American Family Planning

Last updated

American Family Planning, formerly known as The Ladies Center and as Community Healthcare Center, was a clinic in Pensacola, Florida, providing abortions and other women's healthcare services. It is notable as the site of a number of acts of anti-abortion violence.

Contents

Perhaps best-known was the 1994 murder of Dr. John Britton. Britton was a physician working at the clinic; he and his escort James Barrett were shot to death as they arrived on July 29 by anti-abortion protester Paul Jennings Hill. Barrett's wife June was also wounded. [1] [2] Previously, the clinic had been bombed twice in 1984; a pipe bomb destroyed the building on June 25 of that year, and four youthsMatt Goldsby, Jimmy Simmons, Kathy Simmons, and Kaye Wigginsbombed it on Christmas Day, calling the crime "a gift to Jesus on his birthday." These bombers stated that they were also behind the June bombing. [2] [3]

On January 1, 2012, Bobby Joe Rogers firebombed the clinic with a Molotov cocktail; the fire gutted the building. Rogers told investigators that he was motivated to commit the crime by his opposition to abortion, and that what more directly prompted the act was seeing a patient enter the clinic during one of the frequent anti-abortion protests there. [4]

It was shuttered by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration in 2022 after multiple clients had parts of their internal organs removed and had to be hospitalized. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Jennings Hill</span> American minister and anti-abortion terrorist

Paul Jennings Hill was an American religious extremist and anti-abortion terrorist who murdered physician John Britton and Britton's bodyguard, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Barrett, in 1994. Hill was sentenced to death by lethal injection and was executed on September 3, 2003.

Abortion in Australia is legal nationwide, having been fully decriminalised in all jurisdictions, starting with Western Australia in 1998 and lastly in South Australia in 2022. Access to abortion varies between the states and territories: surgical abortions are readily available on request within the first 20 to 24 weeks of pregnancy in most jurisdictions, and up to 16 weeks in Tasmania. Later term abortions in most states and territories can be obtained with the approval of two doctors. The exceptions are Western Australia, where abortion is heavily restricted after 20 weeks, and the Australian Capital Territory, where there is no limit on gestational term for approval by a single doctor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnett Slepian</span> American physician and murder victim

Barnett Abba Slepian was an American physician and abortion provider who was assassinated in his home by James Charles Kopp, a militant member of the US anti-abortion movement.

An abortion clinic or abortion provider is a medical facility that provides abortions. Such clinics may be public medical centers, private medical practices or nonprofit organizations such as Planned Parenthood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Army of God (terrorist organization)</span> American Christian organization

Army of God (AOG) is an American Christian terrorist organization, members of which have perpetrated anti-abortion violence. According to the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security's joint Terrorism Knowledge Base, the Army of God is an active underground terrorist organization in the United States. In addition to numerous property crimes, the group has committed acts of kidnapping, attempted murder, and murder. The AOG was formed in 1982 and, while sharing a common ideology and tactics, the group's members claim that they rarely communicate with each other; this is known more formally as leaderless resistance. The group forbids those who wish to "take action against babykilling abortionists" from discussing their plans with anyone in advance.

Anti-abortion violence is violence committed against individuals and organizations that perform abortions or provide abortion counseling. Incidents of violence have included destruction of property, including vandalism; crimes against people, including kidnapping, stalking, assault, attempted murder, and murder; and crimes affecting both people and property, including arson and terrorism, such as bombings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act</span>

The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act is a United States law that was signed by President Bill Clinton in May 1994, which prohibits the following three things: (1) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is obtaining an abortion, (2) the use of physical force, threat of physical force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, interfere with or attempt to injure, intimidate or interfere with any person who is exercising or trying to exercise their First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship, (3) the intentional damage or destruction of a reproductive health care facility or a place of worship.

Reverend Michael Bray is an American Lutheran minister who was convicted in 1985, along with two other defendants of two counts of conspiracy and one count of possessing unregistered explosive devices in relation to seven bombings of women's health clinics and three offices of women's health advocacy groups in Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Bray and his wife, Jayne, are the named defendants in the Supreme Court decision Bray v. Alexandria, a ruling that determined pro-life demonstrators could not block entrances to abortion clinics in order to stop patients from entering to receive services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of David Gunn</span> Anti-abortion murder in Tennessee

On March 10, 1993, Dr. David Gunn was fatally shot by anti-abortion extremist Michael Frederick Griffin in Pensacola, Florida. It was the first documented killing of an obstetrics and gynaecology doctor where the stated intention of the perpetrator was to prevent a doctor from performing abortions in an act of anti-abortion violence in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Tiller</span> American physician (1941–2009)

George Richard Tiller was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide at the time which provided late termination of pregnancy.

