Anti-choice fanatics and women
On July 29 Dr John Britton and his companion James Barrett were shot in the head at point-blank range outside a Pensacola, Florida abortion clinic. The murders copycat that of Dr David Gunn in the same town on March 10, 1993.
All three were the target of militant anti-abortion crusaders, whose tactics include clinic protests, letter writing campaigns and terror directed at the dwindling number of doctors who are prepared to carry out abortions. Randy Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, declared this agenda more openly in the week prior to Gunn's murder: "We've found that the weak link is the doctor".
Doctors who perform terminations regularly receive hate mail and death threats. Britton was wearing a bullet-proof jacket when he was murdered, and Barrett was accompanying him for security purposes.
Paul Hill, the man accused of murdering Britton and Barrett, has harassed staff and patients at the Pensacola clinic before. He has frequently and openly defended the killing of doctors who perform abortions as "justifiable homicide".
At the time of Gunn's murder in 1993, anti-abortion groups were quick to declare the murderer had acted "alone". Yet pro-choice activists emphasised how the murder fitted into the pattern of escalating violence and intimidation being used against clinics.
As reported in GLW #153, 1107 acts of serious violence including bombing, arson, invasion, vandalism and chemical contamination were unleashed against community-based clinics in 1992.
A campaign of terror and intimidation on this scale cannot be seen as random. It is a fallacy for anti-abortion crusaders to deny they played a part in the murders. A climate of fear and violence has been created by this self-appointed minority with their moralistic, paternalistic and right-wing attitudes.
The agenda of these reactionaries is to deny women control over their reproductive rights and freedom — a fundamental demand in achieving equality, quality of life and a humane society.
However, the campaign in support of women's right to choose is gaining momentum in the US. It has huge public support, illustrated by the mobilisation of millions of people over the last couple of years. The recent passing of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) is testament to the commitment feminists have to maintain access to abortion clinics. According to them, right-wing activity outside the clinics had been declining.
This latest act of terror shows that if women's access to abortion is to be secured, a broad movement which includes women of colour, working-class, migrant, young and older women and sympathatic men, must continue — not only in the US, but wherever women's rights are under attack.
By Kath Gelber