Griffin, Michael (1962–)

In 1993, in the midst of an increasingly violent antiabortion movement in the United States, Michael Frederick Griffin became the first activist to murder an abortion provider, ushering in a new level of terrorism in the abortion wars.

Shortly after 10 A.M. on March 10, 1993, Dr. David Gunn arrived at the Pensacola Women's Medical Services clinic. Protestors from the antiabortion group Rescue America had been gathered outside the clinic since 9 A.M. As Dr. Gunn moved past the crowd, Griffin shot him three times in the back with a .38 caliber gun, shouting repeatedly, “Don't kill any more babies.” Dr. Gunn, then 47, was rushed to a hospital, where he died hours later.

Gunn knew he was a target. Aside from being the only individual providing legal abortions in the region, Gunn traveled more than 1,000 miles weekly to clinics throughout Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. In 1992, he was featured on a “Wanted” poster circulated at an Operation Rescue antiabortion rally in Montgomery, Alabama.

The Sunday before the murder, Griffin, then a 31–year-old chemical plant employee, asked the congregation at his fundamentalist church, Charity Chapel, to pray for Dr. Gunn. Griffin and his wife, Patricia, had recently become active in the antiabortion movement, joining the antiabortion group Our Father's House, led by John Burt, who also headed Rescue America. Burt encouraged the Griffins' activism, showing them videos of aborted fetuses and urging him and his wife to attend protests. Allegedly, Michael Griffin also saw an effigy of Dr. Gunn hanging from a rafter in Burt's garage, bearing a quote from Genesis 9:6—“Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.”

Immediately after shooting Dr. Gunn, Griffin approached a nearby police officer and turned himself in. As news spread, activists on both sides of the abortion debate decried Griffin and his actions. However, a small contingent of antiabortion activists justified the murder; most vocally—former Presbyterian minister Paul Hill. In July 1993, Hill drafted a “Defensive Action Statement,” signed by 29 antiabortion activists, that read, “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.”

Griffin was held, without bond, at the Escambia County jail and courthouse, on an open murder count. At his trial, Griffin's lawyers presented an insanity defense, suggesting that antiabortion propaganda caused Griffin to lose his sense of right and wrong—a defense that was ultimately not allowed because Griffin refused psychiatric examinations. On the opening day of trial, February 21, 1994, the judge announced that Griffin would not receive the death penalty. In March, Griffin was found guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole for 25 years.

By 1995, Griffin had denounced antiabortion violence, claiming that a conspiracy of antiabortion groups, police officers, and his own defense team had framed him. Antiabortion groups, in turn, denounced Griffin as mentally instable. Regrettably, his actions had already inspired more violence within the movement, inciting others, including Rachelle Shannon, Paul Hill, and John Salvi III, to murder.