It goes without saying that the murder of Dr George Tiller, the late-term abortion specialist from Kansas, is entirely wrong and unjustifiable. Violence against abortion clinics, or attempts to justify and encourage such violence, are always and everywhere wrong.
But there are a couple of points that need adding to the debate, because many critics of the pro-life movement are now using this crime as a very large stick with which to beat pro-lifers. The attack is two-pronged.
Firstly, the allegation is made that all pro-life activism at abortion clinics is of a certain kind: loud, judgmental, intimidating, potentially violent.
But there is a world of difference between violent harassment of abortion providers one the one hand, and peaceful protests on the other. Despite some of the more extreme pro-choice rhetoric, violence by anti-abortionists is practically unknown in Britain, and in fact there have been a number of cases where pro-lifers have been physically assaulted. It is inaccurate and unfair to draw a comparison between men like Scott Roeder, the alleged killer of Dr Tiller, and those who assemble peacefully at abortion clinics to pray or offer sidewalk counselling. LIFE itself does not engage in these activities, as they are not part of its mission, but they are perfectly valid expressions of pro-life views, and also perfectly legal and reasonable. No-one is being prevented from accessing abortion, no-one is being intimidated (the police quite rightly monitor protests closely to avoid any such behaviour) - but the civil right of the protesters to express their alternative view that abortion is the wrong answer to crisis pregnancy is respected.
The second suggestion is that the kind of language used by pro-lifers creates a "violent atmosphere" where extremists feel enabled to commit acts of violence.
But mainstream British pro-lifers just do not use this kind of language. It would take a pretty broad and meaningless definition of "violent language" to conclude that pro-life arguments about the value and dignity of each human individual from conception to natural death are inflammatory or provocative. Besides, attempts to police the kind of language that people use are wrong and dangerous, and offensive to our ideals of free speech. Pro-lifers will not shut up and go away just because those who find their views unpalatable or inconvenient use the actions of extremists to restrict their rights.