An eBay auction planned by abortion opponents to raise money for the man accused of killing Wichita abortion doctor George Tiller will not be permitted, company officials said Tuesday.
"Based on the details we know about the anticipated listings, we believe these would violate our policy regarding offensive material," the company said in a statement to The Kansas City Star. "EBay will not permit the items in question to be posted to the eBay site, and they will be removed if they are posted."
The announcement came the same day that Tiller’s family implored eBay to prevent the auction.
"These materials contain hate messages, glorify violence against abortion doctors who provide constitutionally protected medical services, and instruct on means of violence, including bombing, of abortion clinics," said Lee Thompson, an attorney for the Tiller family, in a letter sent to eBay on Tuesday and approved by Tiller’s widow, Jeanne Tiller.
"We urge you to deny access to the resources of eBay for this reprehensible and vile 'auction.'"
The auction was intended to raise money for the defense of Scott Roeder, who is charged with first-degree murder in Tiller’s death and is scheduled to go on trial in January. Currently, Roeder is being represented by public defenders...
The controversy arose after an article in Sunday’s Star about the auction. Items being donated included an Army of God manual, a prison cookbook compiled by a woman doing time for abortion clinic bombings and arsons, and several autographed drawings submitted by Roeder.
One drawing was of David and Goliath that depicted David holding the head of Goliath and the name "Tiller" on Goliath’s forehead. The words "child-murdering industry" were written on the corpse...
In his letter to eBay, Lee Thompson, an attorney for the Tiller family, said that any proceeds of the auction, if actually held, should go to the Kansas Crime Victims Compensation Board. Such proceeds, he said, would come under the provision of the Son of Sam law in Kansas, which was designed to keep those charged with crimes from profiting from their actions.
And, in a clear misunderstanding of the Constitution of the United States and, in particular, the 1st Amendment, the mrderer's supporters whined that...
quote:
...banning the auction was a violation of their rights.
“They’re not only chilling the First Amendment of the Constitution, they’re raping the whole Constitution,” said Regina Dinwiddie, a Kansas City abortion opponent and friend of Roeder.
No one has a First Amendment "right" to force a private, commercial business, such as E-Bay, to run an auction or a sale that they disapprove of.
Next thing you know, people will be claiming they have a 1st Amendment "right" to force E-Bay to hold an on-line auction to raise funds to support a child molester.
While I agree with everything you said 100%, I am sure if certain known trouble making activists stirred up trouble, eBay would allow their offensive stuff auctioned.
