Abortion Advocate/Lawyer Discusses Justifiable Homicide of Abortionists

Unusually perceptive look by a “poor-choice” advocate—and magna cum laude lawyer—at the subject of abortion related violence, especially attacks on abortionists.

Sherry Colb, a FindLaw columnist and law professor, has an interesting ability to see reality from her opponent’s point of view. She’s very smart and engaging.

Many of us reject the view that an embryo should, or does, have the same status as a baby. However, the pro-life movement unquestioningly embraces the position that it does. Many of us also believe that killing a separate baby is morally distinct from removing a baby from inside one's body - even though death results in both cases. But the pro-life movement rejects this distinction as well, arguing that the dependence of a fetus on a pregnant woman is no different from the dependence of an infant on the assistance of a caring adult.

Once one appreciates that the pro-life movement views the practice of abortion in the way that you might view the infanticide center described above, the moral appeal of violent resistance, from the point of view of some within the pro-life movement, becomes quite comprehensible.

Full article here.

I read another interesting article by Colb entitled The Invisible Woman. She has also written a book entitled When Sex Counts: Making Babies and Making Law. There’s an interesting review of the book and Ms. Colb’s abortion advocacy here.

It’s unfortunate, even tragic, that such a gifted woman is corrupted by the illogic of poor-choice. It sounds to me as though her thinking is somewhat in the camp of Judith Jarvis Thomson whose sophisticated defense of abortion seems compelling but, as Scott Klusendorf points out, is nevertheless quite narrow and insufficient.