I follow the discussion on the Abortion.com Facebook page very closely and I appreciate the moderator posting some of my pieces. From what I can see, a number of people are interested in some of the more unique stories about the days when I was at the National Coalition of Abortion Providers. I’m not sure if this will be to your liking, but…..
At about 2:00 p.m. on March 10, 1993 I learned that Doctor David Gunn had been murdered as he approached his clinic in Pensacola, Florida. For months, those of us in the abortion provider world knew something was going to happen. Anti-abortion terrorism was spreading everywhere, folks were on edge. I have to say that when I got the call, I was not in total shock.
The murder was front page news for several days. A short time later, I got a call from a producer from “The Donohue Show.” For you youngsters out there (or you oldsters who can’t remember where your bathroom is anymore), Phil Donohue was basically the first “Oprah.” The producer said they wanted me to join Susan Hill, Doctor Tom Tucker, David Gunn, Jr. and a Mr. Paul Hill on the show a few days later. I readily accepted the invitation. Unfortunately, Doctor Tucker got stuck in a snow storm but Doctor Takey Crist, an abortion provider from North Carolina, chartered a private jet at the last minute to fill in for Tucker. Susan Hill owned 8 clinics at the time and employed Doctor Gunn. David Gunn, Jr., the son of the murdered doctor, had already become a celebrity of sorts by that time. None of us knew who Paul Hill was.
When we got to the television station, we were escorted to the “Green Room” which is where we all met Paul Hill. By that time, we had learned that he would represent the anti-abortion side on the show. I shook his hand, he was very cordial. When we went up to the stage, I was seated next to him. Then, once the show started, Paul quickly told the world that it was “justifiable homicide” to kill an abortion doctor. The crowd, a liberal New York crowd, collectively gasped. They had never heard such a thing (neither had I). I thought the audience was going to lynch him. His remarks were especially outrageous in that the son of the murdered doctor was sitting three chairs from him on the stage.
I answered a few easy questions, although later on my friends said I had the “deer in the headlight” look about me. At one point, I was talking about how some police were letting protestors block the clinics and I said that “we HAD a sheriff in Corpus Christi, Texas, who testified that he would never arrest the protestors because he was pro-life.” Unfortunately, millions and millions of people across the country thought I said we “HAVE” a sheriff down there. The next day I got a call from the sheriff of Corpus Christi who, screaming in my ear, told me that his office was being barraged with phone calls from angry pro-choicers. I felt terrible when he told me he was actually pro-choice – but the damage had already been done.
During one commercial, Phil Donohue himself came over to me and said “Okay, someone is going to call in and ask you about that abortion pill. What is it called, RU-483 or something?” I told him it was RU-486. Minutes later, “Marianne from Brooklyn” called to ask about the abortion pill. I found out later that “Marianne” was actually one of the co-producers of the show calling from backstage.
Then there was Doctor Crist. He was a large, dashing bearded doctor of Greek descent who on that day was not going to take any crap from Paul Hill. He massacred him verbally, got more applause from the audience than anyone. After the show, over the course of the next few weeks, his clinic received hundreds of calls from women who wanted to meet Doctor Crist personally. He told me later that he received at least 50 proposals of marriage in the mail after his appearance. Ah, the power of television.
During the commercials, I talked to Paul Hill and over the next year I saw him at a number of anti-abortion protests. He became the national spokesman for the “justifiable homicide” doctrine. Then, about 15 months later I got another call that Doctor Baird Britton and his bodyguard had been assassinated in Pensacola. They were both shot by Paul Hill.
August 18, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Pat, y’outta write a book.
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August 19, 2010 at 10:25 am
Thanks, John. I do have some weird stories, huh? Hope you are having a good time with your family in Buffalo…
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August 19, 2010 at 7:20 pm
Now I’m in South Bend.
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August 20, 2010 at 4:41 am
That’s for sure!
These stories are incredible!
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August 20, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Thanks, Julia!
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August 19, 2010 at 9:39 am
Great story.
Being in such close contact with this person, did the possibility of him hurting someone ever crossed your mind?
Did he give signs of instability? Your mind must have been spinning when you heard the news. Tell us more about what you felt.
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August 19, 2010 at 10:27 am
It never dawned on me, Madalene, that he could pull a trigger. Indeed, at one rally I asked him “if you think it’s okay to kill a doctor who does abortions, why dont you do it yourself?” He hesitated and said “that’s a good question but I think I can do more as a spokesperson for this movement than a doer.” I got chills. Then he killed the two people and several years later, he called me from death row and asked if I would attend his execution. I deferred…..
