To continue the religious theme of Good Friday

In another example of the awesomeness of American hard-right Christianity, We have this rather depressing story... Doctor's killer sentenced to life in prison

In the spirit of full disclosure, and I realise that this is a bit of an easy out, as far as I'm concerned I am a guy and as such I have no right to dictate to a woman what she should be doing with her body. I believe that this is a hard enough decision for anyone to have to make and that it is very infrequently taken lightly. I've seen the havoc that is caused by having to make this choice and it aint pretty.

Being a gay man does put me in the position of an outsider in this argument to a certain extent - I am never going to be pregnant and the likelihood of me ever accidentally impregnating a woman is pretty damn slim. So the chance of me being in a predicament where I'm ever going to have to make this decision is about as likely as Paul Henry voting green. So really the only logical argument that I can take is pro-choice.

But I do respect those who believe pro-life, to an extent. Okay, perhaps respect is the wrong word, however if they believe that abortion is wrong, that's fine. Let them think or believe whatever they believe. However when they start forcing their opinion onto other people, this is when I begin to get pissy, especially when they're not the ones who have to live with the consequences of the action.

Shooting a doctor who performs abortions and using religion to back your actions up is completely, utterly and totally inexcusable. For a start, I doubt very much that God wanted him to murder anyone - cast the first stone, anybody? Love thy neighbour much?

In some respects, I don't blame the churches or organised religion for his actions. Let's face it, I doubt any of the major US churches would have condoned Roeder's actions. I think this is just a lone nutjob who has taken to bible bashing to justify his own actions.

This action has essentially achieved three outcomes; cost the US taxpayer a large sum of money, destroyed a life and a family and cost him his own freedom - at 52 with a 50 year sentence, the man will never step outside of prison, and rightfully so. He also hasn't achieved any of his aims, it's still not illegal, women will still get abortions and to a certain extent I imagine it's weakened his cause - this will help set back the cause of pro-life years, associating the cause with a murderer.