Antiabortionist spreads his message from jail cell

Wichita, Kan. — A man charged with shooting a prominent Kansas doctor who performed late-term abortions has been advocating through mailings from his jail cell that such killings are justifiable and communicating with individuals on the fringes of the antiabortion movement, weeks after suggesting others might be planning similar attacks.

Scott Roeder, 51, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault in the May 31 death of Dr. George Tiller -- an attack that reignited the national debate over late-term abortions and heightened Roeder's status among extremists in the antiabortion movement.

From his cell in Sedgwick County Jail, Roeder has been sending antiabortion pamphlets that laud Paul Hill -- who was convicted of murdering an abortion provider in 1994 -- as an "American hero" and include examples of Hill's writings about how the killing of abortion providers is justifiable.