Where Politics And Passion Meet

The abortion battle has been at the intersection of politics and passion since 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the procedure.
The murder last week of Buffalo obstetrician Dr. Barnett Slepian has cast new light on the protests that surround the controversial issue and may have an unexpected effect on the Nov. 3 elections.

CBS News Correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports that authorities believe that the cold-blooded murder of Slepian, who was buried after a private funeral Monday afternoon, is tied to the abortions he performed in the Buffalo area.

Police, working with the FBI and the ATF, have linked the murder to four similar incidents in the U.S. and Canada in recent years.

Hours after Slepian was killed, Neal Horsley crossed his name off the Web site he runs, listing doctors across the nation who perform abortions. He calls them "killers" and when one dies, he crosses the name off his list.

"Those who shed human blood will have their own blood shed," he said.

Abortion rights activists point to actions and statements like Horsley's and say some leaders of the mainstream anti-abortion movement are inciting supporters on the fringe to violence.

They say anti-abortion leaders must stop referring to doctors who perform abortions as murderers and stop saying women's clinics are places where murders are committed.

On the other side, anti-abortion activists claim leaders on the other side tend to lump everyone together in the pro-life movement as people who only interested in violence or in taking away women's rights.

In the upcoming elections, it might be difficult for voters to remember the vast majority of anti-abortion protests are peaceful, so soon after a doctor was shot to death by a sniper in his own home.