PAKISTAN : MUSLIM GUY FORCES 12 YEAR OLD GIRL TO CONVERT AND MARRY HIM

LAHORE, Pakistan – The Christian mother of a 12-year-old girl in Punjab Province who was kidnapped, coerced into converting to Islam and forcibly married to a 37-year-old Muslim hopes to recover her daughter at a court hearing next week.
The reaction of Pakistani law enforcement authorities to Sajida Masih’s complaint so far – ridiculing her and asserting that there is nothing she can do because her daughter is now a Muslim – does not encourage her hopes of recovering her daughter Huma at next Thursday’s (June 11) hearing.
Masih said that Muhammad Imran abducted Huma at gunpoint on Feb. 23 from Hanif Kot village in Gujranwala district, forcibly converted her and then married her. Imran has since disappeared along with his first wife, three children and new child-bride.
Masih, who worked alongside Imran as a farmhand, said the kidnapping occurred on her son’s wedding day. Masih said that when she sent Huma and the child’s aunt out of their home to see if transportation had arrived for the wedding party, Imran – who had helped in preparing for the ceremony – was waiting and told her to sit on his motorbike.
Huma did not understand and, with her concerned aunt tightly holding her hand, she refused.
Masih’s attorney, who requested anonymity for security reasons, said Imran took out a pistol and told Huma that he would shoot her as well as her parents if she did not obey; he also pointed the weapon at her aunt and said that he would kill her. Huma got onto the bike with him; her family has not seen her since.
Masih immediately ran to the owner of the farm where she and Imran work, Khan Buhadur, who told her to first finish the wedding and then see him in the evening. Masih’s attorney said that when she and relatives went to Buhadur after the ceremony, however, he said only that Imran had fled with his family along with the girl, and that he did not know where they were.
Suspecting that Buhadur was complicit in the kidnapping, Masih went to Sadar police station in Gujranwala. Police officers first ridiculed her, the attorney said, and then told her to go back to Buhadur because “only he could do something.” For several days officers and Buhadur shuttled her back and forth between them.
Unable to get police to register the case, Masih submitted a report with the help of a lawyer and took it to the police station, where officers consigned it to the dustbin.
Three days after the kidnapping, police finally registered a First Information Report (FIR) on Feb. 26 – but changed the age of the kidnapped girl from 12, as her mother reported, to 16. Moreover, Investigating Officer Niaz Khan told Masih that the FIR was useless since she was too poor to hire a lawyer, and that she should try to reach an out-of-court agreement with Buhadur – implying that he knew of the child’s whereabouts.
The Masih family learned from a friend of Imran, identified only as Javed, that Huma had converted to Islam and had married the fugitive father of three. Javed further said that Imran had told him police would do nothing as he had paid them 50,000 rupees (US$620).
The family subsequently received a court notice, the attorney said, stating that Imran had requested nullification of the FIR on Huma’s abduction, claiming she was an “adult” and had “willfully” converted to Islam and married him.
According to Huma’s birth certificate, issued by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Gujranwala, she was born on Oct. 22, 1996. The attorney said that Imran had submitted a fake birth certificate stating she was born on Dec. 23, 1990, which would make her 18 years old. The legal marriage age for girls in Pakistan is 16.
Only then did Masih obtain the services of the lawyer now handling the case, who is supported by the American Center for Law & Justice.
A hearing on the case had been scheduled for May 6, but because of a change of judge a new date was set for June 11. Unwilling to wait, the family and their lawyer went with a court bailiff to a factory owned by Buhadur in Gujranwala on May 14, hoping to get help in recovering Huma, but Buhadur did not cooperate.
Buhadur had been demanding that Masih pay him 100,000 rupees (US$1,240) that she had supposedly borrowed from him, but this demand only surfaced after the kidnapping – an implied attempt to extort money from her in exchange for information on the whereabouts of her daughter, according to the lawyer. Buhadur withdrew this pressure on Masih after the visit from the court bailiff and efforts by the attorney.
At a meeting of villagers on May 16 at the Sadar police station, Buhadur said that Imran owed him money and that he would inform officers if he learned anything of his whereabouts.
Another land owner, Karamat Ali Saroyya, subsequently called Masih saying that Huma was in Muridke, near Lahore, but when Masih and her lawyer set out again and met with Muridke police, they were unable to find her.
Saroyya later demanded that Masih work his fields for one year in order to get her daughter back.
Masih’s lawyer and other legal representatives said police and officials at the Municipal Corporation’s office, which keeps birth and death records, have been reluctant to help, saying that Huma had converted and that therefore there was no reason that she should be returned to non-Muslim parents.

