Ramesh – You’re right, that is a good post by Megan McArdle.
It just dawned on me that the arguments in favor of the Naral ad are similar in form to the arguments in the wake of the Texas Church shootings in 2000(?). Remember how Gore supporters made a big deal about how Bush opposed a law that would Churches and other public accomodations to post a sign saying it was illegal to bring guns inside? After some lunatic murdered a bunch of people in a Church, they argued that Bush was in some sense culpable. Of course, Bush never argued for repealing laws against murder, but somehow the $500 fine and up to one year in prison (or some such) would have been ample deterrent while the death penalty or life in prison wouldn’t.
How anyone can believe that abortion clinic bombers are guided by the nuances and niceties of constitutional law is beyond me.