Christian Century, Volume 111, Issue 23
August 10, 1994
Page 745
BR1 .C45 v.111 1994
*ethicists and scholar’s wonder of pro-life and pro-choice can find common ground
*July, 1994- John Britton, 69, James Barrett, 74, murdered by Paul Hill, June Barrett, wounded.
*Britton had taken over clinics in Northern Florida after the slaying of Dr. David Gunn in 1993.
Pro-life Movement
*defend killings as “justifiable homicide”
Hill
*former minister but dismissed because of abortion beliefs (violence)
*went on talk shows to vent his views
*mention several people who talk publicly about abortion: Michele Dillon, Arthur Dyck, Lloyd Steffen
Dyck
*militancy espoused by Hill and others is an extreme example of what happens when the courts have decided an issue and “ordinary citizens feel they have no other resource”.
Steffen
*much like the case of war, humans live in an imperfect world and that there are instances-incest and rape, in which abortions are justified.
Dillon
*”Even if we could have consensus about what abortion is the larger question is that connected to the woman. A woman ultimately has to make the moral decision on this.”
CNN, October 24, 1998
Associate Press
http://www.rickross.com/reference/a-abortion/a-abortion3.html
*Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot and killed while in the office area of his home in Buffalo. Investigators believed that the gunman hid behind a swimming pool in the back yard of the doctor’s home. This event happened only four days after authorities warned abortion providers to be alert for possible attacks.
Veterans Day Link
*attacks on four abortion providers over past four years have occurred within a few weeks of November 11.
“For anyone to take it upon himself to be judge, jury, executioner, in nothing but sheer evil.”
(Karen Swallow Prior, Right-to-Life Party Candidate for Lieutenant Governor)
-she condemned the attack on Slepian
Victim a Longtime Target
*Slepian-target of anti-abortionists since the 1980s.
*1992-temporarily closed his clinic in Amherst during the “Spring of Life”, a massive protest by the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue in Buffalo.
*the activists claimed victory however Slepian claimed the office was closed to avoid inconveniencing other doctors and would continue to perform abortions in Buffalo.
*father of four
*Slepian said he was determined not to let the frequent confrontations with protesters deter him.
Holiday Taunts
*1998-protesters called Slepain a “murderer” during the Jewish holiday of Hanukah, as his family opened gifts
“It was during Hanukah, and I think he felt especially put out about that.”
(Harvey Rogers, friend and lawyer)
Ronald Breymeier-claimed the doctor attacked him with a baseball bat.
1989-charges were settled and Slepian was ordered to pay about $400 for repairs to a van and the uninsured portion of Breymeier’s medical bills.
CNN, May 6, 1999
By: Pierre Thomas
http://www.rickross.com/reference/a-abortion/a-abortion6.html
*Law Enforcement officials plan to charge long-time anti-abortion activist James Kopp in connection with the shooting death of abortion provider Dr. Barnett Slepian.
*Kopp, 44, remains at large.
*Slepian-fifth abortion provider shot by a sniper in upstate New York and Canada since 1994, first to die.
*Kopp has been named a material witness in the Oct. 23, 1998 shooting death of Slepian, who was one of only three doctors who performed abortions in the Buffalo area.
*circumstantial evidence suggests that Kopp may have been involved in or had some knowledge about the crime but was never named a suspect in the case.
Long-time Abortion Foe
*Kopp-went missing after Slepian’s killing
*officials soon issued a material witness warrant for his arrest.
*a witness reported seeing Kopp’s car parked near Slepian’s home 10 days before the shooting.
*Investigators found his car at the Newark International Airport in December (it had been there for a while)
Police
*found hair samples and bullets near the sniper’s position
*in April, found clothing and a rifle outside the victim’s home.
Kopp
*long-time anti-abortion protester
*arrested in 1990 in West Virginia while participating in a protest.
*arrested in Burlington, Vermont, when he locked himself to the axle of a car.
*In another protest, Kopp used specially made locks of iron and concrete to link himself to other protesters. Kopp used the same techniques during protests at a Long Island women’s clinic in 1991.
http://www.prochoiceconnection.com/pro-can/97spring.html#stats
The increase in the number of abortions since 1985 can be related to the historic 1988 Morgentaler court decision, which threw out the 1969 abortion law in Canada. Since that time, access to abortion has improved in many areas of Canada, and more women are able to terminate unwanted pregnancies. With improved sex education and access to different methods of contraception, such as the Morning After Pill, we hope to see a future reduction in the overall number of abortions.
Numremburg Files
The Nuremberg files are a web site compiled by a violent anti-choice group called the American Coalition of Life-Activists (ACLA). The purpose of the page is to compile and disseminate extensive personal information on abortion providers, including license plate numbers, home addresses, social security numbers, photographs, unlisted phone numbers, and even information on spouses, children and friends. So far, ACLA has opened files on over 300 people, including physicians, clinic workers, judges, politicians, law enforcement officials, and pro-choice activists. The stated intent of the project is “to gather all available information on abortionists and their accomplices for the day when they may be formally charged and tried at Type-type trials for their crimes,” according to David Crane, national director of ACLA.
http://www.christiangallery.com/atrocity
http://www.prochoiceconnection.com/pro-can/9697win.html
“We have to take into consideration that a woman doesn’t become pregnant accidentally. She says yes. She makes the choice. She should have a choice. She makes it the moment she says yes to sex. After that, she should be ready to accept responsibility for her behavior.”
(Dr. Dolores Grier)
Salvi Commits Suicide
In December, John Salvi, the anti-choice fanatic who killed two people and wounded five others in a shooting spree at two Boston area abortion clinics in December 1994, committed suicide. Salvi apparently asphyxiated himself by placing a plastic bag over his head. He was found dead in his cell at a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts.
Salvi had actually requested the death penalty at his trial, but did not get his wish. It appears that in the end, he decided to impose it on himself.
Colleen Dermody
August 24, 1995
http://www.feminist.org/news/pr/pr082495.html
Robert Cook
*arrested in Waukegan, Illinois
*allegedly planning to murder an abortion provider in Wisconsin
*is connected to well known justifiable homicide advocate and Catholic priest, David Trosch of Mobile, Alabama
*Cook was arrested August 16 for allegedly robbing an armored car of $260, 000 as plot to murder a doctor who performs abortions.
David Trosch
*removed from his parish duties after his extreme views supporting justifiable homicide became widely known.
*made media appearances defending justifiable homicide immediately after the July 1994 shootings of Dr. John Bayard Britton and Ret. Lt. Col. James Barrett in Pensacola, Florida.
*An article by Robert Cool entitled “The Price We Pay” which discusses the need to end abortion, appears in the March through July 1995 issue of Life Enterprises Unlimited News and Notes. Trosch is the editor of that publication.
“May I suggest that there is absolutely nothing we could do to end the slaughter of children that would be considered too great a price to pay. If this is true, then we must end abortion this year, using whatever means necessary.”
(Robert Cook in his article)
“Cook’s link to Trosch is yet another indication that every individual who appears to have acted alone while committing violence or attempting to committing violence is connected in some way to a small web of anti-abortion extremists.”
“The violence will not stop until all those involved in these acts are brought to justice. We urge the Department of Justice to continue to pursue the possibility that an unlawful conspiracy of anti-abortion extremists exists in this country.”
(Eleanor Smeal)
http://www.prochoiceconnection.com/pro-can/97spring.html#stats