A Modern Controversy: the Case of George Tiller
To some anti-abortionists George Tiller, who was shot dead on Sunday, was a mass murderer known as "Tiller the Killer". To his patients and many pro-choice supporters, he was a hero committed to women in need of help.
For two decades, Dr Tiller spent his life looking over his shoulder. He had become a lightning rod for anti-abortion activists and in 1993 survived an attempt on his life. He rarely talked about his work for fear of attacks against himself or his family. Dr Tiller's clinic was one of three in the US that offered what are known as late-term abortions.
WHAT IS LATE TERM?Late term mostly centres on the notion of the "viability" of the foetus - this is widely interpreted as when
"Those children were in immediate danger if someone did not stop George Tiller," he said. He was the sole witness to testify in his defence. Dr Tiller was killed by a single gunshot at his Wichita church on 31 May, 2009. Mr Roeder faces a possible life sentence if found guilty.
Sanctity of Life
Sanctity of life is the view that human life is sacred and of special value. This may lead to the view that abortion is immoral, because it is destructive of human life. Christian beliefs on the sanctity of life come from three main sources. Firstly, from the revelation in the Bible, secondly from the use of reason (natural theology) and finally from Church teaching, which uses a combination of both. This concept has also been developed by philosophers and theologians like Albert Schweitzer.
The Bible: The following quotations from the Bible are used to defend belief that life is an absolute and intrinsic good and must be protected at all times:
‘Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ (Genesis 1)
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” (Genesis 9)