Law & Order
Life Choice
Season 1, Episode 12 · Aired 1991-01-08
Synopsis
After Mary Donovan, an anti-abortion protester, is killed in an abortion center bombing, detectives search for all of her potential co-conspirators. The victim's parents and brother prove to be as committed to the pro-life movement as the victim. The first defendant arrested is Celeste McClure, who purchased the fertilizer to be mixed with the diesel fuel to create the bomb. Police determine that the central figure in the plot is Rose Schwimmer who is arrested. Detectives discover that the victim was pregnant and was secretly seeking an abortion. At trial, Schwimmer attempts to use her witness testimony to preach against abortion. Stone stops the attempt by asking Schwimmer that, if abortion is murder, is Schwimmer not guilty of murdering Mary Donovan's unborn baby. Schwimmer is visibly defeated by the question and remains silent for the remainder of the trial, including her conviction.
In the series
This episode is part of Law & Order (1990–2010) on NBC.
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Key cast
- Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe
- Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy
- S. Epatha Merkerson as Anita Van Buren
- Chris Noth as Mike Logan
- Benjamin Bratt as Rey Curtis
- Jesse L. Martin as Ed Green