WICHITA, Kan. - Since Dr. George Tiller's assassination in May, many Kansans' lives were dramatically changed. One important change has been the media attention given to extreme anti-abortion militants - the ones who advocate murdering abortion providers and those who have tried. Initially, questions were raised as to how the Wichita-based anti-choice organization Operation Rescue was related to the suspect, Scott Roeder. But after a while, the connection between "legitimate" anti-choice organizations and violence against abortion providers faded way to militant, "fringe" groups such as the Army of God. Their latest foray into considerable media attention grew this last week as Dave Leach of Des Moines, Iowa, and Regina Dinwiddie of Kansas City, Missouri, announced their intention to auction off anti-choice violence-related materials on eBay to raise money for a new defense team for Roeder.
Scott Roeder booking photo Soon after they announced the auction in the Kansas City Star, eBay said they would not allow the auction as it promoted and glorified violence. Dinwiddie said she would sue eBay for religious discrimination and that they planned on continuing with their efforts. Sunday evening, they began putting items on eBay, often using intentional misspellings to hide the items, making it more difficult for pro-choice advocates to find and report them. By late Monday afternoon, at least 12 items that had been posted were removed. While both claim the items listed did not promote violence (though the description of the "prolife Bible" said it included highlighted passages that advocated violence), both Leach and Dinwiddie are fierce advocates of assassinating abortion providers.
Leach publishes Prayer and Action News, a newsletter to which Roeder subscribed and even provided content. Leach also republished the Army of God manual (one of which was up for auction). This manual provides information on precisely how to destroy abortion clinics including how to make a bomb (as Leach points out, US Army manuals also include similar information and are legal to distribute). Leach has been pushing a defense he calls the "necessity defense," the idea that killing abortion providers is justified because it was necessary to save lives. Necessity defense is in Kansas law, but it requires the person harmed must be committing a crime. In this case, Dr. Tiller was not committing a crime - a point emphasized this past March when a Wichita jury was asked if he illegally provided abortions after viability, according to Kansas law, though the jury said he had not. In 1993, after the first abortion provider was murdered, Leach signed a letter in support of Michael Griffin who assassinated Dr. David Gunn, the first fatality in the abortion war.
Dinwiddie also signed the letter. She is also famous for being one of the first people prosecuted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. The FACE Act makes it illegal to block clinic entrances and obstructing women from seeking services. FACE was instituted shortly after Dr. Gunn's murder and prevented clinic blockades that were popular at the time. One of the largest clinic blockades happened in Wichita in 1991, the so-called "Summer of Mercy," when Randall Terry and hundreds of anti-choice activists blockaded three clinics including Dr. Tiller's. Dinwiddie was barred by federal court from using a bullhorn within 500 feet of a clinic entrance. She is friends with Roeder.
The auction is quite a strange phenomena. Under Kansas's Son of Sam law, the proceeds raised, since they are for a person currently on trial, come back to the state to pay for criminal trials though not necessarily Roeder's. One of Dr. Tiller's lawyers, Lee Thompson, told the Rachel Maddow Show that should the auction happen, he would pursue those funds under Son of Sam. The auction is intended to raise funds for a private defense team - Roeder is currently represented by public defenders - though Roeder has not complained about his lawyers. And he has at times been quite vocal with the media. If he genuinely had a problem, he likely would have used these outlets to complain. Nor has he filed documents with the court requesting new representation. It is known he met with Michael Hirsh, a lawyer who has defended Dinwiddie and another abortion provider assassin, Paul Hill. Hirsh, however, has not indicated he will take up Roeder's case.
Leach is under the impression Roeder will not receive a trial by jury. Leach has prepared a legal brief defending his "necessity defense" (which reads more like a madman's rantings than a legal paper) and videos. This defense hinges entirely around putting Dr. Tiller on trial - the victim - and saying he was committing a horrible crime and deserved to die. When Rachelle "Shelley" Shannon tried to kill Dr. Tiller in 1993, this line of reasoning (which is not at all reasonable) was squelched very quickly; each time she brought up abortion, the judge would not let her continue. Leach declares this is de facto denial of trial by jury. This, of course, is not true. Neither abortion nor Dr. Tiller are on trial - Dr. Tiller committed no crime, and abortion is legal and has been off and on through much of America's history. Scott Roeder is on trial for murdering an unarmed man in church.
For now, the auction has been stopped. Many women's groups across America worked Monday to see that eBay canceled the auction. But Leach, Dinwiddie, and others will surely attempt to carry out another auction. And the media, local and national, will continue to give them airtime to preach about their beliefs - that they are discriminated against and abortion providers are cruel murderers. All the while, women are reminded they are not fully in control of their lives. And that people out there will kill to keep it that way.
For more information on the auction and Scott Roeder's trial, visit Roeder Watch.
I was very relieved to see that the items were taken down. Even thought it got Scott a lot of press--without the coverage that it got in the press we would not have been able to take a stand and get the auction down as quickly as we did. We discovered yesterday that one of the drawings had been plagerized from Gary McCoy. Mr.McCoy was appalled that his editorial cartoon depecting President Obamas comments after the assasination of Dr. Tiller had been copied and was going to be auctioned off in support of a defense fund for Scott Roeder. Mr. McCoys cartoon was copied and used without his permission. I believe that is another crime to accuse Scott of.
Roeder did not, in fact, draw the picture (and I'm not certain what the charges, if any, would be). In one account I read, McCoy was upset also at eBay's reason -- promoting violence -- saying his image in no way promotes violence. That is true in a sense, but it was posted by people who advocate violence and was being sold for the purpose of raising money to justify violence.
I believe the auction was less about Roeder and more about the attention. If they didn't get the attention, would they have had the auction? And more media sources than just the "usual suspects" covered the auction (Including Talking Points Memo). Whereas the mainstream media hadn't been covering these terrorists (but other terrorists such as old Operation Rescue and new Operation Rescue), now they are. It also serves to make OR seem legitimate because there are truly, obviously even more fringe elements out there.
Carolyn Marie, Welcome to KFP! We're honored to have you with us here. Thanks too for the overview about the Roeder auction as I know you have been very involved in this. I had no idea that this was ongoing and that they were sneaking items onto eBay. We're so fortunate to have an advocate like you in Kansas. Thanks and welcome!