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August 19, 2010 at 10:29 am
Hey, manager of this blog!! Why the heck do you have a caption under Phil Donohue’s picture that says “abortion pill?” As I’ve written about before, I know we need to keep saying “abortion” to increase traffic or whatever, but I think it cheapens the site to use the word absolutely everywhere. Like up top, you have “Tiller Abortion.” That is totally bizarre. This just detracts from the site….John, CG, Sonia – any thoughts??
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August 19, 2010 at 10:50 am
Pat I sat in my office that day with my employees and we were glued to the TV…and when Hill said that my throat went dry…I felt at that moment we had not heard the last of him…..When we had the service later for David Gunn my skin crawled when Paul Hill stood outside the area with his large gross with signs hanging off it…But you did great and did not look like a deer in the head-lights…..we were all very proud of all of you!!! (Boy Takey Crist was/is a good looker…..
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August 19, 2010 at 11:35 pm
pat, you are a person of conviction and great courage
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August 20, 2010 at 1:42 pm
I belonged to a very courageous movement. Thanks
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August 20, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Thanks, Lorraine. And to this day, I”m convinced that Phil Donahue made Paul Hill a celebrity, a bad one. He was absolutely nothing before that show, but he was just outrageous enough to make the producers interested.
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August 19, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Pat, the caption writer was not sufficiently motivated to do better. Half a pint of Guinness would probably have spurred him/her to greater effort.
Alternative theory– the caption writer was always repelled by Donahue’s earnestness and coupled the show’s topic with his/her perception of Donahue’s personality. Hence,”abortion pill.” Logical.
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August 20, 2010 at 4:49 am
CG is sharp, I thought it was obvious!
Dunkle worships the murderer Paul Hill.
Burns American flags to prove, a real genius.
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August 20, 2010 at 1:43 pm
You may be right, CG!
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August 19, 2010 at 8:54 pm
so the phone calls on the shows are rigged.
why didn’t he just ask you to explain about ru-486 rather than playing games?
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August 20, 2010 at 1:44 pm
I never even thought to ask him, Rogelio. I was just so shocked that they would set up a call. That’s television for ya…
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August 19, 2010 at 8:55 pm
in reference to paul hill and others that advocate murdering abortionists…..
THAT’S NOT PRO-LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!
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August 19, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Hi Phil,
Thanks for the interesting story.. I guess you never know who someone really is… I am a Christian and I believe that God has the final say and while I myself do not believe in abortion, I also believe it is not my right to judge. However, the more I read and understand and educate myself on the scientific fact… I do not believe there is a black/white division between being pro-life and pro-choice…
As a young girl I learned of a schoolmate who was pregnant at the age of 11, the details were to incestual to discuss… As a young person I judged the child… as an adult, while I stand strong and say ‘I am pro-life’ I also say that this young girl who ended up with a life-threatening condition from the pregnancy and ended up having an abortion should not be judged… she also has a right to life— and if that is a ‘grey’ area, how can we draw absolute lines… I feel I should be calling myself pro-choice, as I see the facts and the different scenarios..I have conflict due to my religion… but why can’t we continue to be a pro-choice society and let God deal with those who make the wrong choices… its not up to men like Paul Hill…. after all we go on for eternity, our human lives are short in comparision….
I apologize for my anonymity and endless chatter– my church group just went over the abortion topic and Im very conflicted and made a lot of enemies last week asking “why” questions…
Thanks for ‘listening’
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August 20, 2010 at 1:46 pm
It’s good to question things, Jenna. As you continue to think about this issue, if you have any questions about the actual abortion process, feel free to ask me. I’m not a doctor but I represented them for many years. And, if I dont know the answer, I can get it for you from the experts…
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August 20, 2010 at 6:46 am
“but why can’t we continue to be a pro-choice society and let God deal with those who make the wrong choices?”
Jenna, there are people out here who want to be important, and they create a sense of importance by being “pro-life.” Only they don’t really care about human life; they just care about being known as being “pro-life.” They focus so strongly on abortion that they can’t care for real human life. I suggest you learn about aborticentrism. These people are neurotic to a large degree; some of them are clinical cases, and a few of them are dangerously ill.
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August 20, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Gee, CG, is there a website or something where I can learn about this “aborticentrism?” 🙂
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August 20, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Well, golly, Pat, there would be, if I were half the age I am and had twice the brains. When you’re outliving over half the people on the obituary page, it’s one way of Mother Nature telling you the mental game has passed you by.
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April 12, 2021 at 1:29 pm
Pat, Thank you very much for sharing. Do you know where I can find a video recording of that particular Phil Donahue show?
Kind Regards,
DJ
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