Murder of an Abortion Doctor

What makes someone become so enraged that he is willing to risk his life, his freedom, and his future in order to murder an abortion doctor? On May 31, 2009, Scott Roeder apparently murdered abortion doctor George Tiller in the vestibule of Tiller’s church in Wichita Kansas. Roeder, an avid anti-abortion activist, was arrested shortly afterward while driving. His license plate and automobile were identified by witnesses, and there appears to be no doubt about his guilt. Police surmise that he acted alone.

The profile of Scott Roeder is not surprising. He has been active in far-right organizations including the group known as “Operation Rescue.” He has posted items on the Operation Rescue website urging people to go to Doctor Tiller’s church and confront him. He is known to have links with militia groups, including one called the “Montana Freeman” and another called the “Kansas Unorganized Citizens Militia.” Roeder is a “sovereign citizen” and tax protester. The sovereign citizen movement is a network of right-wing people who claim to be "sovereign citizens," that is, people who claim to have certain rights under English common law and to be unaccountable to the federal government.

In April, 1996, Roeder was arrested by Shawnee County sheriff’s deputies in Kansas for not having a proper license plate. In his car officers found ammunition, a blasting cap, a fuse cord, a one-pound can of gun powder, and two nine-volt batteries with one connected to a switch that could have been used to trigger a bomb. He was sentenced to 24 months of probation. He violated his parole by not filing tax returns or providing his social security number to his employer, and was subsequently sentenced to sixteen months in state prison for parole violation.

Roeder is the quintessential type of extremist who would be likely to carry-out the murder of an abortion doctor. He is obviously a loser who has failed in everything in life. He is probably uneducated, and may not even have graduated from high school. I would guess that he suffers from a serious inferiority complex. All of his life he has suffered from self-doubt, especially when confronted by wealthier, better educated, more successful people. Nothing has perturbed him and damaged his self-image more than seeing women who have successful careers, make more money, are better educated, and are more sophisticated than him. Such women would be certain to reject him as a possible suitor.

So what makes men like Roeder rise to a boil that carries them into murder? I don’t think it is concern for the unborn. While the thought of abortion of potential humans may upset people like Roeder, I do not think it is the primary motivating factor in their extreme pro-life behavior. People do not go into a rage simply because they see an injustice being done to others. People are most profoundly motivated by actions that attack their own sense of self-worth. I believe that what really set Roeder off was probably feelings of class hatred.

Down through history people have always been moved to hatred, revenge, and revolution against those who were richer, higher class, more educated, and more powerful than they. While we know about the big revolutions like the French and the Russian revolutions, there were many others that did not succeed and that were based on the same class antagonism; just to name a few, there was the peasants revolts in France in 1357, in England in 1381, and in Germany in 1524. I will bet that what the peasants hated the most was the way in which the nobles and royalty looked-down on the common people.

Today in America we do not have nobles or royalty, but there still exists powerful class antagonism by many people against wealthy, educated, or successful people. I believe that it is one of the prime motivating factors of the Right-to-Life movement. Both men and women of the right-wing see that the leaders of the Freedom-of-Choice movement are higher class, better educated, and often successful career women. They feel that these women look down on them. This outrages them far more than any feelings they may have about the actual act of abortion. They see that the women seeking abortion rights want those rights because they want to be able to go on with their careers and activities without being burdened by pregnancies and motherhood. Those women, by their success and education, shame the pro-lifers by pointing out the pro-lifers' career and educational deficiencies. It is a class thing.

If you look at the demographics of far-right extremist groups, you will note that they are made-up of the lowest levels of white society. Most members are uneducated, working at lowly jobs, and, frequently, out-of work or doing badly in their menial jobs. These people carry an enormous amount of class hatred, and while they may rail against minorities, their primary hatred is for educated liberals. Their antagonism against Blacks, Latinos, and other ethnic groups is a sop to enable them to feel superior to someone. When Barack Obama, a biracial American with extraordinary educational accomplishments, was elected President, it upset their theories and feelings of superiority. They simply hate him. He makes them realize that even a minority person can accomplish far more than they can. Seething with anger toward the power elite in America, these are the kind of people who would murder an abortion doctor.