OBAMA WOOS MUSLIMS IN HIS CAIRO SPEECH, BUT FAILS TO ADDRESS PERSECUTION IN CAIRO AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS

WASHINGTON: In a landmark speech reaching out to the Islamic world, US President Barack Obama on Thursday called for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims, saying both sides should overcome the cycle of suspicion and discord, and religious beliefs across the world were not inimical or exclusive to each other.
Obama’s eloquent address in Cairo, Egypt, home to the historic Al Azhar and Cairo University, contained quotations from the Koran, rich references to Islam’s contribution to civilization, and his own personal connection to the faith. Beyond that, he also outlined the source of the fear and mistrust between the two sides, including 9/11, while warning that violent extremists have exploited these tensions ''in a small but potent minority of Muslims.''
Among the key contentious issues and geography identified by Obama were the festering Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Iraq (which he suggested was needlessly invaded), US differences with Iran and indeed much of the world over possession of nuclear weapons, Af-Pak (home to the perpetrators of 9/11), and differing perceptions between the west and the Islamic world on democracy and women's rights.
But he conspicuously excluded any reference to the Kashmir issue in the Indian sub-continent, home of the largest concentration of Muslims in the world, likely to the dismay of Pakistan and its separatist proxies who have made it a cause, and the delight of Indian nationalists who believe it is a domestic or regional concern.
Outlining the more recent events that led to the growing rift between the US and the Islamic world, Obama reminded the world that the perpetrators of 9/11 were hiding in the Af-Pak region, forcing U.S to come after them. Al Qaeda was not only unrepentant but was even now planning to expand their reach and kill on a mass scale. ''Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan.
It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can. But that is not yet the case,'' Obama said, echoing the general Indian sentiment about lowering its guard against acts of terrorism. The US President said ''America is not - and never will be - at war with Islam.
We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.'' The US President also touched on the revived debate about nuclear weapons, saying he understood those who protest that some countries have weapons that others do not. ''No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons,'' he said, indicating that he would push ahead with advancing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Earlier, in reaching out to the Islamic world, Obama proffered his own personal experience, relating ''I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.'' ''So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed,'' he said. ''That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't.''
Obama said he considered it part of his responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear, but that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. ''Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire,'' he said, offering a thesis that is seldom accepted in the Islamic world.

FOUL - MOUTHED HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS AND ANT-CHRISTIAN BIGOT KEVIN JENNINGS APPOINTED TO OBAMA'S ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Although President Barack Obama has advocated speaking "fair minded words" in debating differences on major ethical issues, his recent nominee to the Department of Education's Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools is a homosexual activist with a history of using foul and abusive language against those who have opposed his homosexualist agenda.

Kevin Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN), was recently appointed to the Obama Administration as Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools, which is under the Department of Education led by Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

During Jennings's tenure as the Executive director of GLSEN, the organization sponsored a Tufts University conference called "TeachOut" in March 2000. The conference was co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Education; but the event has been described by pro-family organizations familiar with the conference as "fistgate" for its extremely graphic and detailed workshops to teenagers about the mechanics and variations of homosexual intercourse.

The Massachusetts watchdog group, MassResistance, includes on its website a number of graphic quotations from homosexual presenters, who instigated equally graphic conversations on homosexual sex with youth there. MassResistance says they will be releasing a tape of the event to the public later this week.

Around the same time, Jennings was quoted in Marble Collegiate Church as saying members of the "religious right" were "hard core bigots" who comprised about 20 percent of the electorate. "We have to quit being afraid of the religious right. We also have to quit - I'm trying to find a way to say this. I'm trying not to say, 'F**k 'em!' which is what I want to say, because I don't care what they think!" Jennings told his audience, which pealed with laughter. "Drop dead!" According to Americans for Truth, Jennings and GLSEN never repudiated the actions of homosexual activists at the "Teach Out" conference, but instead attacked Scott Whiteman, the Massachusetts parent who video-recorded the proceedings, for violating students' privacy. "Anti-religious bigots should not be setting policy for schools - and promoting dangerous sex and gender identities to youth is the antithesis of 'safety,'" stated Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth.

