FBI Should Probe Whether 'Systemic Problems' Led To 'Gaps' In Tiller Murder Case, NYT Editorial States

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 09 Jun 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Congress "should review the killing" of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller "to determine whether there are systemic problems that led to apparent gaps in the FBI's performance in the case," a New York Times editorial states. According to the Times, Holder "took the prudent step of ordering" the U.S. Marshals Service to "provide security for certain abortion clinics and physicians thought to be at heightened risk," but the government's response "must not end there."

The editorial states that Scott Roeder, the man accused of killing Tiller, has a history of activity related to the antiabortion-rights movement that "should have sparked greater concern" with the FBI, including being suspected in 2000 of "repeatedly gluing shut the doors of an abortion clinic in Kansas City, Kan. -- a federal crime under the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances law." Roeder also was found in possession of "gunpowder and a fuse" when stopped for a traffic violation in 1996, according to the Times. The editorial states, "In the past, Tiller was shot in both arms, and his clinic was bombed and vandalized," but "it seems as if the federal authorities failed to increase security for Dr. Tiller and his offices."

The editorial continues, "An armed criminal bent on murder is hard to stop, and we do not blame the FBI for Dr. Tiller's death." However, "reproductive rights advocates say enforcement of the clinic protection law waned in the Bush years," the editorial says, concluding that Holder "should make sure there is no underlying problem that inhibits efforts to combat intimidation and violence against the dwindling number of legal abortion providers -- and women they help" (New York Times, 6/8).

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