"And what is your conclusion?"
"A fetus is a human being with full human rights" Decker made an expansive gesture with his hands.
"And a doctor has no more right to relocate a fetus-by force-on an adult's whim than a government has to relocate its citizens by force. No sur-geon should be allowed to play pharaoh."
"Who then, has the ethical right to claim motherhood of the baby named Renata?"
"Without a doubt, in the name of God and morality, she is the daughter of Valerie Dalton, though stolen even before in-fancy."
"Thank you, Pastor Decker." Ron returned to Valerie's side. "No more questions."
"Well," Johnson said, rising to his feet, "I have a few." With controlled eagerness, he walked over to the witness box and leaned forward.
"You told the court little about your organization. Does it not in fact advocate the right to life of preborns?"
"Indeed it does, sir."
"And you take a rather zealous approach to opposing abor-tion, do you not?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Johnson said, striding to the jury box, "that you picket abortion clinics, lobby for legislation banning abortions, and counsel pregnant women against having abortions, cor-rect?"
"All true."
"Has your rage against abortion ever led you to engage in illegal activities?"
"Objection!" Czernek shouted. "Counsel is asking the wit-ness to incriminate himself." Judge Lyang sustained, but Decker raised a hand.
"I'd like to answer that at length, if I may."
"As you wish," Lyang said, her dark eyes observing the man with curiosity. She held up a finger of caution. "However, bear in mind that what you say becomes part of the public record and you are not under a grant of immunity."
"My life," he replied, "is part of the public record." He shifted about to lean against the wooden rail before him.
"Your Honor, members of the jury-I understand what Mr. Johnson's question attempts to wrest from me. If the defense can show that I have ever broken the law in my opposition to abortion, then Dr. Fletcher and the Chandlers could jump on the coattails of my moral position to prove that they were acting in the best interests of the child. I have never broken any law in my quest to outlaw what I and God consider to be mur-der in the first degree. Some supporters of the cause have bombed abortuaries and physically assaulted abortionists. If you encountered a man or woman who freely admitted to hav-ing murdered thousands of defenseless babies and merely shrugged their deaths off as the removal of unwanted tissue, you'd be shocked and moved to violent outrage, too. I mean, how did the Jews feel when confronted with doctors who treated them as little more than experimental animals? Imag-ine our rage and understand our reactions."
He sat up straight, hands on his knees. "But none of us has ever assaulted a pregnant woman. None of us has ever wrenched a living baby from inside a woman and claimed that we were saving it. And that is what separates the sometimes illegal actions of a pro-life activist from the unconscionably evil actions of this mercenary doctor and her child buyers."
Decker stopped, leaning back. Johnson said nothing for a moment, merely looking the minister in the eye. Now what? he thought.
"An interesting point of view, in that it reveals a good deal of bias on your part."
"Is it biased," Decker asked with an astonished tone, "to reach an ethical opinion and then act upon it?"
Johnson smiled. "No. The evidence is clearly demonstrat-ing that Dr. Fletcher did just that." He resumed his stroll around the courtroom, hands in pockets. "So, your group seeks to pre-serve the life of the preborn?"
"Yes. And its right to be born according to God's plan."
"And you seek to outlaw abortion. At least until people come to their senses and never choose it as an option."
"Correct," Decker agreed.
"And do you acknowledge that simply by outlawing abor-tion, you will not put an end to the practice?" He stopped to stare at Decker.
"You'd certainly cut down on-"
"Just yes or no, Pastor."
"Yes."
"So even with laws forbidding it, women will still seek abor-tion, and preborns will still be murdered-at far greater risk to the mother from botched, illicit abortions. Correct?"
"They'd get what they des-"
"Yes or no?"
"Yes. Women will break the laws of the state and the laws of God." He shook his head. "The curse of Eve."
"Curse or no, Pastor, if you so highly value the lives of these preborn babies, why are you opposed to the only technique that gives them a fighting chance for life?"
Decker jabbed a finger into his palm with emphatic force. "Leaving the preborn alone gives it an even better chance for life."
"Does it?" Johnson stepped over to the jury box without look-ing toward the jurors. "Are you aware of how many pregnan-cies end in spontaneous abortions and stillbirths?"
"No." A small laugh erupted from his depths. "It must be small or we wouldn't have overpopulation problems."
"The answer is about fifty percent."
"Objection," Czernek said.
"Sustained." Lyang gazed down at the defense counsel. "A lawyer's statements are not evidence, Mr. Johnson."
Johnson paused to rephrase his question. He was surprised at how he considered each objection to be a personal affront. It hadn't seemed that way in law school. After a moment, he asked Decker, "I you knew it was fifty percent, would transoption be less ethically objectionable?"
"No."
"You mentioned that the preborn builds a barrier against the mother. Did you know that from the point of conception onward, the mother's immune system wages an unrelenting war against the embryo?"
"I've read about it." Decker smiled wryly. "The curse of Eve again."
"You didn't know, however, that most pregnancies abort spontaneously-miscarry-within the first month?"
"No." Decker shifted restlessly in the chair.
Johnson turned toward the jury. "All those actual human beings with rights to life, all dying without the mothers even knowing they're pregnant." He turned back toward the pas-tor, raising his voice. "Where, Mr. Decker, did you receive the godlike ability to determine who shall live and who shall die? Or do you simply resent the idea that a woman can have her freedom of choice without any moral complications?"
"Objection, Your Honor." Czernek's voice boomed with stern force. "The witness's personal opinions do not affect his ex-pert testimony."
"On the contrary," Johnson countered. "It bears heavily on the issue of bias."
"Overruled."
The younger lawyer nodded thanks toward the judge. "Is it not ethically superior for a woman to terminate an unwanted pregnancy without becoming a murderess?"
"Not," Decker said angrily, "if she becomes a party to kid-napping."