John C. Salvi III was an anti-abortion extremist who carried out fatal shootings at two abortion facilities in Brookline, Massachusetts on December 30, 1994. The shootings killed two and wounded five. An insanity defense at his trial was not successful and he was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He died in 1996 in what was officially ruled a suicide in his jail cell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinic escort</span> Family planning clinic

An abortionclinic escort is an individual who volunteers at an abortion clinic or family planning clinic. Their role is to assist patients and staff to enter and exit these facilities safely, and to prevent any potential harassment or danger to individuals. A clinic escort's role at a family planning clinic encompasses myriad different tasks, which can also vary between clinics.

Governments sometimes take measures designed to afford legal protection of access to abortion. Such legislation often seeks to guard facilities which provide induced abortion against obstruction, vandalism, picketing, and other actions, or to protect patients and employees of such facilities from threats and harassment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Spitz</span> American Christian terrorist

Donald Spitz is an American anti-abortion Christian terrorist. He lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he runs the websites of and is a spokesperson for Army of God, an anti-abortion Christian terrorist organization that has been identified as an active underground terrorist organization by the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security's joint Terrorism Knowledge Base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism in the United States</span> Systematic or threatened use of violence to create a general climate of fear

In the United States, a common definition of terrorism is the systematic or threatened use of violence in order to create a general climate of fear to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. This article serves as a list and a compilation of acts of terrorism, attempts to commit acts of terrorism, and other such items which pertain to terrorist activities which are engaged in by non-state actors or spies who are acting in the interests of state actors or persons who are acting without the approval of foreign governments within the domestic borders of the United States.

David Francis Leach is an American anti-abortion activist from Des Moines, Iowa. He publishes the Prayer & Action News quarterly newsletter (1989–present), and edits the website The Partnership Machine (1998–present) which covers social issues including abortion, politics, religion, immigration, divorce, sodomy, and education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Britton (doctor)</span> American physician and murder victim

John Bayard Britton was an American physician. He was assassinated in Pensacola, Florida, by anti-abortion extremist Paul Jennings Hill. Britton's death was the second assassination of a Pensacola abortion provider in under a year and a half; he had replaced David Gunn after the latter's 1993 murder by another anti-abortionist.

Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionistmovements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the legalization of elective abortions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Burt (anti-abortion activist)</span> American anti-abortion terrorist

John Allen Burt was an American Christian fundamentalist, anti-abortion activist, and convicted child molester who called himself the "spiritual adviser" to murderers Michael Griffin and Paul Hill and other anti-abortionists. Burt ran "Our Father's House", which began as a Christian ministry and shelter for unwed mothers, later evolving into a private religious reformatory boarding school for "troubled" teenage girls. In 2003, he was arrested for molesting a 15-year-old girl who was living there. He was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison, where he died in 2013.

Abortion in Florida is currently legal until the 15th week of gestation under legislation signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. Since 1989, the Florida Supreme Court has held that Article 1, Section 23 of the Florida Constitution protects access to abortion. This means that, despite the United States Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, abortion remains legal in Florida. However, on April 13, 2023, the Florida Legislature passed and Governor DeSantis signed into law the Heartbeat Protection Act, which outlaws abortion after 6 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking, a diagnosis of a fatal fetal abnormality, and when required to save the pregnant woman’s life or protect her health. The Act takes effect if the state Supreme Court upholds the 15-week ban, currently being challenged.

References

  1. Claiborne, William (July 30, 1994). "Two Killed at Clinic in Florida". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  2. 1 2 Hayes, Ashley (January 3, 2012). "Authorities probe cause of Florida women's clinic blaze". CNN. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  3. Carlson, Peter. "A Holy War in Pensacola". People. Vol. 23, no. 3. Archived from the original on 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  4. "Authorities: Man charged in fire at Florida clinic says he was motived by dislike for abortion". Associated Press. January 5, 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-01-12. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  5. "Pensacola abortion clinic ordered to close overnight after three women hospitalized".

Further reading

30°29′20″N87°13′38″W / 30.48889°N 87.22722°W / 30.48889; -87.22722 }