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As I found in my field work, pro-life organizations have never been more committed to training activists to engage the wider public in a civil and reasonable way, even as fringe radicals have escalated their assaults on human life. Stand to Reason, for instance, trains some 40,000 activists every year and draws on the best pro-life philosophy. Meanwhile, groups such as Justice for All and The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform have drawn thousands of students on college campuses into philosophical discussions about the moral status of the embryo. Some 2,000 crisis pregnancy centers also continue building intimate relationships with women considering abortion, while the National Right to Life Committee and its state affiliates teach citizens how to persuade legislators.

Thus, in a curious way, radicals inspire moderation, while moderates excite radicalism. Both the radical and moderate wings of movements strangely drive one another in a cycle that is simultaneously vicious and virtuous. We can only hope that imprisoning Tiller's killer will put an end to abortion-related murders, and that Tiller's death will encourage the pro-life mainstream to redouble its commitment to civility and public reason once again.

Jon A. Shields is assistant professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and the author of The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right (Princeton University Press, 2009).

The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right is available at Amazon.com and other book retailers.

Shields also wrote a piece for The New Republic on the Tiller murder: "A Time To Kill: Why is anti-abortion violence at an all-time high when radical pro-life activism is on the decline?"

Christianity Today has more stories on abortion and life ethics, including:

Reversing Roe v. Wade | It may take more than a single court decision to counter abortion on demand. (January 1, 2003)

The Abortion Wars | What most Christians don't know about the history of prolife struggles. (January 1, 2003)

You Say Choice, I Say Murder | Before prolife arguments can reach the undecided American, we have got to look at the language we use. (June 24, 1991)

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June (Web-only) 2009, Vol. 53