Abortion docs say 'wanted' posters are bait for their murder

"Wanted" posters are giving abortion doctors in North Carolina something to be concerned about.

CBS News reports that Operation Save America is responsible for putting up Wanted posters with the faces of abortion doctors. One flyer even cites a home address.

"It doesn't say 'Wanted Dead or Alive' but the implications are clearly there," said one doctor who wished to remain anonymous.

"These 'Wanted' posters are a call for my murder," the doctor told CBS News.

"The posters are meant to call for my murder by that borderline person," said the doctor. "They are putting out the bait, they are putting out the message, the call, and hope that somebody will respond."

In the 1990s several doctors were killed after appearing on Wanted posters. In 1993, Dr. David Gunn and Dr. George Patterson were murdered. A year later, Dr. John Britton was also shot and killed.

An assassination attempt was made on Dr. George Tiller's life in 1993. Tiller was later killed by an abortion activist in 2009.

But Flip Benham, the founder of Operation Save America, denies that the posters invite violence.

"If you read the writing in there, it's wanted by Christ," he said. "We want them to meet Jesus."

In 2002, a US Appeals Court ruled that Wanted posters were a violation of a federal law that makes it a crime to prevent people for having access to clinics.

But CBS News legal correspondent Jan Crawford says the 2002 ruling was for a limited area and doesn't apply to the new Wanted posters.

"It doesn't affect the posters in Charlotte that are at issue now," she said.

Katherine Spillar, executive vice president of Feminist Majority Foundation, has asked the Justice Department to investigate the new flyers.

"We know what the pattern has been year after year," said Spillar. "We need tough prosecution before more doctors are murdered."

"I am always looking over my shoulder," one doctor said. "I know they know my car. They know my face. They've been to my house. They've put these posters in my neighborhood. So yeah, I look over my shoulder."

This video is from CBS News, broadcast Oct. 26, 2010.