Abortion doctor's killer has no regrets (Jeb Asked To Stop Execution)

[Khephra]

Abortion doctor's killer has no regrets
Action necessary, Hill writes in letter

BY PHIL LONG
[e-mail]

Paul Hill, who is to be executed in two weeks for the shotgun slayings of an abortion doctor and his bodyguard in Pensacola, says he's at peace with himself and would probably kill again.

Hill, a one-time Presbyterian minister, has said God led him to shoot Dr. John Britton, 69, and his driver, James Barrett, 74, as they arrived at a Pensacola abortion clinic in July 1994.

''If I were put in similar circumstances, I believe I would act similarly,'' Hill said in a letter to The Herald from his Florida State Prison cell.

Death penalty opponents are urging Gov. Jeb Bush to stop the Sept. 3 execution, warning that a state-sanctioned death could turn Hill into a martyr for extremists in the antiabortion movement.

more...............

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/6579559.htm

[sfecap]

1. Don't execute him.

Let him live a very long life in a small cell at Raiford Prison.

That is worse than being executed.

[CheshireCat]

26. agree

Letting the state put anyone to death is wrong.

Let him spend a long life in prison.

[Best_man23]

2. I'm really split on this one

While part of me would love to see Paul Hill get executed, I know that doing so will make him a martyr in the eyes of the anti-choice movement.

Somehow, I think Jebco signed Hill's death warrant on the behest of others, just so Hill can become a martyr.

[iam]

3. Our choice of words

Everyone is anti-abortion, no-one is pro-abortion. One is either pro-choice or anti-choice. Our words make a difference.

[catzies]

4. Yes, thank you for that.

Words Mean Things.

[calm_blue_ocean]

5. Words do imply substantive beliefs

How about "pro-slavery" and "anti-slavery" -- should these common labels be changed to pro and anti choice also?

[Proud_American]

6. Bad analogy CBO

Duped by the right, are 'ya? The issue re abortion is about choice. We are pro-choice. The RR chooses to use the term pro-abortion in an attempt to smear the lines of morality and get a rise out of folks like you. Hold on... turn to the side... I'll get that damn hook out of your mouth.... stop moving...

[calm_blue_ocean]

7. I asked a question

I didn't say that I was anti-choice.

I didn't say I was pro-choice.

I didn't say I was right politically.

I didn't say I was left politically.

I am honestly seeking an intelligent answer.

Your "answer," and its attendant assumptions about my political beliefs, is irrelevant and kind of insulting.

[SidDithers]

8. Difference is in the legality of the action being chosen...

Abortion is legal, slavery isn't.

Alcohol is legal. I may disaprove of drinking, but I allow others to make their own choice whether they want to drink or not. Anti-choicers would want to deny everyone the choice of whether they wanted to drink.

Driving while intoxicated is illegal. Your choice here is only whether you are going to break the law or not. IMO, that's not much of a choice.

BTW, i'm not trying to minimize the seriousness of abortion. I'm equating it with drinking only because of it's similar legal standing. (at least as i can see it with my beer-addled mind :))

Sid

[calm_blue_ocean]

10. Interesting answer, Dithers

By your logic, prior to 1862 (or 1865) the correct slavery terminology would have been pro- and anti- choice.

Also by your logic, if Bush and his judges manages to reverse Roe v. Wade, then pro and anti abortion would be the correct terminology on the abortion issue.

[calm_blue_ocean]

11. Further thought on labels

On abortion, the central question is "when does legally cognizable human life start?"

I think the labels used should avoid implicitly taking any position on the question. The question should be answered directly, not indirectly through a labelling scheme. As such, both pro/anti abortion and pro/anti choice are bad labelling schemes.

I think better labels would be life-at-conception, life-at-6 mos., life-at-birth. Another advantage of this scheme is that it provides, in a couple words, a more precise view of a person's views on abortion. This is important where there are more than two answers floating around out there.

[Elidor]

22. Show me where your new labels are any better than

Those you want to replace. All you're doing is muddying the waters. Is the concept that someone who is pro-choice can also be anti-abortion too much for you to grasp?

[calm_blue_ocean]

29. Interesting criticism

I'd be curious to know how you would answer the pro/anti slavery question that I posed above near the beginning of this discussion.

[SidDithers]

14. I'd agree with part of your reply...

Prior to 1865, I suppose that if you were anti-slavery, you really were anti-choice. But as times change, so do our values and beliefs, and laws too.

