A gunman shot and killed Doctor George Tiller as he attended his church in Kansas on Sunday.

Tiller's clinic was one of the few in the country to provide late-term abortions, making him the center of the national abortion debate.

Police say the man charged with his murder, 51 year-old Scott Roeder, has a long history of extremist views against abortion and government.

Abortion is one of those topics where people have strong opinions and can rarely come to any kind of a compromise or middle-ground.

But, in this case, both the pro and anti-abortion organizations say they think the assassination was cowardly.

Iowa City's Emma Goldman Clinic was one the first places in the state to legally perform abortions.

Starting Tuesday morning, the clinic will have a guard stationed outside to keep patients and staff safe.

There are no plans for a guard at "Choices," the anti-abortion clinic just a few blocks away.

But, executive director Rachel Owen condemns this weekend's assassination.

"It's violence. It's not what we stand for. It's not the pro-life movement. If anything, it saddened me greatly that he said he was pro-life,” Owen said, “This kind of act is heinous and saddening and wicked."

Eastern Iowa's Planned Parenthood offices contacted police and FBI agents soon after they heard about the incident.

"I just wanted to check in with them to make sure we're on the same page and that there weren't any local threats,” East Central Iowa’s Planned Parenthood CEO Joe Lock said.

Lock says Planned Parenthood doesn't take a stance on abortion. He says the group supports a woman's right to choose, but does not encourage women to get abortions. Instead, the group presents women with all the options available to them, including abortion.

However, the organization's leadership has spoken out against the attack.

"People that provide medical services shouldn't have to watch their back. It's really important for people to access medical services. This is a free country and we ought to be able to access the doctors we choose,” Lock said.

Pro and Anti-abortion groups tend to disagree about virtually everything, but in this case, both share the same viewpoint.

Doctors and patients at the Emma Goldman Clinic have been threatened several times in the past.

That's why the clinic decided to hire a security guard.

Here is a complete statement from the clinic:

The Emma Goldman Clinic Deeply Saddened by the Murder of Dr. George Tiller. Yesterday our dear friend and colleague Dr. George Tiller was killed in his church in Wichita, Kansas which is ordinarily a place of peace. Dr. Tiller was a compassionate and courageous doctor who provided abortion services to women in some of the most distressing circumstances imaginable, when their pregnancies had gone horribly, tragically wrong. He provided kindness, caring and medical excellence even under the most extreme harassment, having already been shot once and firebombed and vilified for years. This is truly the murder of a civil rights leader.

Dr. Tiller is the 8th person murdered by the movement that insists on the ironic title, Right to Life. It’s no coincidence that physicians and clinics that provide abortions are targets of violence. We have stood between the millions of women who have had abortions in this country and the anti-abortion movement as protectors of women’s reproductive rights.

We have guarded their secrets and right to privacy putting ourselves directly in the line of fire. It would be easy to express outrage and anger, but we know Dr. Tiller as a kind and gentle soul.

We want to stand up and peacefully honor and remember this man. In the face of this senseless violence it will serve us well to repeat one of Dr. Tiller’s many mantras, ‘Kindness, Courtesy, Justice, Love, Respect.’

E-mail Mark Geary at Mark.Geary@kcrg.com or follow him on Twitter.