"Jennings should have been drummed out of public policy years ago for GLSEN's role in the awful Fistgate scandal that corrupted Boston youth," LaBarbera stated. "But instead the GLSEN founder is now being elevated to one of the most important roles in U.S. education policy." LaBarbera continued, "Americans For Truth will educate Americans on Jennings' and GLSEN's dangerous agenda, and we will work with other pro-family and parental rights groups across the country - and Obama voters who oppose pro-homosexual indoctrination in schools - to urge that the Jennings appointment be withdrawn."

EVANGELICALS FRUSTRATED BY OBAMA'S "LGBT PRIDE MONTH" ( LESBIAN,GAY,BISEXUAL & TRANSGENDER )

WASHINGTON --President Obama Monday named June as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month" issuing a proclamation that goes even further than those of former President Clinton in its pro-homosexuality slant.

Clinton was the last president to issue such a proclamation, first doing so in 1999 and then in 2000 before he left office. Obama's 572-word proclamation calls for ending the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy -- which was put in place under Clinton -- and also includes the phrase "transgender" for a first time. Clinton's proclamations never referenced transgenderism, a category that includes cross-dressers and people undergoing sex change operations.

Another first: Obama's proclamation reiterates his support for same-sex civil union laws.President George W. Bush never issued a proclamation commemorating Gay Pride Month. Clinton's proclamations differed from Obama's in calling June "Gay and Lesbian Pride Month," leaving out "bisexual" and "transgender."

"The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done," Obama's proclamation reads. "During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month.

"The proclamation is posted on the White House website but is difficult to find and as of Tuesday afternoon was not listed under the website's category of proclamations -- a fact that some homosexual activists were criticizing. (The link is available at the end of this story.)Evangelicals voiced strong disagreement with Obama's proclamation, much like they did in 1999 when Clinton issued his proclamation and Southern Baptist Convention messengers responded by passing a resolution rebuking Clinton for doing so.

"For a president who pledged to bring us together, Mr. Obama persists in doing the exact opposite on all things homosexual," Bob Stith, the Southern Baptist national strategist for gender issues and representative of the denomination's Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals, told Baptist Press. "This issue for most evangelical Christians is not bias or prejudice. It is simply maintaining the freedom to speak the truth about Scripture. It is one thing to be loving and tolerant. It is something else altogether to encourage pride in what God clearly says is sin.

"The bottom line," Stith added, "is that if God defines something as sin, we do no one any favors by attempting to blur those lines. Nor will we be doing future generations any favors by obliterating barriers God has put up for our protection. On several occasions the Bible uses the phrase 'every man did that which was right in his own eyes.' In every case it turned out badly.

"Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, criticized Obama for once again calling for the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which prevents homosexuals from serving openly in the military."This, according to people in the military, would have catastrophic consequences for our nation in a time of war," Land told BP.

"Some surveys of military personnel indicate that perhaps as high as 10 percent of the all-volunteer forces will resign from the military if 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' is rescinded," he said, quoting a December Military Times poll. "And it would hit heaviest in the non-commissioned officer ranks -- the sergeants and the chiefs and the people who make it go at the operational level. It would seriously impact our military's ability to do the job that we've asked them to do in keeping us safe.

"The homosexual community traditionally has called June "Gay Pride Month" to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Inn riots, which took place in New York City and are viewed as helping launch the modern "gay rights" movement. In his proclamation Obama says he is proud to be the first president to "appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an administration." He also calls for passage of a hate crimes bill and for "ensuring adoption rights" for homosexuals. Noting the stark contrast between the previous administration and the current administration, Land said, "Elections have consequences." Underscoring how far the "gay rights community" has come in less than two decades, Land recalled how he and other religious leaders met with former President George H.W. Bush and complained about Bush becoming the first president to invite representatives of homosexual organizations to the White House. "We've come a long way," Land said, emphasizing it has not been for the better."Those of us who believe in the continuing truth of God's revealed Word in Scripture," Land said, "would not consider the distance traveled between the issue in our meeting with President George H.W. Bush and President Obama's proclamation as progress, but a further sign of the moral and spiritual deterioration of our culture."Said Stith: "God has not just issued a laundry list of arbitrary rules for His creation. He has made it clear that He desires for us to experience His joy and peace. As the creator He also understands what will make that possible -- and what will impede His plan for us. Clearly the true loving thing to do is to hold up God's standard and encourage all people to strive for that. To declare pride in anything that God says is sin is not love. It is no different than removing a sign that says 'Road closed. Bridge out.'

