The Kansas trial of an anti-abortion activist accused of gunning down one of the few late-term abortion providers in the United States opens on Monday in a case that has galvanised people on both sides of the contentious debate over abortion.
Court officials beefed up security as jury selection began in Wichita in the trial of Scott Roeder, who is charged with first-degree murder in the May 2009 death of Dr George Tiller as the 67-year-old abortion provider attended church.
Mr Roeder (51), of Merriam, Kansas, is also charged with aggravated assault for allegedly threatening two other people at the church.
The slaying of Dr Tiller intensified the debate in the US over abortion and the actions taken by people who want it to be illegal.
Abortion was legalised in a landmark 1973 US Supreme Court decision but has remained a bitterly divisive political and social issue.
Mr Roeder has admitted in media interviews that he killed Dr Tiller. But he has said his actions were justified in order to prevent further abortions.
Activists on both sides of the issue have said they will monitor the trial closely. Sedgwick County District Judge Warren Wilbert, who will preside over the trial, said last week that defence lawyers can argue during the trial that Mr Roeder’s actions should warrant the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter instead of premeditated murder. Voluntary manslaughter can be applied when a defendant acts with the belief that circumstances exist justifying deadly force. A manslaughter conviction would bring a much lighter sentence – possibly fewer than five years in prison.
Mr Roeder’s supporters, including members of the militant Army of God anti-abortion group, have said his defence could generate fresh support in the US for overturning abortion-rights laws. “This trial is very important to us,” said Army of God spokesman the Rev Donald Spitz. He applauded the decision to allow for a possible manslaughter verdict. “Pro-lifers have been convicted unjustly for years in the court systems because they have not been allowed to state why they took their actions against abortion mills or against baby-killing abortionists,” he said.
Abortion rights supporters said they hope for a conviction on the first-degree murder charge.
“It is incredibly important that this trial show that the lives of doctors who perform necessary, legal services will be protected by the full force of the law,” said abortion rights supporter Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights.