The murder, like previous violence against abortion providers, certainly damages the anti-abortion cause. But it will not derail it, nor should it. As recent public opinion polls indicate, the American people have become more uneasy with abortion, not less. Much has changed since the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. Thanks to the widespread use of ultrasound during pregnancy, the demand for infertility treatments, and the educational efforts of the anti-abortion movement, the average American knows more than ever before about the biology of embryonic and fetal life. It is no longer possible to dismiss unborn life, even in its earliest stages, as merely a "lump of cells."

At the same time, Tiller's murder reminds us that those who denounce abortion in the most inflammatory language risk reaping a bloody whirlwind of their own. Anti-abortion advocates have done a good job of making their fellow citizens aware of the plight of the unborn. They have not done a good job of coming to terms with the concerns of women, or the complexity of abortion as a social problem. Legal reforms are necessary, but insufficient. Abortion was common enough before it was legalized, and outlawing it will not end the practice. It is a stubborn biological, legal, and moral reality that abortion is not just about the rights of the unborn. It is also about the moral autonomy, physical integrity, health and well-being of women. There is no other situation in which one human being is as dependent on another as is an unborn child on its mother. If abortion is starkly drawn as a battle of competing rights — of the rights of the unborn versus the rights of women — the unborn will always lose. We need a different approach, one that will promote the flourishing of both mother and child — an approach that recognizes that their individual well-being is inseparable.