RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
It is the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion 37 years ago. And today, jurors will begin hearing evidence in the trial of a man who admitted killing a doctor in Kansas who performed abortions. Scott Roeder�is charged with first degree murder in the shooting of Dr. George Tiller.
Roeder says he should be allowed to tell jurors why he committed the act, in his words: to protect unborn children. Prosecutors say any evidence about abortion is irrelevant. NPRs Kathy Lohr is in Wichita for the trial.
KATHY LOHR: Kansas prosecutors think its an open-and-shut murder case. Roeder allegedly drove from suburban Kansas City to George Tiller's church in Wichita last May, where he pulled out a gun and shot Tiller in the head. Many witnesses saw the shooting, and Roeder has admitted that he did it. But the case may not be so simple.
Judge Warren Wilbert ruled that Roeder cannot use a so-called justifiable homicide or necessity defense. But the judge did not rule out evidence that could lead to a lesser voluntary manslaughter charge. According to Kansas law, that's the quote, "unreasonable but honest belief that deadly force was justified."
Professor CARL TOBIAS (Law Professor, University of Richmond): It did seem very straightforward at the outset, but it seems less so now.
LOHR: Carl Tobias is law professor at the University of Richmond.
Prof. TOBIAS: The judge said he would entertain the evidence that defendants would introduce on a witness-by-witness, case-by-case basis. But that makes it very unpredictable - exactly what evidence will be proffered and what the judge will accept and allow the jury to hear.
Prosecutors argue evidence regarding Roeder's views on abortion and his view of Tiller should be excluded from the trial. They say this is a case of premeditated murder.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys declined to be interviewed before the trial, but some watching the case say Roeder has a right to present his defense, and that means abortion is an issue.
Michael Hirsh is a pro-life attorney.
Mr. MICHAEL HIRSH (Attorney): It's the 500-pound gorilla, you know - nobody wants to talk about it. But the fact is that if it wasn't for abortion, then, frankly, George Tiller wouldn't be dead right now. But the corollary of that is dozens of babies wouldn't be alive.
Many pro-life groups have condemned the killing, including Operation Rescue, a group that moved its headquarters to Wichita in 2002 to try to shut down Tiller's clinic. President Troy Newman says the trial is interesting, but he says it will have little impact on the movement or the efforts to end abortion.
Mr. TROY NEWMAN (President, Operation Rescue): Pro-life isn't being put on trial. A man who did a bizarre thing and executed an individual - that's who's being put on trial.
LOHR: But other abortion opponents do see the trial as a rallying point.
Reverend DONALD SPITZ (Founder, Pro-Life Virginia): It's very important because it shows that unborn babies deserve protection.
LOHR: Donald Spitz is with Pro-Life Virginia. Spitz runs an for Army of God Web site, and calls Roeder a hero.
Rev. SPITZ: All these years, our people, they get tried, brought before juries and brought before judges, and they're not allowed to say why they took the action that they did. They should be allowed to say why they took their action, and let the jury decide.
LOHR: Spitz says it's possible others could take violent action against doctors and clinics - and that's what worries those who support abortion rights.
Kathy Spillar is with the Feminist Majority Foundation.
Ms. KATHY SPILLAR (Executive vice president, Feminist Majority Foundation): And our fear, of course, is that it's going to embolden anti-abortion extremists to think that this is somehow a legitimate basis for use of deadly force.
LOHR: Pro-choice groups have asked the Justice Department to put law enforcement on alert in areas surrounding Wichita, and on routes they say extremists may take to get to the trial.
Ms. VICKI SAPORTA (President and CEO, National Abortion Federation): Coming to Wichita, we will have the who's who in the extreme wing of the anti-abortion movement.
LOHR: Vicki Saporta is with the National Abortion Federation.
Mr. SAPORTA: It's important that this proceed as a first-degree murder trial and that he gets convicted and goes to prison for the rest of his life. That will help serve as a deterrent for others who might want to follow in his footsteps and do harm to another abortion provider.
LOHR: The judge has warned the trial will not be a debate over abortion. But pro-choice activists fear allowing evidence that could lead to a lesser voluntary manslaughter charge, which carries a shorter sentence, will only create more tension over an issue that has bitterly divided Americans.
Kathy Lohr, NPR News.
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