The killing of George Tiller in Kansas Sunday was the latest act in three decades of violence aimed at abortion providers. Although the violence dates back to the years immediately following Roe v. Wade in 1973, the first murder occurred in 1993.
Tiller is the eighth person killed in attacks targeting abortion providers, according to data compiled by the National Abortion Federation, the association of U.S. and Canadian abortion providers.
The first was David Gunn, who was killed outside his abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida, in 1993 by a man who stepped out of a group of protesters and shot Gunn in the back. The shooter, Michael Griffin, is currently serving a life term for the murder.
Four people were killed in 1994, including a doctor and his escort at a second Pensacola, Florida, clinic. Two receptionists were killed at a pair of Brookline, MA, clinics that year.
In 1998, an off-duty officer died in the bombing of a Birmingham, AL, clinic. And Barnett Slepian, an obstetrician in New York state, was killed by a sniper’s bullet.
The National Abortion Federation has comprehensive data on violence aimed at abortion providers here.
Late Update: Here’s a graphic from the AP (via Newscom) showing violence around the country.
