Now that the brouhaha over a proposed bill in the South Dakota legislature that would have redefined the murder of abortion providers as "justifiable homicide" is largely over, and the bill has been tabled, it is worth considering the origins of the idea.
The justifiable homicide concept burst into national consciousness in 1993. It was contained in two "Defensive Action Statements" which were signed at various times by 33 people. The text of the first as authored by Paul Hill in 1993 read:
We, the undersigned, declare the justice of taking all godly action necessary to defend innocent human life including the use of force. 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.
The second, using similar language, was issued on behalf of Paul Hill who had murdered Dr. John Britton and his unarmed escort. Hill, a well-known Gulf Coast antiabortion activist, had also issued a 13 page manifesto about the need for "defensive war" and called for the formation of Christian militias to lead a revolution against the federal government. The Army of God in turn, is populated with people who adhere to similar ideas, many of whom see themselves as engaged in a long-term theocratic revolutionary struggle.
The idea was also introduced via a crude cartoon drawn and published by far right Catholic priest, David Trosch. The cartoon showed a man holding a gun on an doctor performing an abortion and was titled: "justifiable homicide?" UPDATE: Here is the cartoon.
Meanwhile, Operation Rescue activist Michael Hirsch a law student at Pat Robertson's Regent University Law School, had developed a legal theory of the justifiable homicide of abortion providers which was the core of his 1993 Regent University Law School thesis. It had been prepared for publication in the school's law review, but all 500 copies of the review were suppressed prior to publication because Paul Hill's assassination of Dr. Britton suddenly made the article a PR nightmare. Hirsch has argued that the murder of Dr. David Gunn was "consistent with Biblical Truth" and under Florida law, justifiable if one "reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent the immediate death or great bodily harm to himself or another." Hirsch wrote that the "presuppositions" he brings to any discussion "come from the Bible... it is impossible to fully consider the hypothetical defense of Michael Griffin without Scriptural support for the argument."
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/2/18/01916/9659/Reproductive_Rights/Murder_of_Abortion_Docs_as_Justifiable_Homicide
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