AP, Tues., July 28, 2009

WAUSAU, Wisc. – The mother of an 11-year-old girl who died of undiagnosed diabetes as the family prayed for her to get better testified Tuesday that she believes sickness is caused by sin and can be cured by God.

Leilani Neumann told the jury in her husband’s trial that she thought her daughter’s March 2008 illness was a test of her religious faith and she didn’t take the girl to a doctor because that would have been “complete disobedience to what we believe.”

Dale Neumann, 47, is charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the 2008 death of his daughter Madeline Neumann, called Kara by her parents. His wife was convicted of the same charge this spring and faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced Oct. 6.

Prosecutors contend Dale Neumann recklessly killed the youngest of his four children by ignoring her deteriorating health. They claim Neumann had a legal duty to take her to a doctor.

Leilani Neumann testified for nearly five hours Tuesday, describing the events leading up to her daughter’s March 23, 2008, death on a mattress on the floor of the family’s rural Weston home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone called for help when she stopped breathing.

The mother said that she and her husband believed their daughter’s deteriorating condition may have been the result of a falling out with another couple, and called them once the girl was unconscious and persuaded them to come pray for the girl.

It turns out that someone was listening.

Scott Roeder, a long-time anti-abortion activist, a man who had been monitored for years, and who had committed trespassing, criminal mischief and other minor nuisance crimes against clinics including Dr. Tiller’s, allegedly killed Dr. Tiller while the physician served as an usher at his church. Dr. Tiller was more than aware of Roeder, who had on more than one occasion glued the doors to his clinic closed, and about whom Dr. Tiller had made numerous complaints to both local and Federal authorities. Tiller had made such a complaint less than twenty-four hours prior to the shooting.

Roeder was following his faith, which defined abortion as murder of unborn children. In the service of this faith, fed by the voices of ideologues, Roeder believed that any measure, including killing, was justified to protect the lives of those unborn. He was, it seems, not alone. In the wake of George Tiller’s murder, hundreds of posts on far-right and anti-abortion message boards celebrated the murderer as a hero, while making such statements as “George Tiller was aborted in his 203rd trimester,” and “George tiller: now in his fifth hour in Hell.” The suspect himself has made numerous statements to the press essentially celebrating Tiller’s death as a good thing, while denying his involvement in the killing itself.

This “celebration” is not limited to individuals. Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, has tried to simultaneously distance his organization from the murder and laud the act itself. This is proving more difficult by the day, as the investigation reveals the involvement of employees of his organization with Roeder. Commentators who previously referred to the victim as “Tiller the baby killer” are now attempting to claim that they never, ever advocated violence, of course they didn’t.

This is terrorism. The intent of the slaying was to create terror, to reduce the availability of abortion services by killing a provider while at the same time sending the message to others, both providers and those who seek their services:  you could be next. It’s the same message sent when a man detonates a bomb strapped around his waist in Tel Aviv. It’s the same message sent when men fly planes into buildings in New York City. It’s the same message sent when a bomb made of fertilizer destroys a Federal Building in Oklahoma. It is, as of today, the same message sent when a man walks into a museum recording the deaths of millions and opens fire in the name of hatred.

Guess what? It’s working.

Women’s Health Care Services of Witchita, Kansas is closing. How could they not? Who would dare take Dr. Tiller’s place, to be the next target of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, the next subject of curses in the mouths of those who claim a god’s love while advocating the murder of another physician? Won’t women now reconsider before going to a clinic providing abortions, wondering if one of the people standing in front with a sign showing the picture of a fetus might have a gun as well? George Tiller’s murderer knows this. It’s a bonus, above and beyond the removal of a hated opponent, this chilling effect.

There are non-religious terrorists. I don’t mean to imply that religion is the only motivator for senseless killing. It is, however, the most common by far. When you hear about a terrorist attack you, like me, immediately thing of one thing: religious fanaticism gone to the extreme. It’s fed by the rhetoric of hate, it’s fanned by the apostles of publicity, it’s perpetrated by the true believers of the Cause, whatever it may be.

In the state of Kansas, whatever you may have thought about the practice of late-term abortion, Dr. George Tiller was within the bounds of the law. Why is it then that the victim of a murderer is being portrayed as less sympathetic than his killer? And what are we, as rational people, doing to counter those voices that celebrate death as a tool of ideology?

AP/Huffington Post

First Posted: 05-31-09 12:40 PM

WICHITA, Kansas — Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas doctor whose clinic received national attention for performing late-term abortions, was shot to death as he entered his Wichita church on Sunday.

“Members of the congregation who were inside the sanctuary at the time of the shooting were being kept inside the church by police,” the Wichita Eagle reported, “and those arriving were being ushered into the parking lot.”

Media reports said the suspected killer fled the scene in a blue Taurus. Police described him as a white male in his 50s or 60s.

Tiller has been among the few U.S. physicians performing late-term abortion, making him a favored target of anti-abortion protesters. He testified that he and his family have suffered years of harassment and threats. His clinic was the site of the 1991 “Summer of Mercy” protests marked by mass demonstrations and arrests. His clinic was bombed in 1985, and an abortion opponent shot him in both arms in 1993.

Tiller’s clinic also provided group and individual counseling, as well as chaplain and funeral services for people who were grieving.

The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, which runs a “Tiller Watch” feature on its website, released a statement condemning the shooting. “We are shocked at this morning’s disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down. 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. We pray for Mr. Tiller’s family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ.”

Tiller remained prominent in the news in recent years, in part because of an investigation begun by former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, an abortion opponent.

Prosecutors had alleged that Tiller had gotten second opinions from a doctor who was essentially an employee of his, not independent as state law requires, but a jury in March acquitted him of all 19 misdemeanor counts against him.

Abortion opponents also questioned then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ ties to Tiller before the Senate confirmed her this year as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary. Tiller donated thousands of dollars to Sebelius over the years.

“Thou shalt not kill.” YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG.

And another thing? How is this not terrorism?