Bunting Fellow Carol A. Mason discussed the contradictions posed by abortion opponents who kill for their cause during a Bunting Institute presentation yesterday afternoon.

Speaking to an audience of more than 100, Mason presented material from her forthcoming book, Killing for Life, which analyzes the beliefs and tactics of anti-abortion extremists.

The book was developed part of her ongoing year-long fellowship at the Bunting.

"There are meanings of 'life' which present pro-lifers with a loophole so killing for life is not a contradiction," Mason said in her speech, titled "Killing for Life: Questioning Pro-Life Politics."

"Pro-lifers are notoriously known for their literal interpretations of the Bible and the Constitution," but they use a very elastic definition of 'life,' she said.

Mason worked for two years at Planned Parenthood of New York City before coming to the Bunting as the 1998-99 Miller Fellow.

She has won several awards for her teaching and research.

Mason spoke about the historical context of anti-abortion extremism and her impetus for confronting the issue in her research.

Mason said the extremist anti-abortion movement in the U.S. often shares other fringe beliefs including white supremacy and apocalyptic millenialism.

She said this creates a belief system where all people are equal under the eyes of God at birth, but not entitled to social and political equality in later life.

"[The] unborn is racialized as white and Christian," she said, adding that extremists are often anti-Semitic and believe that they are superior to blacks.

Mason said that since some extremists believe that aborted fetuses are Christian, legalized abortion leads them to wage an "apocalyptic war" against what they see as the forces of the anti-Christ--"they see themselves and their culture as victims" of abortion.

"We are the unborn," Mason said, mimicking an opponent of abortion rights. "And like the unborn, we are under siege."

She noted that without an historical context, the recent surge of extremist attacks on abortion clinics across the country seems to be an aberration, when in fact the violence of the 1990s is part of a "historical continuum of rightwing thought."

As part of this continuum, Mason explained how in 1975 the Human Life Review--a well-known anti-abortion publication--admitted there was a difference between abortion and murder.