"Following is the full text of Obama's proclamation:

"Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born.

During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans."LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities.

LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic."Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before.

I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

"The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect."My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world.

Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

"These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

"NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists."IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third."--30--Michael Foust is an assistant editor of Baptist Press. Obama's proclamation also can be found on the White House website at www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Proclamation-LGBT-Pride-Month. For more information about the SBC's outreach to homosexuals, visit www.sbcthewayout.com.

' ABORTION DOCTOR ' GEORGE TILLER SHOT TO DEATH AT CHURCH

With one bullet, a gunman ended the life and the controversial career of abortion doctor George Tiller, killing him as he stood in the foyer of his church Sunday.
Today, a 51-year-old Johnson County man could be charged with murder and aggravated assault in the shooting of Tiller, who had been shot before by an anti-abortion foe.
The crime has drawn condemnation and outrage from the president and stirred strong emotions across the nation.
Tiller, 67, was shot once just after 10 a.m. Sunday as he stood in the lobby of Reformation Lutheran Church, 7601 E. 13th St., where he was serving as an usher. The gunman threatened to shoot two men who tried to apprehend him.
Wichita police said that the suspect was arrested without incident on I-35 in Johnson County about three hours after the shooting, following a statewide broadcast describing the suspect and his car.
Although Wichita police would not name the suspect, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office identified him as Scott P. Roeder, according to the Associated Press.
Wichita police said it appeared that the suspect had acted alone but that they are investigating whether he had any connection to anti-abortion groups.
Police on Sunday said they expected the man to be charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
In a news conference at Wichita City Hall, Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said police will "investigate this suspect to the Nth degree, his history, his family, his associates, and we're just in the beginning stages of that."
Tiller had long been a focal point of protests by abortion opponents because his clinic, Women's Health Care Services, 5107 E. Kellogg, is one of a few in the country where late-term abortions are performed.

