (April 19, 2009)
• "Capital Punishment: for Troy Davis, it's Personal"
  (April 18, 2009)
• "Homeland Security Report: American Veterans are Potential Terrorists - I am Not Making This Up"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (April 15, 2009)
• "Sandra Cantu: Terrible Loss; High Emotions; Time to Think and Pray"
  (April 13, 2009)
• "This Time it's Clover Road Baptist Church: 'Everybody Knows' What Those People are Like"
  (April 11, 2009)
• "Pro-Life? You May be a Dangerous Domestic Terrorist! MIAC Says So"
  (March 23, 2009)
• "Human Clones Possible: Don't Worry, They're Just for Parts and Research"
  (February 2, 2009)
• "The Catholic Church Won't Even Let People Kill Themselves"
  (January 28, 2009)
• "Psycho Santa's Slaying Spree - The Catholic Connection"
  (December 26, 2008)
• "Pro-Abortion Slogans Sound Nice, Hide Nasty Facts"
  (November 15, 2008)
• "Conservative? Liberal? Democrat? Republican? No, I'm Catholic"
  (November 3, 2008)
• "Life: It's a Single Issue, and an Important One"
  (November 2, 2008)
• "Capital Punishment: Killing Those Who Deserve to Die"
  (October 2, 2008)

News and views:

• "Pro-life leaders condemn murder of abortionist"
  Spero News (May 31, 2009)
• "Abortion Doctor Gunned Down at Kansas Church, Suspect in Custody"
  FOXNews (May 31, 2009)
• "Doctor who performed abortions shot to death"
  CNN (May 31, 2009)
• "Abortion doc George Tiller gunned down at church"
  The Associated Press (May 31, 2009)

More, about Dr. George Tiller's murder:

• "Dr. George Tiller's Murder Link Page"

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Tip of the hat to 1Cor16_13, for heads-up on "Pro-life leaders condemn murder of abortionist."