page_title: George Tiller
section_title: Assassination of George Tiller in May 2009
hierarchical_section_title: George Tiller / Violence directed at Tiller / Assassination of George Tiller in May 2009
caption_attribution_description: English: An attendee at a candlelight vigil in Boston, Massachusetts for Dr. George Tiller holds up a sign. "Trust women" was the legend on a button Tiller was known to wear.
context_page_description: George Richard Tiller was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide at the time which provided late termination of pregnancy.
  During his tenure with the center, which began in 1975 and continued the medical practice of his father, Tiller was frequently targeted with protest and violence by anti-abortion groups and individuals. His clinic was firebombed in 1986. In 1993 Tiller was shot in both arms by anti-abortion extremist Shelley Shannon. On May 31, 2009, Tiller was fatally shot in the side of the head by anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder while Tiller served as an usher during the Sunday morning service at his church in Wichita. Roeder was convicted of murder on January 29, 2010, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
context_section_description: Tiller was fatally shot in the side of the head on May 31, 2009 by anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder during worship services at the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, where he was serving as an usher and handing out church bulletins. After threatening to shoot two people who initially pursued him, Roeder fled and escaped in his car. Three hours after the shooting, Roeder was arrested about 170 miles (270 km) away in suburban Kansas City.
  Operation Rescue West's vice president Cheryl Sullenger was in prolonged communication with Roeder before he assassinated Tiller. Sullenger initially denied any contact with Roeder. After her name and cell phone number was discovered on a post-it note on the dashboard of Roeder's car, she subsequently admitted that she had informed Roeder of Tiller's scheduled court dates.
  On June 2, 2009, Roeder was charged with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the shooting, subsequently convicted in January 2010 on those charges, and sentenced on April 1, 2010, to life imprisonment without parole for 50 years, the maximum sentence available in Kansas. The no-parole term was later reduced to 25 years.
  Tiller's killing was largely condemned by groups and individuals on both sides of the abortion issue. US President Barack Obama said he was "shocked and outraged" by the murder. David N. O'Steen, director of the National Right to Life Committee, said the group "unequivocally condemns any such acts of violence regardless of motivation". Some others who spoke publicly were more confrontational. Anti-abortion extremist Randall Terry described Tiller as a mass murderer and said of other abortion providers, "We must continue to expose them in our communities and peacefully protest them at their offices and homes, and yes, even their churches", and Southern Baptist minister and radio host Wiley Drake said, "I am glad that he is dead."
  After the shooting, Tiller's colleague, Leroy Carhart of Nebraska, stated that Tiller's clinic, Women's Health Care Services, would reopen after being closed for one week to mourn his death. The following week, Tiller's family announced that the clinic would be closed permanently.
  The aftermath of Tiller's assassination was the subject of the 2013 documentary After Tiller, which followed the daily lives and work of the four remaining late-term abortion providers in the United States.
  The George Tiller Memorial Abortion Fund was established by the National Network of Abortion Funds. In 2019, during the successful 23–14 vote confirmation of David Toland as Kansas Secretary of Commerce, objections were raised to his nomination because he had led the Thrive Allen County non-profit, which had obtained $20,000 in grants from the Fund in 2015 and 2018, to help low-income pregnant women to stop smoking and to help prevent their unintended pregnancies. State Senators Rob Olson and Mary Pilcher-Cook, joined 12 other Republican senators, and community opponents including Mary Kay Culp, leader of Kansans for Life, to oppose his nomination.
  Trust Women Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, purchased and re-opened the clinic that Tiller operated and continues to perform abortions and other medical services. The foundation currently operates three clinics, one each in Wichita, KS, Oklahoma City, OK, and Seattle, WA.
caption: A June 1, 2009, candlelight vigil in Boston, Massachusetts, for George Tiller
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