Obama Admin to Launch Probe Into Killing of Abortion Practitioner George Tiller
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
June 5, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The Obama administration announced on Friday that it will launch an investigation into the killing of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller. A Kansas man with no affiliation to the pro-life movement, Scott Roeder, has been arrested and charged with killing Tiller at his church on Sunday.
Roeder, whose family members say has suffered from mental illness and who is linked with militia and anti-government groups, has no connection to any legitimate pro-life organizations.
However, the Justice Department announced the probe and said it would look into whether or not Roeder, if guilty, had any accomplices. He appeared to be a lone gunman when he shot Tiller over the weekend.
The department will also investigate the possibility of any federal crimes that may have been committed in connection with the shooting death.
"The Department of Justice will work tirelessly to determine the full involvement of any and all actors in this horrible crime, and to ensure that anyone who played a role in the offense is prosecuted to the full extent of federal law," said Loretta King head of the department’s civil rights division.
Anyone who was involved in the killing would be prosecuted "to the full extent of federal law."
Specifically, the department will determine whether or not Roeder violated a 1994 law known as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), which targets those who engage in violence against abortion practitioners or abortion facilities.
The move comes after the Obama administration was accused of failing to follow through sufficiently on tips staff from another Kansas abortion center gave them about alleged vandalism Scott Roeder committed prior to the Tiller homicide.
Following the Tiller shooting, pro-abortion President Barack Obama directed the U.S. Marshals Service to offer protection to abortion practitioners.
In its press statement sent to LifeNews.com, the Justice Department said it had "moved expeditiously to implement the Attorney General’s directive with the assistance of" abortion businesses.
The Obama administration also announced that it recently convened a meeting of the National Task Force on Violence Against Reproductive Health Care Providers, an interagency law enforcement working group within the Justice Department.
This task force was established more than a decade ago to commit resources to the reduction of threats and violence against abortion centers.
Hundreds of pro-life groups have condemned the Tiller shooting but that hasn’t stopped abortion advocates from blaming pro-life advocates for his death.
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