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George Richard Tiller, MD (August 8, 1941 – May 31, 2009) was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, one of only three clinics nationwide to provide late-term abortions at the time.〔Stumpe, Joe. ("Jurors Acquit Kansas Doctor in a Late-Term Abortion Case" ), ''The New York Times'', March 27, 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2009.〕 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. After his clinic was firebombed in 1986, Tiller was shot in both arms by anti-abortion extremist Shelley Shannon in 1993. On May 31, 2009, Tiller was shot through the eye and killed by anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder, as 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. ==Career== Tiller was born in Wichita, Kansas, the son of Catherine and Dean Jackson "Jack" Tiller, MD.〔(George Richard Tiller (1941-2009) | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia )〕 He studied at the University of Kansas School of Medicine from 1963 to 1967. Shortly thereafter, he held a medical internship with United States Navy, and served as flight surgeon in Camp Pendleton, California, in 1969 and 1970.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Dr. Tiller – Biography )〕 In July 1970, he planned to start a dermatology residency. However on August 21, 1970, his parents, sister and brother-in-law were killed in an aircraft accident. In her will, his sister requested that Tiller take care of her one-year-old son. Tiller had intended to go back to Wichita, close up his father's family practice and then go back to become a dermatologist. However, he quickly felt pressure to take over his father's family practice. Tiller's father had performed abortions at his practice. After hearing about a woman who had died from an illegal abortion, Tiller stayed in Wichita to continue his father's practice. At the time of his death, Dr. Tiller was board certified with the American Board of Family Practice, an Associate of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and a clinical instructor in the Department of Family Medicine for Wesley Medical Center, where he had previously served as president of the medical staff.〔(Dr. Tiller – Biography )〕 Tiller's practice performed late-term abortions, which made Tiller a focal point for anti-abortion protest and violence. Tiller treated patients who discovered late in pregnancy that their fetuses had severe or fatal birth defects. He also aborted healthy late-term fetuses in cases where two doctors certified that carrying the fetus to term would cause the woman "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function".〔Simon, Stephanie; Bustillo, Miguel. ("Abortion Provider Is Shot Dead; George Tiller, Attacked at His Church, Had Long Been a Focal Point of Protests" ), ''Wall Street Journal'', June 1, 2009.〕 His practice frequently made him the focus of anti-abortion groups. The Kansas Coalition for Life kept a daily vigil outside Tiller's facility from May 9, 2004, until May 31, 2009.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Kansas Coalition for Life )〕 The group known as Operation Rescue held an event called 'The Summer of Mercy' in July and August 1991, focusing on Tiller's clinic but also protesting other abortion providers in Wichita, Kansas. Years later, a branch that split from the main Operation Rescue group moved from California to Kansas specifically to focus on Tiller, initially named Operation Rescue West. Kansas law prohibits abortions after the beginning of fetal viability unless two doctors certify that continuing the pregnancy would cause the woman "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function".〔 The two consulting doctors must not be "financially affiliated" with the doctor doing the abortion. Tiller was charged with 19 misdemeanors for allegedly consulting a second physician in late-term abortion cases during 2003 who was not truly "unaffiliated".〔Tiller Jury Selection, ''Kansas City Star'', March 18, 2009.〕〔"Jury set in trial of Wichita late-term abortionist", ''Kansas Liberty'', March 18, 2009.〕 The case became a cause célèbre for both supporters and opponents of legal abortion. WorldNet Daily Columnist Jack Cashill compared the trial to the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals,〔"Why George Tiller is on trial in Wichita", ''World Net Daily'', March 19, 2009.〕 while New York University Professor Jacob Appel described Tiller as "a genuine hero who ranks alongside Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. in the pantheon of defenders of human liberty".〔''Los Angeles Times'', March 21, 2009.〕 The trial took place in March 2009, with the jury finding Tiller not guilty on all charges on March 27, approximately two months before his death. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「George Tiller」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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