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National Post Columnist Blames Pro-Life Movement for Tiller Murder

By Alex Bush and John Jalsevac

June 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – National Post Columnist Colby Cosh has accused the pro-life movement of being responsible for George Tiller’s murder.  Tiller, a Kansas abortionist who specialized in late-term abortions, was murdered this past Sunday. Scott Roeder, a man with a history of involvement in fringe anti-government organizations and mental illness, has been arrested in connection with the murder, for which he was charged earlier today.

In an article titled, “Who’s to blame for George Tiller’s Murder,” Cosh argues that the natural consequences of believing – as the pro-life movement the world over does - that abortion is indeed the murder of unborn children is to believe that the murder of abortionists is in turn justifiable.

“If that is your belief, then you should be willing to stand up and celebrate the murder of Dr. George Tiller and the richly merited sorrow of a family gorged with blood money,” he says.

Cosh took particular aim at a statement issued by Jim Hughes of Campaign Life Coalition in response to the news of Tiller’s death, writing that it was a “charming, coy thing to say.”  Hughes had condemned the murder and said that “Those of us in the pro-life movement do not want to see abortionists die, we want to see them convert.”

Cosh, however, accused Hughes of being “simply a purveyor of beliefs whose literal truth he does little or nothing to act seriously upon.”

Cosh then goes on to suggest that pro-life advocates who say that abortion is the murder of unborn children are responsible when “some ardent religious loner is confused enough to hear those beliefs, conclude they are true, and follow through. And a doctor somewhere ends up maimed or dead.”

He concludes, “And we blame only the individual who pulled the trigger.”

However, Barbara Kay, a writer for the National Post’s religion blog, Holy Post, responded to Cosh’s column, arguing that the pro-life movement has expressed its outrage to Tiller’s late-term abortion practices admirably through civil obedience. It “took a real nutter to translate his grievance into violence,” said Kay of the man who killed Tiller.

“To follow through on Cosh's implication that the pro-life movement must accept blame in this murder, what should we say about those who attempt to assassinate presidents? Should we indict, say, the entire peace movement if a brooding activist attempted to knock off George Bush for invading Iraq?”

“That's is a dangerous road to go down, and surprising in such a staunch libertarian as Cosh professes to be. Pursuit of such a thread will lead to a chill on the free expression of opinion and belief,” she concluded.

Since the news of Tiller’s murder broke, most, if not all, mainstream pro-life organizations in North America have issued statements condemning the killing. Pro-life leaders have said that the pro-life movement is seeking to protect unborn children through legal means, and not through violence. (To see many of the statements, go here)

National Post Contact Information:

Editor-in-Chief Douglas Kelly

Colby Cosh

Barbara Kay

Related LifeSiteNews.com Coverage:

A Portrait of a Murderer: The Life of Suspected Tiller Killer Scott Roeder
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09060203.html

Abortion Proponents “Exploit” Tiller Killing, Label Pro-Life Advocates “Domestic Terrorists”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09060110.html

Commentary: President Obama Calls Tiller Killing a Heinous Act of Violence but Ignores Heinous Violence of Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09060107.html

Recollections of a Taxi Cab Ride with Abortionist George Tiller
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jun/09060111.html

 

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