A physician is shot and killed in church. Lupo and Bernard are informed about the suspect, a white male who got away in a sedan. Dr. Walter Benning had been shot before and threatened. At his clinic, they learn that he practiced illegal third-trimester abortions. During a botched procedure, a newborn was killed. A woman named Blair Morton was scheduled to have an abortion because her child was going to be born with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Her father had called the clinic to dissuade the doctor. Eventually, shooter Walter Grogan is located and put on trial. A noted anti-abortion lawyer assumes the defense. The trial proves emotionally difficult for both Rubirosa and Cutter. Rubirosa, who is pro-choice, ends up handing over exculpatory evidence about the botched abortion.
Grogan is found guilty of first-degree murder. McCoy rejects Rubirosa's request to transfer to White Collar crime, and tells her and Cutter to work out the differences.
Tropes present in this episode
- Abortion Fallout Drama: The defense has the witness of a late-term abortion testify in Grogan's trial.
- Artistic License – Medicine: A doctor on the stand proclaims that a life with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is without quality. Whether this doctor is supposed to be ignorant about the matter is open to interpretation.
- Determinator: Van Buren's initial treatments did not yield the desired results. Her doctor is recommending further treatments that will be unpleasant.Van Buren: The nausea I can handle, dying not so much. So bring it on, doctor.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Lisa Barnett testifies to the jury how her terminally ill child was born and eventually died in her arms.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The murder of Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who practiced late-term abortion, right to the part of being murdered in church.
