What if Tiller said openly that he was going to work to kill YOUR child on Monday morning? What if you called the cops, congress and the courts and they all said there was nothing they could do about it? Would you would take action yourself to prevent it? Morally, does it make a difference that it is someone else's kid and not yours?
Believe me, I would much rather tow the party line and not feel the way I do. It would be much easier. Unfortunately, reason is preventing me from seeing it any other way.
“If you asked the drug dealer on Sunday night what he would be doing on Monday morning, he would not tell you he was going to sell drugs. He certainly would not tell you he was going to kill someone.”
That kind of depends on whether he thinks you are a cop.
In any event, don’t see how what he says makes any difference on the moral issue. Suppose Tiller had been the strong, silent type. But still went to the office every morning and killed babies. Is it not OK to assassinate him in that case? But OK if he’s a loudmouth? That’s just silly.
The world is a better place without Tiller. But that doesn’t make it morally acceptable to assassinate him. Same with drug dealers. That “some people just need killin’” doesn’t mean we should.