The suspected murderer of abortion doctor George Tiller says that more violence is on the way if America doesn’t outlaw abortion.

“I know there are many other similar events planned around the country as long as abortion remains legal,” Scott Roeder told the Associated Press Sunday in a phone call from his jail cell in Wichita.

The Justice Department says it is taking Roeder’s claim seriously and additional security measures were being taken at abortion facilities last week.

Anti-abortion groups have roundly condemned the assassination of Tiller, but say that Roeder’s claims should be treated with skepticism.

“The guy is a fruit and a lunatic,” the head of Operation Rescue said of Roeder.

Even the attorney for the Tiller family, Dan Monnat, sounded skeptical and told the AP he wasn’t sure they should be dignifying Roeder’s threats with a response “every time he makes a hare-brained phone call.”

Monnat added, “I am hopeful that state and federal authorities, including Homeland Security, will give Mr. Roeder and his information a deserving response.”

The head of NARAL-Pro-Choice America worries that Roeder’s comments will “continue to escalate that kind of activity, that kind of violence.

“Quite honestly,” said Nancy Keenan, “I think it’s imperative for anti-choice groups to tone down that rhetoric and keep the more extreme elements in their movement from copying Scott Roeder.”

It is, of course, essential that any lead that suggests others may be in league with Roeder be investigated by authorities.

But as of now they only have Roeder’s vague words to go on and it is looking more and more like Roeder, a man with a history of mental illness and an apparent martyr complex, might not be the most reliable source of information.

Still, it is hard to think about spoken threats when the horror of Roeder’s actions still hangs heavy in the air.

For his part, Roeder seems intent on seizing his ill-fated moment in the limelight.

Shortly after his arrest, he started complaining that he was being treated “like a criminal” even though he hadn’t been convicted of anything. Now, he’s been caught whining about conditions in jail. (His cell is chilly and he may be coming down with a cold.) The big fear is that Roeder and others of his ilk may have friends with whom they share common interests and aggrievements.

It is apparently Roeder’s dream that his alleged actions will spark others to do the same. So far, though, all he has managed is to be strongly condemned by the very people with whom he used to share common cause.

Any room at Gitmo for this guy?