Megan McArdle has what can only be described as a meandering, confused post that essentially boils down to the not so illuminating observation that some people in this country say they view abortion as murder and therefore the murder of Dr. George Tillman is, to them, justifiable. Here's Coates on the subject:
What I suspect is that many pro-lifers may well believe that a fetus is a "life," but in their heart of hearts, they actually have a qualitative range. I don't know that they actually believe that aborting a three month old fetus is exactly the same as murdering a three month old baby. "Abortion is murder" seems like a slogan meant to whip up your own, and attract attention. But in truth, do pro-lifers really believe it? Can they truly morally maintain that all abortion, all the time, is murder?
If abortion is what the anti-choice movement says it is, if it is using deadly violence against an innocent and defenseless human being, then doesn't morality demand more from them? And if the answer is no, is the hard right, anti-choice crowd tacitly admitting there's a difference between a human life and the life of a fetus?
