Paul Hill, a former minister turned killer, was executed by chemical injection Wednesday at Florida State Prison, becoming the first American put to death for anti-abortion violence.
Hill, 49, was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. EDT. His last words were a call to arms for abortion opponents.
“If you believe abortion is a lethal force, you should oppose the force and do what you have to do to stop it,” Hill said calmly, lying beneath a white sheet and strapped to a gurney. “May God help you to protect the unborn as you would want to be protected.”
A moment later, Florida State Prison Warden Joe Thompson gave the order to begin the lethal injection. Hill remained still, his eyelids fluttering slightly. His chest heaved, and he exhaled audibly. A minute later, he stopped moving.
Hill’s final statement was prefaced by a thunderclap outside, which echoed just as the curtain in the glass-plated death chamber parted, allowing 15 official witnesses and 14 reporters to view his last moments.
Witnesses included Hill’s spiritual adviser, Rev. Donald Spitz; Atlanta attorney Michael Hirsh, who filed an unsuccessful appeal on Hill’s behalf with the U.S. Supreme Court; and former state Rep. George Albright, a Republican from nearby Ocala.
Citing security concerns prompted by anonymous threatening letters sent last month to several state officials and the judge who sentenced Hill, prison officials would not release the list of witnesses. But none of Hill’s family members or his victims attended the execution, officials said.
Hill was condemned for the 1994 shotgun slayings of Dr. John Britton and volunteer escort James Barrett as they arrived at a Pensacola abortion clinic, a double murder that capped a decade of violence by anti-abortion advocates in the Panhandle city.
Outside the razor-wired prison in this north Florida town Wednesday, a crowd of about 80 abortion opponents and anti-death penalty advocates gathered in a field to protest Hill’s execution, first battling the sultry heat and then enduring drenching thunderstorms.
Protesters came from as far away as New Jersey and California. Many anti-abortion groups have disavowed Hill because of the killings.
As he has for weeks, Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday denied last-minute appeals from those who urged that Hill’s sentence be commuted to life in prison, in part to avoid the risk of triggering a new wave of clinic attacks.