I'm not really comfortable with the labels we feel we have to use in our sound bite society. Everything has to be shortened to a PR friendly phrase. Terms like pro-choice and anti-abortion are loaded with all the emotion that goes into a debate about abortion.

For my part, I support a woman's right to an abortion if she feels that is what the best option is for her in her own situation. Others might feel that governments or courts should limit a woman's access to abortion, or should make the decision for her as to when she could have could have access to abortion services. Others still might believe that abortion is never warranted. I'm not sure if this continuum of beliefs can really be separated into pro-choice or anti-abortion camps.

As far as labels, legality and logic goes, we can play that game even further. If Roe v. Wade were overturned, would I be pro-choice in Canada and pro-abortion when I drive from Toronto to Buffalo to see a football game? Would that make my head explode? :)

Sid

[calm_blue_ocean]

15. Slavery ended in Canada before it did in the US

The same pattern will probably be followed on abortion.

[SidDithers]

17. You're basing this assumption on what?

Are you suggesting that Canada would make abortion illegal before the US would?

Sid

[calm_blue_ocean]

20. I was just funnin' on ya

I have no idea whether or when abortion law will change on either side of the border.


Samuel Johnson on the US:

"How is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?"
Taxation No Tyranny

[northzax]

24. er not really

if you were against slavery in 1860 you were really pro-choice, right? the choice of the person whether or not to work for another person.

[calm_blue_ocean]

30. The difference is . . .

that blacks were not deemed fully human under the law, so they could not make a choice. Only the whites, who were fully human, were capable of choice in the legal sense.

For similar reasons, pro-choice would not fairly describe a pro-fetus position under the current abortion law.

[zizzer]

13. well...

I have to say that I am PRO-abotion. There are too many people in this world. There are too many parents that have no cause to be. Aboption simpply leaves a fucked and hurt person.

I know this is not a popular belief and I keep it to myself mostly but I am PRO-abortion.

Zizzer

[LoverOfLiberty]

19. Be that as it may

I would venture that if I asked either of my 2 adopted sons if they would rather be adopted or dead, they would chose the former.

And I hope to god they don't ever hear someone like you telling them that they should feel f*cked!

[calm_blue_ocean]

31. how do you come down on the infanticide issue? nt

[Felix Mala]

9. WWJD

Reckon Jesus will ask the right reverend if he even READ the gosphels?

[varun]

12. How can he kill someone?

when one of the commandment says:

Thou Shalt Not Kill?


:eyes:

[prolesunited]

16. Didn't you hear?

He got special dispensation from God. :eyes:

I'm against the death penalty and I think this guy should be denied the opportunity to become a martyr.

It reminds me of McVeigh, though on a much smaller scale. McVeigh WANTED the state to execute him, further proving his point. If the death penalty were truly about punishment, not blood revenge, then these types of people would be forced to live the rest of their days in prison and die of natural causes.

[Chilly_Willy]

21. If your bringing up religion

... sprituality is shown through people's actions...and words...but most people are liars so what do ya do?

[Danmack]

28. The most accurate translation of the old text is "Thou shall not murder"

[Chilly_Willy]

18. Killing is killing is killing

This man would suffer in the prison system and might have enough time to change his backwards beliefs. Religion or no religion, a murder is a murder, who should have the right to take another's life?

[LawDem]

23. Don't give him the break of an execution

This is a classic example of the stupidity of capital punishment. By executing this man we let him go out the way he wants, in a blaze of glory -- martyr to the cause and all that. Better to let him stare at the walls of his cell for a few decades. That way some day maybe, just maybe, he'll come to understand and be forced to face the evil of his own actions.

[Noordam]

25. I am anti-DP but a very small cell for the rest of his life

sounds good to me.

[slackmaster]

27. The death penalty is always wrong

I'm against it and wouldn't make an exception even for a guy like Paul Hill.

[Zorro]

32. The punishment fits the crime

I believe that there should be a death penalty, and it should be judiciously administered.

There do exist individuals who are absolutely incorrigibly evil, and can never be reformed. They deserve the punishment they get for their abominable crimes.

[Dulcinea]

33. Agreed.

I also believe in the judicious use of the death penalty.

Paul Hill is a murderer & a hypocrite of the worst kind. He feels no remorse for what he did, & deserves the hell that awaits. I have no sympathy for him whatsoever.

It is beyond me how anyone can call themselves "pro-life" & think it's OK to kill or maim doctors, nurses & clinic workers.