Paulhill

Dr. Britton’s step-daughter wrote to Governor Bush. It took more than a week for the Governor, who says “executions are for the victim’s families” to have an assistant call Ms. Fairbanks to acknowledge her letter. See below….

Dear Governor Bush:

As the
stepdaughter of John B. Britton, M.D. who was murdered by Paul Jennings Hill on July 29, 1994, I am asking that you commute Hill’s death sentence to life without the possibility of parole. Killing people is against the law in any circumstance, and by the execution of Paul Hill, you are enabling the killing to keep perpetuating in the circle of violence. I do not want to witness murder, killing by gun, lethal injection, electric chair, or any other mode of violence. The violence must stop. Killing must stop. Even though Paul Hill claims he wants to be killed, that will do nothing except allow him to be a martyr – it will not stop the right of women to have abortions, nor solve any other problem in this world. It will cause more pain in the name of the spirit of life. Please stop the killing.

Catherine Britton Fairbanks

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Catherine Fairbanks reports on 8/29/03

“Jeb Bush’s office just called – someone by the name of Wendy. She stated that the Governor wanted to let me know that he received my email, but was firm in his stand of “upholding the law.” By that, he feels obliged to go ahead with the murder. I told her that the murder would not accomplish anything, and that I felt this was a pre-planned murder, the same as Paul Hill had done. She said that was my opinion. She seemed very cold and very firm in her support of Jeb Bush….”

Is the martyrdom of Paul Hill an irresponsible invitation to unstable extremists to commit similar actions?
 
RADICAL REACTIONS TO FLORIDA MURDER
(source: compiled from Reuters reports, August, 1994)

Catholic Priest Rev. David Trosch has led the way encouraging anti-choice activists to kill abortion providers. Since Paul Hill murdered Dr. John Britton and James Barrett last month, Trosch has become a media celebrity. His many television appearances have included the Today Show, CNBC and dozens of local news broadcasts. Among his many quotes excusing these gruesome murders were these gems: “God smiles on those who take a life to save the lives of the ‘unborn.'” and “Defending innocent human life is not murder.”
 
Advocates for Life released a statement saying that “While Paul Hill may have been genuinely concerned to protect children and justified in shooting abortionist John Britton, he may have been wrong in the shooting death of the bodyguard.”
 
Donald Spitz [Paul Hill’s spiritual advisor], spokesman for Operation Rescue Chesapeake, reacted to the murders with this statement, “If there was a sniper in the school yard sniping off children one by one and the only way you could stop him was by stopping that sniper … you would stop that sniper.”
 
Michael Bray, a Bowie, Md., pastor who served four years in prison for bombing clinics in the Washington area and has just written a book called “A Time to Kill,” said, “There is no prohibition in the Bible against killing.” The ancient Hebrew word translated as “kill” in the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” does not refer to self-defense, Bray argues.
 
All of these activists say they would not themselves kill a doctor. They say they are either too important to the cause, too committed to their families or too smart to publicly proclaim their intentions. Before the recent murders in Pensacola, Paul Hill assured several friends that he would not himself resort to violence.

Here is information recently compiled for FADP regarding the sentences received by other anti-abortion terrorists

• Paul Hill is the first anti-abortion protester sentenced to death.
• Michael Griffin was the first anti-abortion protester to kill a doctor (inspiring Paul Hill), but he was sentenced to life for the first Pensacola murder (of Dr. David Gunn).
• John Salvi killed receptionists at two clinics in Massachusetts, but was found to be insane. He committed suicide in jail.
• James Kopp used a sniper rifle to kill Dr. Slepian in upstate New York, but was extradited from France only on the condition that he not face the death penalty. Kopp recently was sentenced to 25 years to life for that murder.
• Eric Rudolph will eventually go to trial on a death-penalty charge for killing an off-duty police officer who was guarding a clinic that was bombed in Alabama. (He is also charged with the Atlanta Olympics bombing.)
• There have been other clinic/provider shootings and bombings, but not that resulted in death.

According to the Associated Press:

“After Hill was condemned in December 1994, he said he welcomed execution because he believed it would prevent abortions by inciting more violence against abortion providers.
“He also said he had been inspired to kill Britton and Barrett by the actions of Michael Griffin, an anti-abortionist who fatally shot another doctor in Pensacola in 1993.”