I finally got around to seeing the Law&Order episode based on the Dr. Tiller abortion killer case.  Rather than recap it, I've placed links to articles on other blogs describing it in detail at the end of this article, since it's been covered better already.

Suffice it to say, it didn't fare very well.

What I expected, and was not surprised to see, was the total erasure of the agency of the pregnant woman.  It's as if the trial was whether the particular woman in question should have an abortion or not.  Not whether the abortion doctor killer killed a man doing something totally legal.

This is common in discussing abortion, to evaluate each abortion as though we have a right to decide for the woman whether this is a "good" or "bad" abortion.

At the end of the trial, the prosecuting attorney says in his closing argument that the decision about where life begins is one we don't all agree upon.  Yes.  And that different people and religions have different ideas.  Yes. 

And yet he doesn't go the obvious next step to say, this is why we leave it up to the woman who is pregnant to make the decision.  Not someone else.  Not a judge, not a jury, not a church, not a government panel, but the woman who's pregnant, advised by her doctor.

A woman who is going to have a disabled fetus can choose to carry it to term.  A woman who is going to have a healthy fetus can choose to abort it.  A woman who is disabled or has medical issues still  has the right to have a baby, or have an abortion.  The choice belongs to her.

Not that any of that would be in any way relevant to the case anyway, since the doctor wasn't doing anything illegal.

ETA:  And notice at the end, Rubirosa, a prosecuting attorney who was sickened by all the "pro-abortion" posturing, says she wants to leave her position and be transferred to white collar crime.  But her boss decides for her that she has to stay and work it out with the other prosecuting attorney.  Because what women want to do isn't relevant.  It's what is best for the system.

Good relevant articles:

• Lauredhel on Hoyden About Town, "Dignity," Worth, and the Medical Model of Disability.  Especially recommended as it goes into detail about disability and the just-as-much-not-choice assumption of some doctors that imperfect fetuses should be discarded.  "Abortion is seen as a medical imperative, not a decision made by the person hosting the fetus at the time."
• Feminist Law Professors, "Law and Order's Shameful Abortion Episode"
• Kate Harding on Salon, "Law & Order's Anti-Choice Propaganda"