Jacob Sullum thinks it is
inconsistent for pro-life groups to condemn the murder of George
Tiller given their opposition to the abortionist's work. A friend
writes, "If this is satire, it is still in bad taste." If
serious, it's also a pretty simple-minded argument.
For starters, legal abortion does not invalidate all laws against
killing. A person was as morally obligated to obey laws against
murder in Nazi Germany or the antebellum South as anywhere else.
But more importantly, you cannot separate the morality of an
action from its consequences as easily as Sullum tries to do.
What he dismisses as "tactical" concerns actually determine the
morality of the action.
The deliberate destruction of human life is always and everywhere
an evil, a premise that leads to two conclusions: the deliberate
destruction of Tiller's life was evil and an effort to prevent
evil cannot be morally justified if it in fact unleashes greater
evils. It isn't just bad tactics to take actions that increase
the destruction of human life; it is morally wrong.
Organizations dedicated to expanding human beings' legal
protections against acts of lethal violence are perfectly
consistent in condemning acts of lethal violence against human
beings.
