Raw Video: George Tiller Murder Suspect in Custody

WICHITA, KAN - Nearly four hours after abortion doctor George Tiller was gunned down and killed in his Lutheran Church, Johnson County police pulled over a car matching the description of the suspect vehicle on I-35 near Gardner, Kan. The Associated Press reports police have the suspect in custody.

Tiller, 67, was shot just after 10 a.m., at Reformation Lutheran Church where he was a member of the congregation.

According to Wichita media, police described the suspect as a white male in his 50's or 60's with gray hair that is balding in the middle. He is about 6'1" and about 220 pounds and was wearing a white shirt and dark pants. He was last seen in a light blue Ford Taurus, possibly an early 1990's model. It has a K-State vanity plate and a Kansas license plate number 225 BAB.

Members of the congregation who were inside at the time of the shooting were kept inside the church by police. Those arriving were ushered into the parking lot. Some witnesses were transported downtown to answer questions.

Tiller has been among the few U.S. physicians performing late-term abortions. His clinic has repeatedly been the site of protests for about two decades. In fact, Tiller has been the victim of violence multiple times.

On June 9, 1986, a homemade bomb was detonated on the roof of his Wichita clinic. No one was injured in that incident. Then in 1991, protesters blocked the entrance to his clinic until a federal judge ordered they be arrested. Two years later on Aug. 19, 1993, Dr. Tiller was shot outside his clinic. His wounds were not life threatening, and Shelly Shannon, an abortion opponent, was convicted and sentenced to prison.

Operation Rescue, a pro-life Christian activist organization that speaks out against Tiller and his practices, released the following statement on Sunday:

"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."

FOX 4 has a crew en route and is working to bring you more information on this developing story.

So is walking thru the Alvarado district in LA and gunning down every black or hispanic man standing on a street corner selling drugs. They are selling death to kids. Plus, a certain number of them will gun down other folks in the next month.

Your error is that you're equating a statistical possibility (gunning down every black or hispanic [sic] man to prevent a possible death) with the actual prevention of deaths by someone who is in the business of killing. In the first case, you may or may not prevent a death. In the second case, the actual practice of killing is permanently interrupted.

“Your error is that you’re equating a statistical possibility (gunning down every black or hispanic [sic] man to prevent a possible death) with the actual prevention of deaths by someone who is in the business of killing. In the first case, you may or may not prevent a death. In the second case, the actual practice of killing is permanently interrupted.”

The mechanism of how the death occurs is a little different, and certainly the victims are not as innocent (usually) as unborn babies. On the other hand, the drug dealers are violating the law while Tiller was obeying the law, passed by duly elected representatives, hideous as that law is.

But you are deeply into situational ethics as soon as you start distinguishing between murder in these two situations. Down that path lies Charlie Manson.

The only principled out is to declare the US and State governments who authorize and pay for the killing of babies illegitimate and start a revolution. I’m not ready to go there. Are you?

Equating Tiller to a drug dealer is completely off base. If you asked the drug dealer on Sunday night what he would be doing on Monday morning, he would not tell you he was going to sell drugs. He certainly would not tell you he was going to kill someone. Tiller told anyone who could hear that he was going to work on Monday morning to dismember a child. There was no guessing involved. There wasn't a "good chance" that he was going to kill someone. It was a certainty.

What if Tiller said openly that he was going to work to kill YOUR child on Monday morning? What if you called the cops, congress and the courts and they all said there was nothing they could do about it? Would you would take action yourself to prevent it? Morally, does it make a difference that it is someone else's kid and not yours?

Believe me, I would much rather tow the party line and not feel the way I do. It would be much easier. Unfortunately, reason is preventing me from seeing it any other way.

“If you asked the drug dealer on Sunday night what he would be doing on Monday morning, he would not tell you he was going to sell drugs. He certainly would not tell you he was going to kill someone.”

That kind of depends on whether he thinks you are a cop.

In any event, don’t see how what he says makes any difference on the moral issue. Suppose Tiller had been the strong, silent type. But still went to the office every morning and killed babies. Is it not OK to assassinate him in that case? But OK if he’s a loudmouth? That’s just silly.

The world is a better place without Tiller. But that doesn’t make it morally acceptable to assassinate him. Same with drug dealers. That “some people just need killin’” doesn’t mean we should.

Nope, given my hypothetical, I only posited gunning down men selling drugs on street corners, not “every black and hispanic man.” On that hypothetical, that you will prevent deaths is a statistical certainty. Those guys are in the business of killing, just like an abortionist. They sell death and death results with certainty.

No, I was giving your hypothetical, my abbreviated quotation was not being used to change the meaning and, therefore, the premise of the argument. Again, you're incorrect because of a false equivalency: "those guys are in the business of killing, just like an abortionist." They are not in the "business of killing" and they are not "just like an abortionist." Though it is true that some people involved with the illegal drug trade kill or are killed (rival drug gangs accounting for the majority of all the deaths), die accidentally (self-administered overdose), die at a premature age due to impaired health, such an equivalency would require equivalency in both outcome and intent.

Intent: Neither the providers nor the purchasers of illegal drugs are providing their product with the intent to kill someone any more than any other producer or consumer of a product or service (other than do-it-yourself suicide kits, including razor blades, rope, guns, vehicles, and a wide variety of pills, both OTC and prescription) are selling or purchasing for the purpose of killing anyone (though vehicle, gun, rope, and pharmaceutical companies are not producing or marketing their products for the purpose of killing someone).

Outcome: The majority of deaths in the illegal drug industry are between rival gangs vying for a customer base by trying to kill off each other. The majority of deaths in the abortion industry are not between rival abortionists trying to eliminate the competition. Some deaths in the illegal drug industry are accidental (mostly due to overdose). There are some accidental deaths in the abortion industry resulting in the demise of customers along with their intended victim.

The majority of deaths in the abortion industry, though, happens because the provider and the consumer are both intentionally working together to cause the death. That is the primary reason for their relationship, not a secondary or accidental outcome.

If the abortion industry is to be compared accurately to an illegal enterprise, it should be compared to hiring a hit man to get rid of someone you don't like. In both the primary purpose is to kill someone. In both, the provider is deliberately trying to terminate a life.

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