Doctor’s Killer Puts Abortion on the Stand

[spanone]

WICHITA, Kan. — Scott Roeder, the man charged with murder in the shooting of George R. Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country to perform late-term abortions, took the witness stand in his own defense on Thursday, and said that, yes, he did it.

Yes, he bought a gun. Yes, he took target practice. Yes, he had learned about Dr. Tiller’s habits, his home address, his security precautions. And, yes, he shot Dr. Tiller last May 31 as Dr. Tiller stood inside his church.

“That is correct, yes,” Mr. Roeder told the jurors, in a calm, matter-of-fact voice.

But there was a twist.

Lawyers for Mr. Roeder, who provided the only testimony for the defense in a trial that has spanned several weeks, are hoping that jurors will consider Mr. Roeder’s motive: his growing opposition to abortion, which he deemed criminal and immoral, and his mounting sense that laws and prosecutors and other abortion opponents were never going to stop Dr. Tiller from performing them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/us/29roeder.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print

[JDPriestly]

1. So, his defense is that he was above the law since he knew better han

the Supreme Court. Hmmm. Wonder how we would have felt about Brown v. Board of Education back in the 1950s and 1960s.

Can just anybody overrule the Supreme Court with a gun?

(Don't worry. I have no desire to kill anybody. I'm just asking.)

He was a one-man posse, so that, he thinks, makes it OK.

I'm shocked that the judge is allowing this testimony. I'm even more shocked that his own lawyer is allowing this testimony.

[spanone]

2. i guess you could shoot a politician if you disagreed with his politics??

[RoadRage]

6. Well.. Obama better be packing heat to defend himself then..

'cause he's got a lot Teabaggers that may soon think it's legal to kill him since they don't like him.

Freaks.. ALL OF THEM. Murder is Murder. Deal with it people - it's not a hard concept.

[Bitwit1234]

10. Damn lets start posting that in response to Tiller's murder

we should say since republicans believe that it is OK to shoot abortion doctors, because the shooter doesn't agree with his policy, then we should be able to shoot a republican because we don't agree with THEIR CROOKED policies.

[zbdent]

15. you could use the O'Keefe defense ...

you were just attempting to kill the politician ... you never actually killed him or her ... therefore, you didn't commit any crimes, right?

[hlthe2b]

9. So then those of us who disagree with the death penalty....

are justified in killing state and federal officials carrying them out, including courts (prosecutors/judges) which order the death warrants?

Qualifier: totally hypothetical discussion... Heaven knows those who disagree with the death penalty are not the ones to worry about committing any such horrible acts...

[livetohike]

3. I guess his lawyers couldn't stop him from testifying, as it is

his right to talk or not. His belief that abortion is "criminal and immoral" doesn't mean squat. If Roeder thinks it will make a difference in his trial, he's delusional.

[shraby]

4. The NY Times is wrong..that is not a "twist". Most criminals

of his mind set have deemed they are not in the wrong and whatever they do is justified because they want to do it. Ask any sociopath and they will agree with Roeder.

[spanone]

5. m$nbc just showed roeder admitting to the murder and he has no regrets...life in prison no parole

pete williams says it's now a first-degree murder case....he's either guilty or not.

[KansDem]

8. We can assume Lansing is readying a cell at this moment.

[Ferret Annica]

12. Heh, I hope he gets a cell with someone feels it's OK to beat him if they

even slightly annoy them. Turn around is fair play in the case of this douche bag.

[Berry Cool]

11. Yep. It's pretty much game over, man by now.

Either the jury agrees that yeah, he did it, or they don't. And seeing as how he admitted he did it, they really can't do anything else but find him guilty.

Of course the idea that he did it out of frustration with a law he hates is not a defense. There are all kinds of laws people don't like and some they hate bitterly. Murder is not an acceptable response. Those who earlier drew a comparison between abortion and the death penalty were spot-on. No one who is morally opposed to the death penalty would be permitted to get away with murdering a judge who sentenced someone to it, or the executioner who delivered the fatal dose in a lethal injection, simply because he believed it was morally right or out of understandable frustration over a law he didn't see ever being overturned.

We on DU are horrified over the recent Supreme Court ruling, but if any of us tried to murder one of the Supremes in reaction to it, we'd be in the same shoes.

[ThatsMyBarack]

7. Saw this on teevee last night.

Roeder thinks it is okay to kill someone who "murders babies." :mad:

[Betty]

13. then it should be OK to kill people

who murder doctors. I'm sure Roeder would have to agree that this is the logical extension of his argument.

[cbdo2007]

14. So you could justify abortion with this by saying you think it's criminal and

immoral for some people to have children when they don't want them. It's against life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Basically you could kill anyone for anything I guess...