Hill, Paul (1954–)

In 1994, Paul Jennings Hill, a former Presbyterian minister, became the first antiabortion terrorist to be sentenced to death for the murder of an abortion provider. Hill was also the first person to be tried under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances law, which was passed by Congress after the first murder of an abortion provider by Michael Griffin in March 1993.

Hill first embraced the antiabortion movement after graduating from the Reformed Theological Seminary [Page 171]in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1983. At the time, Hill contemplated assassinating a Supreme Court justice to hasten an appointment that might lead to the overthrow of Roe v. Wade; because he was a minister, Hill decided against murder. In 1990, however, Hill voluntarily turned in his ministerial credentials, leaving him free, in his mind, to follow Griffin's lead.

Although Griffin and Hill never met, five days ...