Activists often go to extremes

Wednesday, February 24, 1999

Activists often go to extremes

TERRORISM: Abortion issue spurs both empty rhetoric, attacks on
doctors, patients

Earlier this month, a federal jury in Oregon fined 13
individuals and two organizations a total of $107.9 million for a
website they operated. The site, which targeted a "Deadly Dozen" of
abortion providers for "crimes against humanity," was deemed a real
threat to the doctors in question. As the website did not contain
any explicit endorsement of violence, many civil libertarians would
doubt the validity of the ruling. Still, there is a culture of
violence and terrorism surrounding abortion, and the website in
question may have had a role in fueling these fires.

Usually, when the subject of abortion-related violence makes the
headlines, it is not because of a lawsuit. In the last five years
anti-abortion forces have perpetrated numerous bombings, acid
attacks and attempted murders. Seven doctors and clinic workers
have been killed and attacks have occurred at both clinics and
physicians’ homes.

When such tragedies occur, the reports seem to be full of
spokesmen and women on both sides of the abortion issue decrying
such terrorism. While I feel these words of disapproval are spoken
with sincerity, I cannot help but feel that other points are being
made between the lines.

Abortion defenders seem to tacitly remind us that their side
does not have such extremists. Abortion foes almost seem to say
that if someone has to be murdered, an abortionist is not such a
bad choice. By now, you are probably rolling your eyes and thinking
that this is yet another piece on abortion. So much has been said
and written on this topic, and people already have such strong
views. Is there anything I can say in my 1,100 words that is worth
saying?

Well, I should let you know right away that it is not my
intention to argue on whether abortion is ethical or whether it
should be legal. (These are two distinct issues, although the usual
rhetoric obscures the distinction.) In fact, I shall not even state
my views on these topics. This is, however, yet another piece on
abortion, and I do have a point to make.

When terrorism strikes abortion providers, people ask how such
horrible crimes could happen. I, on the other hand, wonder why they
do not happen more often.

Millions of Americans consider abortion unethical. There are
certainly many arguments supporting this view, but rarely do we
hear any subtle argumentation on this issue. The common view is
that a fetus is a human being, so abortion is murder.(Here I use
"murder" colloquially; I do not wish to appeal to any legal
definition.)

When politicians opine on the subject, they are likely to talk
about "the sanctity of human life," while those outside of the
mainstream are quick to use stronger terms like "baby killing." As
is obvious by the politicians’ carefully chosen words, most
pro-life advocates are loath to use the word "murder" too freely
when discussing abortion. They realize that some people who take
great offense at such language.

Nevertheless, many of those people who oppose abortion on
ethical grounds would agree that it is a kind of murder. Moreover,
for most of these people this is not a casual view. Those who voice
ethical opposition to abortion often have many other strong moral
beliefs (it is no accident that anti-abortion and religious
movements have been so closely related).

Suppose you have a strong sense of morality and moral duty, and
you consider abortion to be murder. Then you believe that there are
millions of murders transpiring, and that the law has been feckless
in preventing them.

You can easily find out where and when the deaths are occurring,
as well as who is responsible for them. Murder is, presumably, a
terrible evil, and you could prevent it.

Most people would prefer to prevent such death through
nonviolent, passive means. The common choice for such interference
would be blocking a clinic entrance. This could be partially
effective, but after numerous removals and arrests you could easily
grow frustrated.

More extreme measures might be necessary. These could include
small-scale acts of violence and terrorism such as tampering with
locks, but they could also include lethal attacks on abortion
providers. A large number of Americans advocate death and violence
to punish previous killings and prevent future ones (think how
often they endorse execution and war), so such a final act may not
seem too unthinkable.

We know, however, that despite people’s proclaimed views and
moral sense, such acts are still considered unthinkable. Indeed,
given how widespread anti-abortion views are in our culture, the
activists who regularly block clinic entrances are remarkably few.
Why is this?

I think the chief explanation is that when people say that
abortion is murder, they do not really mean it. To be sure,
abortion is like murder. Anyone who fails to recognize similarities
between a second trimester abortion and an infanticide a few months
later is in convenient denial. Still, there is a vast difference
between noting a similarity and positing a moral equivalence in
these acts.

Many people who have legitimate ethical objections to abortion
may hear the phrase "abortion is murder" and quickly latch onto it
without much assessment of its accuracy.

There are also some people, perhaps, who know abortion is not
murder, but feel justified in using this sort of hyperbolic
language for rhetorical effect. It is, of course, easier to get
people concerned when one inflates the moral import of an act. I
must say that I strongly disapprove of this type of
exaggeration.

Abortion is a complicated issue and precision is necessary if it
is to be discussed intelligently. Also, inflated speech can fuel
the fires of violence.

Abortion is not murder, but I do admit that there may be some
people who really do believe that it is. It is not necessarily the
case that this belief coupled with other strong moral principles
will lead to violence. Still, given how often people feel violence
is justified, I would expect extreme action to be more
prevalent.

For those who truly believe that abortion is murder, the
strength of their view often dwarfs the strength of their
conviction to act. Many people are too content to merely hold the
view, vote for pro-life candidates, and feel that they have done
enough.

While it does prevent violence, such inaction is hardly worth
celebrating. Abortion-related terrorism is truly terrible, and most
of us are quick to realize this, yet the view that abortion is
murder is still pervasive.

If people making such a claim considered whether they really
believed it, then many of them would change their minds. It is
possible to voice strong moral opposition to abortion without
equating it with murder.

The people who tell us that abortion is murder are often
inaccurate in their words or overly lax in their actions. It would
be easy to claim that this means that they are a bunch of fools and
hypocrites to whom we should pay little mind. Really, though, it
means that they are just like everyone else.Patrick Friel

Friel will return in a fortnight with his usual light fare.
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