History Book: A violent turn in the abortion debate

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, March 10th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, the WORLD History Book. Today, an anti-abortion activist triggers more violence. WORLD’s Emma Perley brings us the story.

EMMA PERLEY: Today marks a dark anniversary … the 32nd anniversary of a murder.

MAZIE HIRONO: Today is Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. This day was established to honor Dr. David Gunn, who was killed on March 10, 1993, outside his abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida, by a white supremacist, anti-abortion extremist.

It was just last year that legislators introduced that resolution to memorialize the murder of abortionist David Gunn. The pro-life activist Michael Griffin shot him in the back three times. Here’s Griffin speaking with 60 Minutes Australia in 2010:

MICHAEL GRIFFIN: The only people who should be in fear and terror are abortion doctors. They’re going to have a reckoning one day with God.

So what happened on the morning of March 10th, 1993? Pro-life protesters gather around Gunn’s abortion center. They hold signs that say, “David Gunn kills babies.”

When Gunn arrives at 10am, he parks, gets out of his car, and heads toward the back door. He’d had polio as a child, and so walks with a limp.

Michael Griffin wears a gray suit … a witness says it looks like he’s going to church. Earlier that same week, Griffin had asked his church congregation to pray that God might save Gunn’s soul.

Now, Griffin waits for him behind the abortion center in the parking lot, holding a snub nosed revolver.

As soon as Griffin sees Gunn, he chases the doctor as he limps toward the building—toward safety. Griffin yells, “Don’t kill any more babies!” … pulls out his revolver, and shoots Gunn in the back at point blank range.

No one calls the police to help Gunn—not even the pro-life protesters. When officers arrive, they had simply been told to stop the protest. Then Griffin steps forward and says… “I just shot someone.”

The murder of David Gunn is the culmination of increasing unrest at abortion centers.

NEWSCAST: [Protesters singing “Glory Glory Hallelujah” / talking in microphones]

In the late ‘80s, an organization called Operation Rescue held sit-ins across the country to stop abortion providers—and those seeking abortions—from entering buildings. Audio from a protester speaking with a local radio station.

NEWSCAST: We’re petitioning God. We’re petitioning God to change the hearts of the people of this country and the man that runs this place …

Then in 1991, Operation Rescue led the Summer of Mercy, where pro-life activists gathered at abortion center entrances in Wichita, Kansas. They linked arms to block the doors. Police often intervened—sometimes violently. Audio from CBN News.

CBN NEWS: Another act of aggression occurred at the clinic. This time a policeman warned these adamantly determined demonstrators to close their eyes or move from the recess doorway just seconds before spraying them with mace.

POLICEMAN: Get outta the way. Get outta the way. I’m not gonna tell you again. You’ve got a chance to leave.

More than 2,600 people were eventually arrested.

But in 1993, Griffin, for the first time, escalates the pro-life movement to murder. Why? Griffin says God had told him to resort to violence … but … at his trial he claims pro-life leaders had manipulated him into murdering Gunn.

On March 4th, 1994, Griffin is sentenced to life in prison … he shows no remorse.

Griffin, on 60 Minutes Australia again.

GRIFFIN: God clearly condemns the killing of a child. That’s murder. Abortion is murder.

REPORTER: So how would you describe what you did? If not murder?

GRIFFIN: Saving 12 children.

Pro-life organizations have mixed reactions to the killing. Operation Rescue says Gunn’s death was unfortunate, but ultimately saved babies … and many pro-life activists sign the Defensive Action Statement, which called the murder justified.

But the United States Catholic Conference condemns the violence, calling it “a mockery of the pro-life cause.”

The murder is a major setback for pro-life activists … as Pro-abortion supporters jump on the tragedy.

BILL CLINTON: Enacting this bill to provide freedom of access to clinics has been a priority because protecting the freedoms of our citizens is surely chief among the responsibilities of the President of the United States.

A little more than a year after the murder, former President Bill Clinton signs the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, into law … making it a federal crime for protesters to blockade abortion facilities or threaten providers. Gunn’s son, David Gunn Jr., is a vocal advocate for the law.

Even so, Griffin’s actions inspire copycats—like Rachelle Shannon, who shoots an abortionist in both arms … and Paul Hill, who guns down an abortionist and his bodyguard in 1994.

Hill is the first person to be sentenced to death for killing an abortion doctor. He speaks with an interviewer in prison right before his execution in 2003.

INTERVIEWER: Why did you do it?

PAUL HILL: Perhaps the most fundamental reason is the sixth Commandment, “Thou shalt not murder,” also requires the means necessary to defend innocent people and that’s what I did.

Hill says he hopes to inspire others.

And he does.

In 1994, 22 year-old John Salvi walks into an abortion center and opens fire, killing two and wounding five others. He is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

While violence continues well into the 2000s, it also creates new targets: crisis pregnancy centers. Since the passage of the FACE Act, attacks on these organizations have also increased. And officials such as Jim Jordan have accused the federal government of turning a blind eye.

REP. JIM JORDAN: If you’re a pro-life activist, and you’re praying outside an abortion clinic guess what happens to you? FBI kicks in your door, arrests you, puts you in handcuff.

Since 2022, more than 100 crisis pregnancy centers and pro-life organizations have been vandalized or set on fire … many more than once.

The FBI and local police have arrested only six people in connection with the attacks.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Emma Perley.

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