Print edition: 
Scott Roeder confessed Monday to killing Wichita abortion provider George Tiller, saying he had no regrets because "pre-born children were in imminent danger."
In a 20-minute phone call from the Sedgwick County Jail, Roeder told the Kansas City Star that he believed shooting Tiller saved lives.
"I've already been told that there's at least four women that have changed their minds and are going to have their babies," Roeder said. "Even if it was one woman, then who would have a regret for a motive of protecting pre-born children? That was the motive."
Roeder, of Kansas City, is charged with first-degree murder in Tiller's shooting death May 31. His trial is scheduled for Jan. 11.
Tiller, one of a handful of doctors in the country who performed late-term abortions, was shot to death while serving as an usher at his Wichita church.
When asked specifically if he killed Tiller, Roeder replied: "That is correct."
Roeder said he planned to use a so-called necessity defense at his trial, arguing that he killed Tiller to prevent a greater harm. Other anti-abortion activists charged with violent acts have tried to use such a defense, but with little success.
"It's a stretch," said William Eckhardt, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor. "It's just very unlikely that it will be accepted. I guess the best way to say it is they're freak cases and they're rarely allowed."
Roeder, 51, said he didn't consider what he did to be murder and that he had no intention of changing his plea to guilty.
"There is a distinction between killing and murdering," he said. "I don't like the accusation of murder whatsoever, because when you protect innocent life, that's not murder."
Lee Thompson, an attorney for the Tiller family, said Roeder's assertion that killing Tiller was justifiable was ludicrous.
"Any pretense that it's justifiable is legally wrong and reflective of the extremism that seems to characterize this act, which is nothing more than an act of premeditated violence," Thompson said.
Georgia Cole, spokeswoman for Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston, said Roeder's confession would not affect the trial.
"We will continue to pursue our case in court," Cole said.
Roeder's public defender expressed surprise at his client's confession.
"I'm not sure if we've had a parting of our thoughts here or what," said Steve Osburn. "We'll have to talk with Scott and see what's going on in his head, I guess."
Roeder told the Star that he plans to retain his public defenders, but added that he also was looking at other attorneys.
In September, Roeder met with Georgia attorney Michael Hirsh to discuss legal strategies. Hirsh is considered an authority on the justifiable homicide defense. Roeder said that he has remained in contact with Hirsh.
Hirsh declined to comment Monday. But in a recent interview with the Star, he said: "The fact is that there is a mountain of scientific evidence that shows the humanity of an unborn child. And Dr. Tiller was notorious, by his own designs, for specializing in late-term abortions. So there's no denying by rational people the humanity of an unborn child, and the only difference in the unborn child and you and me is size, age and location."
The necessity defense
Michael Kaye, a professor of law at Washburn University and expert on trial advocacy, said the necessity defense is little used and is designed for cases where a person is in an emergency situation and has to break a law to avoid a greater harm.
Essentially, Roeder is arguing that "what he's doing is trying to prevent future crime by killing someone," Kaye said. "I don't think that's the way this defense has ever been construed."
Defense in Wichita cases
Kaye said Wichita has experience with necessity defenses in trespassing cases involving abortion opponents.
In 1993 and again in 2007, courts ruled that the defense could not be used by abortion protesters who had been arrested for trespassing at clinics.
In 1993, protester Elizabeth Tilson invoked the necessity defense after she was arrested as part of a group blocking access to a Wichita abortion clinic during the so-called "Summer of Mercy" demonstrations in 1991.
The case went to the state Supreme Court, which ruled the necessity defense did not apply to abortion protests.
Accepting such a defense, the court said, would "not only lead to chaos, but would be tantamount to sanctioning anarchy."
In 2007, the state Court of Appeals leaned heavily on the Tilson case when it rejected a necessity defense by the Rev. Mark Holick, pastor of the Spirit One Christian Center. Holick had been convicted with several others of trespassing during an abortion protest.
Activists show support
Roeder's confession came the same day that a group of anti-abortion activists, including 1996 Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, released a declaration stating that Tiller's killing was justifiable.
"We, the undersigned, declare the justice of taking all godly action necessary to defend innocent human life including the use of force," said the statement, which is signed by Roeder and 20 others.
Many of those who signed the declaration have done prison time for abortion clinic violence, and others are currently in prison.
Kathy Spillar, executive vice president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said Roeder's confession and the statement should raise a red flag with authorities.
"This clearly shows his connection to the most extremist branch of the anti-abortion movement, which has long advocated this defense, that somehow the murder of doctors is justifiable," Spillar said.
"It's a defense that should not be allowed, but it shows his deep connections. We can only hope that law enforcement is looking into those connections and any possible involvement in the murder of Dr. Tiller," she said.
