My reaction to the Scott Roeder guilty verdict

As I sit here in front of my laptop, tap-tap-tapping away and defrosting after a subzero morning spent in the parking lot of Planned Parenthood, I have to feel especially grateful for yesterday's guilty verdict in the trial of Scott Roeder.

If you don't know already, Scott Roeder is the anti-abortion extremist who walked into the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita, Kansas, on May 31, put a gun to Dr. George Tiller's head, and pulled the trigger, before threatening witnesses and then fleeing the scene. Roeder was fortunately apprehended only three hours after the shooting, and on Friday, a jury of his peers found him guilty of first-degree murder.

The jury made the right decision. There was some concern by pro-choice groups that Roeder might be convicted on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, but Judge Warren Wilbert rightly ruled that the jury could not consider that lesser charge in their deliberations. They deliberated for only 37 minutes, which shouldn't have been as surprising as it was to me. Still, I couldn't help but feel a huge wave of relief.

I firmly believe that if Roeder had been convicted on a lesser charge - or dog forbid, acquitted - not only would that have bolstered the convictions of those extremists who believe any measure of force is necessary to stop abortion, but he would have committed further acts of violence against abortion providers and clinic employees and volunteers. The possibility that he could face anything less than life in prison after openly admitting to murdering Tiller in his place of worship (something that even this "hardened atheist" thinks is a supremely dick move) frightened me. And it should have frightened you, too.

CNN's article on the story features some highlights of Roeder's testimony, and I'd recommend that you watch it. It's clear that he is a mentally unstable lunatic who truly believed that murder was justified to achieve his social and political ends. He is a threat to society, and thankfully, he will be removed from society now.

Now to be fair, most anti-abortion activists and organizations have condemned Roeder's actions, as well they should have. A few select voices refused to either condemn or condone what he did, and that's a bit unsettling, but I'll grant that most abortion opponents do want to work within the system to outlaw abortion. I still fundamentally disagree with them, but that's mildly respectable nonetheless. No abortion opponent should want this guy on their side, and I don't blame you few rational pro-lifers for disassociating yourselves with Roeder, though I have to wonder to what extent the inflammatory rhetoric used by many otherwise non-violent right-wingers could inspire similar actions in the future. It's something to be wary of, I believe.

Scott Roeder is not a martyr. He is a menace, and I'm glad to see that justice was dealt swiftly in this case. I can only hope now that he serves the rest of his life behind bars.