George Richard Tiller (August 8, 1941 – May 31, 2009) was an American physician and abortion provider from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which, at the time, was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide that provided late-term abortions.
On May 31, 2009, Tiller was fatally shot by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion extremist, 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 without possibility of parole until after 50 years.
Tiller was born in Wichita, Kansas, the son of Catherine and Dean Jackson "Jack" Tiller, a prominent physician on August 8, 1941. He studied at the University of Kansas School of Medicine from 1963 to 1967. Shortly thereafter, he held a medical internship with the United States Navy, and served as flight surgeon in Camp Pendleton, California, in 1969 and 1970. In July 1970, he planned to start a dermatology residency.
On August 21, 1970, Tiller's 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 intended to go back to Wichita, close up his father's family practice and then go back to California and become a dermatologist; but he changed his mind and took over his father's family practice. Tiller's father had performed illegal, secretive, but safe 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. Following Roe v. Wade, Dr. Tiller was the only abortion provider in Wichita, Kansas for nearly 40 years.
At the time of his death, 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.
Tiller struggled with substance abuse at various points in his life, which came to a head in 1984 when he was arrested for driving under the influence. He sought treatment, overcame his addiction, and later served on the Kansas Medical Society's impaired physicians committee.
Tiller's practice performed late-term abortions. The majority of Tiller's abortion practice involved elective late-term abortions authorized under existing state law. About three-quarters of these late-term cases were teenagers who had denied to themselves or their families that they were pregnant until it was too late to hide it.
Protests and violence directed against Tiller
Tiller's late-term abortion practice frequently made him the a focal point for anti-abortion groups, resulting in nonviolent protests but also violent acts directed against him.
In June 1986, Tiller's clinic was firebombed. While it was being rebuilt, Tiller displayed a sign reading "Hell no, we won't go."
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. In 1999, a branch that split from the main Operation Rescue group moved from California to Kansas specifically to focus on Tiller.
Murder attempt by Shelley Shannon
On August 19, 1993, anti-abortion extremist Shelley Shannon shot Tiller five times, while he was in his car. He returned to work the next day.
At the time she attacked Tiller, Shannon had been an anti-abortion extremist for five years and had written letters of support to the convicted murderer Michael Griffin, who had murdered Dr. David Gunn. She called him "a hero". At her trial in state court, Shannon testified that there was nothing wrong with trying to kill Tiller. The jury convicted Shannon of attempted murder, and she was sentenced to 11 years in prison. The following year, Shannon was sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison on charges of arson, interference with commerce by force and interstate travel in aid of racketeering in connection to her participation in several fires and acid attacks on abortion clinics.
Vigil protest by the Kansas Coalition for Life
The Kansas Coalition for Life kept a daily vigil outside Tiller's facility from May 9, 2004, until May 31, 2009.
Campaign against Tiller on The O'Reilly Factor
Tiller was discussed in 28 episodes of the Fox News talk show The O'Reilly Factor in the years leading up to his death, focusing national attention on his practice. Although he later denied it, show host Bill O'Reilly sometimes described him as "Tiller the Baby Killer", a nickname that Congressman Bob Dornan had used on the floor of the US House of Representatives. In November 2006, O'Reilly aired an exclusive report on The O'Reilly Factor, saying that he had an "inside source" with official clinic documentation indicating that Tiller performed late-term abortions to alleviate "temporary depression" in pregnant women. O'Reilly characterized Tiller as "a savage on the loose, killing babies willy-nilly", and accused him of "operating a death mill", and of protecting the rapists of children. He suggested that Tiller performed abortions for women who had "a bit of a headache or anxiety" or who felt "a bit blue". In June 2007 O'Reilly said on the air that he would not want to be Tiller "if there is a Judgment Day", also including in that judgment Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and other Kansas politicians who supported "Tiller's business of destruction".