Albuquerque Libertarian Examiner: Killing of Dr. Tiller; murder or not?
In the case of the killing of Dr. George Tiller, the abortion doctor, the right-to-life folks have been falling all over themselves to condemn the killing. Why?
Either abortion is murder, in which case the killing of the murderer in defense of the helpless innocent future victims (which in this unique case, there is no doubt that there would be) is justified, or it is not murder, in which case the killing of an innocent person is not justified. You can't straddle the electric fence here.
Operation Rescue president Troy Newman said that they had worked for years through "peaceful, legal means" to bring Tiller to justice. What a load of adult male Bos taurus fecal matter. "Legal means" are a ridiculous tactic to waste time on if you are trying to stop a murderer. On the other hand, if you are not quite positive you are right, you might want to use the legal system to impose your sense of values on someone else. It requires fewer principles.
In the way of disclosure, I don't like abortion, but I don't think science has enough information to rationally state exactly when a person's life begins. Almost no one REALLY believes a fertilized egg is a person, but almost no one would deny that a full-term baby is. The reality of becoming a person lies somewhere in between. In the case of abortion, where there is doubt, I prefer to err on the side of the woman's rights. When there are no doubts left, I err on the side of the baby. The state is the LAST entity who should be telling people what is "moral" or not.
