xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CHOICE-NET REPORT For Week ending July 30, 1994 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx CHOICE-NET REPORT is a weekly update on reproductive rights issues distributed through email, Women's Wire, gopher.WELL.com, Usenet groups alt.activism, talk.abortion, soc.women, and other Internet channels. Please reprint, distribute and TAKE ACTION. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx TRAGIC MURDERS IN PENSACOLA On Friday July 29 Dr. John Britton, 69, and volunteer clinic escort James Herman, 74, were killed as they sat in a pickup truck outside the Ladies Center in Pensacola Florida. June Herman, 68, who was also in the truck was wounded was wounded. Rev. Paul Hill was arrested near the scene and charged with the murders. Police said they recovered a shotgun, along with more than a dozen unspent shotgun shells stashed in black nylon holders strapped to Hill's legs and in his pockets. Paul Hill is Executive Director of Defensive Action, a radical group that encourages the use of "force" to defend the "pre-born." After Dr. David Gunn was killed in Pensacola last year, Hill called Gunn's murder justifiable and called for the release of the accused killer Michael Griffin. At the time, Hill was the pastor of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Pensacola. He has since been relieved of that pastorship. Griffin has since been convicted of that murder and sentenced to life in prison. Hill spread his message of violence via a media tour that included the Donahue show and Nightline. Hill is certainly not alone in his belief that the murder of abortion providers is justifiable and called for in the bible. A number of people around the country have signed onto Hill's Defensive Action Manifesto. Only time will tell whether they too decide to put their beliefs into action. On Friday night a clinic in Falls Church, Virginia was firebombed resulting in approximately $10,000 in damages. A $100,000 reward is being offered for information about the bombing. Witnesses saw 6 men on the property right before the bombing. On Saturday the Justice Department announced it would provide protection for any abortion clinic requesting it. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Excerpts from: "Should We Defend Born and Unborn Children With Force?", 1993, by Rev. Paul Hill: "The Biblical evidence used to support nonviolent civil disobedience also logically supports violent civil disobedience. " "Christians are urged to take up arms in a defensive war...Considering the pressing urgency of our cause and the lack of any other justifiable course of action, our duty is to pursue a defensive war if possible." "There is an initial shock and horror that comes from considering that the death of Dr. Gunn may have been justified. Once this shock has passed, the truth and duties involved will have an abiding effect. These truths will grip men's minds and not release them from their duties. Men will be forced to admit their horrendous neglect and will respond with zealous repentant hearts...Our zeal will be from God Himself." "Should we not therefore with zeal fired to a steady white glow, go forth and show God's righteous indignation upon those who defile with gruesome death children made in His image and likeness? ...As hundreds are being rushed into eternity, other questions shrink in comparison to the weighty question, 'Should we defend born and unborn children with force?' Take defensive action!" >From a Defensive Action "Declaration" signed by at least 20 people including Rev. Paul Hill: "We proclaim that whatever force is legitimate to defend the life of a born child is legitimate to defend the life of an unborn child. We assert that if Michael Griffin did in fact kill David Gunn, his use of lethal force was justifiable provided it was carried out for the purpose of defending the lives of unborn children. Therefore he ought to be acquitted of the charges against him." (other signers include Mike Bray, Bowie, MD; C. Roy McMillan, Jackson, MS; Andrew Burnett, Portland, OR; Cathy Ramey, Portland OR; Matt Trewhella, Milwaukee, WI; Michael Dodds, Wichita, KS; Tony Piso, Forest Hill, NY; David Crane, Norfolk, VA; Dave Leach, Des Moines, IA; Valeria Zyskowski Pittsburgh, PA.; many others) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx WHAT CAN YOU DO? 1. Call on President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno to bring the full weight of their offices to bear on anti-choice terrorists. 2. Get out to your local clinics and volunteer as an escort. 3. Write letters of support to the clinics in your area. They could really use your support right now. 4. Write letters to the editor in support of the inclusion of the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion *as basic services* in any health care reform bill passed by Congress. Write your Congressmembers with the same message. 5. Join your local pro-choice groups. Offer volunteer hours or financial or technical help. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Information Sources: California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League-North, Alan Guttmacher Institute, Reproductive Freedom News, Culture Watch, Political Woman, various Congresspersons, various newspapers, C-Span, CNN, Reuters, AP, and UPI. Editor: Kathy Watkins, Administrative Director, CARAL-North .