In an effort to raise money for the man charged with the murder of a Wichita doctor who performed abortions, Regina Dinwiddle and others, unsuccessfully tried to auction items on eBay.
The auctions consisted of 10 items, including several sketches by Scott Roeder, doctor Tiller’s accused killer. Within hours of the items being listed, EBay took down the auction items.
Ebay released this statement:
Today, eBay removed several listings on our site that violated several of our policies including our offensive materials policy. This policy prohibits items that promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual, or religious intolerance, or promote organizations with such views.”
Organizers tried to post items again under a different listing, eBay quickly took down those listings as well.
EBay sent an e-mail to Dinwiddie, calling the items “murderabilia.”
“We don’t allow items that are closely associated with individuals convicted of a violent felony to be listed on eBay,” the e-mail said. “Such items can be deeply offensive to the families of victims.”
Regina Dindwiddle, one of the auction organizers complained that eBay's stance was paramount to censorship with a pro-abortion bias.
As I'd finished this short piece, it dawned on me that throughout all the stories I've covered on eBay, be they critical or praising, the one thing I've never found was evidence of political bias. I don't think we're seeing it in this case either.