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| “ | Mary Donovan's death was tragic, but if it prevents one abortion, the scales are balanced! | „ |
| ~ Schwimmer revealing the depths of her fanaticism. |
Rose Schwimmer is the main antagonist of the Law & Order episode "Life Choice". She is an anti-abortion extremist who masterminds the bombing of an abortion clinic, killing one of her own followers in the process.
She was portrayed by Caroline Kava.
Early life[]
Schwimmer was the leader of Women for Life, an anti-abortion protest group based in New York City. She was arrested several times for trespassing, harassment, and disturbing the peace, crimes she committed while she and her fellow activists held protests at abortion clinics.
Schwimmer and Celeste McClure, a a low-level employee of Women for Life, concoct a plan to bomb an abortion clinic in Manhattan. McClure constructs a fertilizer-based pipe bomb, and Schwimmer sneaked the bomb into the clinic just as volunteer Mary Donovan entered it, aware that Donovan was planning to get an abortion. She assured McClure that no one would be hurt because the timer was set for 10 minutes and that she, McClure, would call in the threat, giving Donovan and everyone else in the building enough time to get out.
Unbeknownst to McClure, however, Schwimmer tampered with the bomb just before Donovan carried it into the clinic, setting it to go off immediately after Donovan activated it. She wanted to make sure that Donovan got killed, thus creating a martyr for the anti-abortion cause.
"Life Choice"[]
After Donovan bombs the clinic, unintentionally killing herself in the process, NYPD Homicide Sergeant Max Greevey and Detective Mike Logan question Schwimmer and McClure, who both deny having anything to with bombing but claim that Donovan was protecting unborn children. Eventually, however, Greevey and Logan discover McClure's fingerprints on the bag of fertilizer used to make the bomb and arrest her for murder.
Executive Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone and Assistant District Attorney Paul Robinette are convinced that Schwimmer planned the bombing, but they face long odds on proving it in court. When McClure refuses to testify against Schwimmer, Robinette tries to get her to admit what she did by appealing to her concern for a fellow pro-lifer, but she remains silent.
On Stone's orders, Greevey and Logan arrest Donovan's boyfriend, Patrick, after finding his fingerprints on the ID card that she used to enter the abortion clinic, accusing him of conspiring in the bombing. He admits to giving her the card so she could abort their child, which would have been born with severe defects. When Stone confronts her with knowledge of Donovan's pregnancy, a remorse-stricken McClure admits to giving Schwimmer the bomb, and Stone has her arrested for second-degree murder.
During the trial, McClure testifies that Schwimmer ordered her to construct the bomb and call in the bomb threat. Schwimmer testifies in her own defense that she is guilty of the charges against her, but "not before God"; she claims that her actions were justified as God's will, and tells Stone, a practicing Catholic who personally opposes abortion, that he cannot judge her. Stone counters that, if abortion is murder as Schwimmer claims, she is guilty of the murder of Donovan's unborn child - a charge that leaves Schwimmer speechless.
Ultimately, the jury finds Schwimmer guilty of conspiracy, arson, and second-degree murder, and she is sentenced to life in prison.
External links[]
- Rose Schwimmer on the Law & Order Wiki
