Dr. John Britton Murdered (1994)
Fri Jul 29, 1994
Image: Dr. John Britton with the .357 Magnum he carried for protection when visiting the Pensacola Ladies' Centre to perform abortions, 1993 [rarehistoricalphotos.com]
On this day in 1994, Dr. John Britton was murdered by a far-right anti-abortionist in Pensacola, Florida. Britton, who had replaced Dr. David Gunn after he was murdered the previous year, had armed himself after receiving death threats.
After Gunn's assassination by an anti-abortionist, Dr. Britton began flying across the state of Florida to Pensacola weekly in order to perform abortions at the Pensacola Ladies' Center. He continued to provide abortions even after receiving harassment and death threats, and began wearing a homemade bulletproof vest, carrying a .357 Magnum, and enlisted volunteer bodyguards to protect himself.
As Britton arrived at the clinic on July 29th, 1994, an anti-abortionist shot him dead with a twelve-gauge shotgun. The assassin also killed Britton's bodyguard, retired Air Force lieutenant colonel James Barrett (aged 74), and wounded Barrett's wife, June, a retired nurse.
Britton's killer became the first American executed for assassinating a doctor who was providing abortion services.
- Date: 1994-07-29
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, rarehistoricalphotos.com.
- Tags: #Assassinations, #CivilRights, #Feminism.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org
I've heard that good people do not often kill others simply because of a differing belief. That is a serious problem when the cruel begin to outnumber the good.
The anti-abortion extremists really do believe abortions are murder, and that killing the doctor is the lesser evil, to prevent them from performing other abortions.
... and that still doesn't make it right or just.
Agreed. I don’t support their views. But the comment above was misrepresenting them. We don’t need falsehoods to win the argument.