Life Choice (Season 1, Episode 12)
Premise: A clinic bombing kills a young woman whom police first take for one of the bombers.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 1, Episode 12
- Detectives
- Sgt. Max Greevey (George Dzundza), Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Ben Stone (Michael Moriarty), ADA Paul Robinette (Richard Brooks), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Caroline Kava as Rose Schwimmer, Bridgit Ryan as Celeste McClure, Kevin Cooney as Geoffrey Donovan, Pat McNamara as defense attorney Molloy
- Director
- Aaron Lipstadt
- Writers
- Story: Dick Wolf; Teleplay: David Black & Robert Stuart Nathan
Summary
The Investigation
“Life Choice” begins with a bomb exploding at a women’s clinic in Chelsea, killing a young woman carrying false identification. Police assume she was part of the plot and died before she could get away. The case exposes a split between the detectives, with Greevey, a practicing Catholic, sympathetic to the protesters’ cause and Logan on the other side. The bomb is a crude device made from fertilizer and diesel fuel.
The victim is identified as Mary Donovan, who came from a family deeply committed to the anti-abortion movement. Her parents and brother are as devoted to the cause as she seemed to be, and her father treats her death as a martyrdom. Detectives trace the bomb’s ingredients to Celeste McClure, who bought the fertilizer used to make it, and then to the leader of her activist group, Rose Schwimmer. A second set of fingerprints on Mary’s fake ID leads to her boyfriend, who reveals that Mary was pregnant and had gone to the clinic as a patient, not as a bomber.
The Trial
The revelation changes the case for everyone involved. McClure, facing a murder charge, agrees to a deal and testifies against Schwimmer. Stone, who has his own reservations about abortion, insists the law, not his beliefs, will guide the prosecution.
Against her lawyer’s advice, Schwimmer takes the stand and uses her testimony to argue that the bombing was justified. Her defense rests on the idea that her actions were a form of protest, and the courtroom becomes the stage she wanted.
Spoiler, the ending: Stone asks Schwimmer a single question: if abortion is murder, is she not guilty of killing Mary Donovan’s unborn child? Schwimmer has no answer and stays silent. She is convicted of conspiracy, arson and second-degree murder. The question exposes the gap between her cause and the young woman she killed.
Why it stands out
- The case turns on a reversal: the young woman first taken for a bomber was a patient at the clinic.
- The case turns on one question in cross-examination rather than on new evidence.
- Both detectives’ personal views on abortion are aired without the episode taking a side between them.