"Murderous antiabortion extremists might be able to gun down doctors, but this form of terrorism is only effective when the courage of those they seek to intimidate fails," a Los Angeles Times editorial states, adding, "The response to the slaying of Kansas abortion provider George Tiller shows it hasn't."

Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider who was killed last year, "was the fourth doctor and the eighth person to be slain by antiabortion fanatics since 1993," the Times writes. "As long as there are fringe groups such as the Army of God that condone such murders, the 'pro-life' stance of legitimate abortion opponents will be undermined," the editorial continues.

The editorial notes that Tiller was one of a handful of providers in the U.S. to offer abortion care late in pregnancy. According to the editorial, Curtis Boyd of Albuquerque, N.M., recently announced that he would offer abortion care late in pregnancy, with support from two of Tiller's former colleagues, Susan Robinson and Shelley Sella. "The thing that makes the debate over abortion so wrenching is that activists on both sides believe they are guided by a higher moral purpose," the editorial states, adding, "Yet it's impossible to see anything moral about terrorizing doctors or the women who seek their services."

Late abortions are "generally performed when the fetus has severe genetic anomalies or the mother's health is threatened," the editorial notes. It adds that the "laws governing it are muddled, thanks to a misguided decision by a conservative majority on the Supreme Court," which in 2007 "upheld a federal ban on so-called partial-birth abortions, even though the law contained no exception to protect a woman's health." The editorial concludes, "The makeup of the Supreme Court might shift with the political winds, but the courage of those committed to freedom of choice does not. When one falls, others rise" (Los Angeles Times, 3/19).

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