2003: Paul Hill, anti-abortion martyr
September 3rd, 2008 Headsman
Five years ago today, minister Paul Hill was put to death by lethal injection for murdering an abortion provider and a clinic escort nine years before.
Hill rose to prominence in the early 1990’s as a fire-eating abortion foe, who openly preached the righteousness of defending unborn life by force — a divisive position among anti-abortion activists that got him excommunicated from the Presbyterian church.
On July 29, 1994, in the abortion conflict’s ground-zero of Pensacola, Fla., Hill put his theology into action by gunning down Dr. John Britton and his septuagenarian escort, along with Britton’s wife (who survived the shooting).
He never betrayed the least scruple about his act, hoping only to use his trial to present a “justifiable homicide” defense; the judge’s suppression of this line was and remains a grievance of Hill’s fellow-travelers against the judiciary.
Nor did Hill betray the least concern to die for his beliefs; if anything, in dropping appeals that would at the least have prolonged his life, he cut a figure thirsty for the martyrdom he attained this day.
To what end?
Hill left a plentiful documentary record — like this manifesto, among the pro-Hill documents collected on the Army of God website:
I knew that [killing an abortion provider] would uphold the truths of the gospel at the precise point of Satan’s current attack (the abortionist’s knife). While most Christians firmly profess the duty to defend born children with force (which is not yet being disputed by the government) most of these professors have neglected the duty to similarly defend the unborn. They are steady all along the battleline except at the point where the enemy has broken through. I was certain that if I took my stand at this point, others would join with me, and the Lord would eventually bring about a great victory.
One can question whether this proved to be the case or not. The infamy (in most circles) of the killing arguably dampened enthusiasm for the cause, at least as measured by the sulfur level on clinic sidewalks. At the same time, Hill’s was only the most spectacular instance of a campaign to terrorize abortion providers that drove many out of business and made some areas of the country virtual abortion-free zones.
Whatever may have surprised him about the way the issue played out over the 1990’s, he was serene about his choices when interviewed the day before his execution.
To some in the movement, he’s a holy martyr, the John Brown of slavery’s modern-day parallel.
And even if Paul Hill’s name is taboo in the respectable public discourse of abortion today, with four relatively young rock-ribbed anti-Roe v. Wade votes now entrenched at the Supreme Court, it’s far from obvious that Hill won’t get what he was after all along … even if he didn’t live to see it.
Part of the Themed Set: Judging Abortion.
Also On This Date
Possibly Related Executions
- 2001: Timothy McVeigh, Oklahoma City bomber
- 2008: The Bali Bombers
- 1859: John Brown’s body starts a-moulderin’ in the grave
Entry Filed under: 21st Century, Activists, Assassins, Capital Punishment, Cycle of Violence, Death Penalty, Execution, Famous, Florida, God, History, Infamous, Lethal Injection, Martyrs, Murder, Notable for their Victims, Popular Culture, Religious Figures, Ripped from the Headlines, Terrorists, USA
Tags: 2003, abortion, paul hill, pensacola, presbyterian church, roe v. wade, september 3, supreme court, terrorism, theology
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9 Comments Add your own
1. Joshua | October 24th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Yes abortion is wrong, but taking someones life is being God in itself. God is the only one who can judge others. You can’t kill others saying you want to protect life. I do not know whether he is in heaven or hell, because he was not a righteous man in my opinion. I am probably more for life than he was, but I wouldn’t kill someone. He was very wrong in his actions.
2. Dr Adford | March 2nd, 2009 at 7:15 pm
“You can’t kill others saying you want to protect life”
Retard.
What if somebody is holding a knife to the neck of a one year old baby? Is it wrong to shoot them, to save the baby’s life?
There is no ‘God’…
3. ravensdottir | March 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
What of rape or incest? These cretins would force a woman or child to bear an infant out of a vile, illegal act. To remember her pain every day for 9 months. I think not.
4. Fiz (UK) | March 4th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Well said, Ravensdottir! I utterly agree.
5. Fiz (UK) | March 4th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
“Joshua”, you try being raped. It isn’t fun, or a woman’s fantasy, and I should know since it happened to me. Why is it always men who tell us what we can and can’t do with our own bodies? Get back in your cave!
6. Teddybear | June 1st, 2009 at 6:53 am
It’s always been interesting to me that the same people that say abortion should be illegal except in cases of rape or incest, also say it’s murder. The baby does not know of the circumstances of it’s conception, and if abortion is murder, it’s always murder. There are no exceptions, it’s either murder or it’s not.
7. Fiz | June 1st, 2009 at 12:15 pm
My Roman Catholic doctor interestingly told my daughter that early abortion “is just removing a collection of cells”. Life does not begin at conception or in the first three months, otherwise babies which are miscarried would cry out - and they don’t, as I know too well.
8. babygirl | October 16th, 2009 at 10:18 am
i totally agree with teddybear, abortion is murder no matter how the baby got there!! rape or incest an child is still a child and taking it’s life for those reasons is still murder!!
9. Fiz | October 16th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Do you know how many pregnancies are lost in the first three months? Between one in three, or four. That is a hell of a lot of miscarriages. Not all pregnancies are made to flourish or have perfect babies at the end of them. If a Roman Catholic can see this, who are you to get on your high horse and say they are all wrong? FYI, children born of incest have an extremely high rate of chromosomal damage, which is invariably untreatable. Grow up and try and get into the 20th century. I’ll let you off the twenty-first, it’s obviously going to be far too difficult for you. Oh, and yes, I am a Christian.
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