The abortion debate once again rears its ugly head. James Kopp, a fervent anti-abortionist, is on trial for second-degree murder. He admitted shooting Dr. Barnett Slepian, but claimed to regret having killed him.
Yeah, right. This guy has been murdering doctors for years.
Kopp is wanted in Canada for allegedly wounding three doctors. He is charged with the 1995 attempted murder of Hugh Short, a doctor shot at in his home in Ancaster, Ont., near Hamilton.
He is also wanted for questioning in the shooting of a Winnipeg doctor, another in Vancouver and has been implicated in a similar shooting in Rochester, N.Y.
And he also fired his original lawyer, apparently because he “had pledged not to turn the trial into a forum for the abortion debate”. I suppose he thinks he has a better chance with an anti-abortion lawyer, who will attempt to turn the trial around and put abortion rights on trial. The only question is whether this a calcluated legal strategy to better his chances for acquittal, or whether he’s delusional enough to think that he’s somehow entitled to kill doctors who perform abortions?
I’m fervently pro-choice, but I can (somewhat) respect the views of people who merely believe abortion is wrong. As long as they stick to verbal arguments rather than violence, they’re entitled to their views as much as I’m entitled to mine (so long as they don’t impose them on others). But I’m frequently amazed at the hypocrisy of any movement calling itself “pro-life” whose members go around KILLING people.