Niki Behrikis Shanahan is the author of several books on animals and Christian spirituality, including There Is Eternal Life for Animals. She lives in Tyngsborough, Mass.

Gregory Baylor is director of the Christian Legal Society and said outlawing sacramental tea would be the equivalent of banning the wine served at a Roman Catholic Mass.

Kelly Shackelford is president and CEO of First Liberty Institute, a Texas law firm that works to preserve religious freedom and argued in support of the Bladensburg cross before the Supreme Court.

I. Carter Heyward is an Episcopal minister and a professor of theology at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. She is the author of Flying Changes: Horses as Spiritual Teachers.

Diana L. Guerrero is an animal behaviorist and the author of What Animals Can Teach Us About Spirituality. She is based in Southern California.

See a June 1, 2009, New York Times roundup and analysis of surveys on abortion and the possible impact of the Tiller shooting on public opinion.

The Rev. Bonnie Duncan runs All Creatures Animal Sanctuary and Fellowship Church in Cedar Hill, Mo.

According to a June 1, 2009, profile of Roeder in The Wichita Eagle, Roeder has connections to extremist anti-government groups and is a long-standing opponent of abortion.

A June 1, 2009, New York Times story quotes Roeder’s ex-wife as saying he was looking for a “scapegoat” to blame for his troubles. “First it was taxes — he stopped paying. Then he turned to the church and got involved in anti-abortion,” she said.