Law & Order
Life Choice
TV Flash files “Life Choice” as hour 12 of 545 in the TV Flash guide — Law & Order (1990–2010) on NBC, season 1, episode 12, aired 1991-01-08, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E12: listed hour 12 of 545 in the Law & Order guide, hour 12 of 22 in season 1. It aired 1991-01-08 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Out of the Half-Light” (S01E11). Next is “A Death in the Family” (S01E13). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
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.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Life Choice sit in the Law & Order guide?
S01E12 is listed hour 12 of 545 — hour 12 of 22 in season 1, season 1 episode 12.
When did Law & Order S01E12 air?
Life Choice aired 1991-01-08 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Do I watch in order, or is it modular?
Modular is the point. Cases close. Casts change. Start anywhere in the original 1990–2010 run and you will understand the clang within twenty minutes. Order matters only if you care which partner is standing next to whom.
In the series
Why this series still plays
For the walnut that became a city: street then courtroom, a clang as civic punctuation, and two decades of interchangeable parts that taught TV how to clone a night. Comfort is the feature. The original 1990–2010 cathedral still teaches the form; the revival is the machine refusing to clock out.
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