He was shot and wounded in both arms at his clinic in 1993.
Sunday's shooting stoked emotional debate on the Internet between supporters of abortion rights and abortion opponents.
Without elaborating, Stolz said investigators will look into the Internet comments because the discussion could bear on public safety.
Tiller's family issued a statement through Wichita lawyers Dan Monnat and Lee Thompson:
"Today we mourn the loss of our husband, father and grandfather. Today's event is an unspeakable tragedy for all of us and for George's friends and patients.
"This is particularly heart wrenching because George was shot down in his house of worship, a place of peace."
A timeline
Police and other sources described what happened in the church.
For the 10 a.m. service, Tiller was serving as an usher, one of six ushers listed in the church bulletin. He was handing out bulletins to people going into the sanctuary minutes before being shot.
At 10:03, Tiller was one of six to 12 people in the foyer, outside the sanctuary. His wife, Jeanne, was at the church.
A man armed with a handgun shot Tiller once, according to the preliminary investigation. Three to four people saw the shooting.
Two men confronted the suspect and exchanged words with him, but police would not say what was said.
"They were both threatened, and the gun was pointed at them," Stolz said.
That is why the suspect could face the aggravated assault charges, Stolz said.
Within minutes, paramedics arrived and pronounced Tiller dead at the scene.
Officers arrived and immediately started interviewing witnesses.
Police obtained the suspect's description and vehicle description -- a powder-blue 1993 Ford Taurus -- from witnesses at the church and broadcast it and the tag number to law enforcement agencies throughout the state. The car was registered to Scott Roeder of Merriam, in Johnson County.
Police also obtained a photo of the suspect, who had a prior conviction for criminal use of explosives, which was overturned on appeal, according to court records.
Officers began checking motels and other places for the suspect.
Before the shooting, the church was packed, said Shirley King, one of the parishioners. New members were joining. A baptism was on the agenda.
When King heard a "pop" sound, she thought it was special effects from the percussionist. Some people glanced toward the rear of the church, curious.
Tiller's wife, Jeanne, was sitting with the choir downstairs, King said. An usher came, and motioned for Jeanne Tiller to come with him.
"The rest of us were listening to the prelude, but then came the piercing screams of a woman who obviously had witnessed a horrible sight," King wrote in an e-mail.
"A few people immediately jumped up, but quickly one of our church leaders said, 'Everyone please be seated. Please remain calm. We have had an incident and we are taking care of it. Remain in your seat.' "
Adam Watkins, 20, who said he has attended the church his entire life, said he was sitting in the middle of the congregation when he heard the "pop."
"We just thought a child had come in with a balloon and it... had gone up and hit the ceiling and popped," Watkins said.
Once they learned of the shooting, Watkins said:
"We were just really shocked. We were kind of dumbfounded. We couldn't really believe it had happened."
The suspect's car was spotted shortly before 2 p.m. just south of Gardner by two Johnson County sheriff's deputies -- Andy Lento and Tyson Kilbey. The Sheriff's Office had suspected that the man would be coming back on I-35 to his home, and Kilbey and Lento waited for him.
As the car went north, Lento and Kilbey followed and were joined by three other sheriff's patrol cars.
Lt. Mike Pfannenstiel of the Sheriff's Office said officers pulled the car over just south of the main Gardner exit and got out with guns drawn. The man got out of his car with his hands up.
"We took him down without incident," Pfannenstiel said, adding that the man appeared to be driving the speed limit and made no attempt to elude the deputies.
At the 4 p.m. news conference, Stolz said authorities were bringing the suspect to Wichita.
He said that police expect to present the case to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office today.
At 7 p.m., a private vigil service was held at Reformation Lutheran Church. Tiller's wife, his children and grandchildren attended. Two police officers stood in the back of the sanctuary.
The Rev. Lowell Michelson, senior pastor of Reformation, said that part of the message of the vigil focused on the message that "love is stronger than hate."
That was clear, he said, in the congregation's response to one another.
"I think the way that folks gathered around Jeanne tonight in large numbers speaks volumes not only about the support and encouragement we get from Jesus Christ," he said, "but also the way the Holy Spirit works."
Reaction to shooting
President Obama released a statement on the shooting.
"I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence."
Mickey Cohlmia, a member of the neighboring St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral, said: "It is absolutely disheartening.... I think it shows where our world is today.... There is no safe place."
The anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, in a statement on its Web site, said:
"We are shocked at (Sunday) morning's disturbing news that Mr. Tiller was gunned down. Operation Rescue has worked for years through peaceful, legal means, and through the proper channels to see him brought to justice. We denounce vigilantism and the cowardly act that took place this morning. We pray for Mr. Tiller's family that they will find comfort and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ."
Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline, who conducted an investigation into Tiller, said in a statement that he was "stunned by this lawless and violent act which must be condemned and should be met with the full force of law. We join in lifting prayer that God's grace and presence rest with Dr. Tiller's family and friends."
Warren Hern, a Colorado physician and close friend of Tiller's -- who described himself now as "the only doctor in the world" who performs very-late-term abortions -- said Tiller's death was predictable.
"I think it's the inevitable consequence of more than 35 years of constant anti-abortion terrorism, harassment and violence," he said.
When Obama was elected last fall, Hern predicted that anti-abortion violence would increase, he said. Because Obama supports legalized abortion, Hern said, its foes "have lost ground.... They want the doctors dead, and they invite people to assassinate us. No wonder that this happens.
"I am next on the list."
Ongoing threats
Tiller and his clinic have faced continuous threats and legal action.
A Wichita jury ruled in March that he was not guilty of illegal abortion on 19 criminal charges he faced for allegedly violating a state law requiring an independent second physician's concurring opinion before performing late-term abortions.
Immediately following the ruling in the criminal case, the Kansas Board of Healing Arts made public a similar complaint against Tiller that was originally filed in December 2008.
Protesters blockaded Tiller's clinic during Operation Rescue's "Summer of Mercy" protests during the summer of 1991, and Tiller was shot by Rachelle Shannon at his clinic in 1993. Tiller was wounded in both arms. Shannon remains in prison.
The clinic was bombed in June 1986 and was severely vandalized last month. His lawyer said wires to security cameras and outdoor lights were cut and that the vandals also cut through the roof and plugged the buildings' downspouts. Rain poured through the roof and caused thousands of dollars of damage in the clinic. Tiller reportedly asked the FBI to investigate the incident.