Both sides debate legacy of doctor’s killer

April 1, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan.

The man who gunned down one of the few doctors in the U.S. to perform late-term abortions could be sent to prison today for the rest of his life, but he may have gotten what he wanted all along: It is now markedly harder in Kansas to get an abortion.

Dr. George Tiller’s clinic is closed, leaving the state with no facility where women can have the procedure after the 21st week of pregnancy. An early vow by one of Tiller’s contemporaries to fill the gap hasn’t materialized, and state lawmakers are moving to enact tough new rules to dissuade other physicians from taking Tiller’s place.

“The national anti- abortion movement has a tremendous victory here,” said Dr. Warren Hern, a longtime friend of Tiller’s who performs late-term abortions in Colorado. “They accomplished exactly what they wanted, and they continue to accomplish it.”

But even as Scott Roeder faces a mandatory life sentence for killing Tiller, many ponder the conflicting legacies of his actions. Outside Kansas, abortion-rights supporters say there’s been a surge in late-term abortion practices by doctors emboldened to pick up where Tiller left off.

“What he really did was murder a doctor in church, and the effect on abortion is negligible,” said Dr. LeRoy Carhart, a Nebraska doctor who worked part time for Tiller.

Some people on the other side of the abortion debate aren’t taking comfort in the fate of Roeder, 52, of Kansas City, Mo., who was convicted in January of first-degree murder for fatally shooting Tiller last May as the doctor served as an usher in his Wichita church. The only question remaining Thursday is whether Roeder’s imprisonment will include a mandatory minimum of 25 or 50 years behind bars.

“Mr. Roeder was a setback to the pro-life movement — and to give him any sort of credit for reducing or stopping abortion is well beyond reason,” said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue.

Roeder’s militant sympathizers disagree.

“He went ahead and laid down his life to save unborn children, and to me that is the definition of a hero — he gave up his life to save someone else,” said the Rev. Don Spitz of Chesapeake, Va., who runs the Army of God Web site supporting violence against abortion providers.