John Bayard Britton (May 6, 1925 – July 29, 1994) was an American physician. He was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

, by

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

extremist

Paul Jennings Hill Paul Jennings Hill (February 6, 1954 – September 3, 2003) was an American minister and anti-abortion terrorist who murdered physician John Britton and Britton's bodyguard, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Barrett, in 1994. Hill was ...

. Britton's death was the second assassination of a Pensacola abortion provider in under a year and a half; he had replaced David Gunn after the latter's 1993 murder by another anti-abortionist. Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Britton graduated in 1949 from the

University of Virginia School of Medicine The University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA SoM) is the graduate medical school of the University of Virginia. The school's facilities are on the University of Virginia grounds adjacent to Academical Village in Charlottesville, Virginia. ...

, then served in the US Army stationed in Korea and also taught at the

Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...

. He then became a family physician in

Fernandina Beach, Florida Fernandina Beach is a city in northeastern Florida and the county seat of Nassau County, Florida, Nassau County, Florida, United States. It is the northernmost city on Florida's Atlantic coast, situated on Amelia Island, and is one of the princi ...

, spending much of his time delivering babies. After Gunn's murder, Britton began flying across the state to

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

weekly in order to perform abortions at the Pensacola Ladies' Center. Because he had received harassment and death threats, he wore a homemade bulletproof vest, carried a

.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...

, and enlisted volunteer bodyguards. Britton was notably ambivalent about abortion: he viewed abortion as a last resort option, and would sometimes turn away women seeking it, telling them to think about the decision and come back in a week if they still wanted an abortion. However, he described anti-abortion protesters as "fanatics."

Murder

As Britton arrived at the clinic on July 29, 1994, Hill approached and fired at him with a twelve-gauge

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

, hitting him in the head and killing him. Hill later stated that he aimed for Britton's head because he suspected the doctor was wearing a bulletproof vest. Hill also killed Britton's bodyguard, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, James Herman Barrett Jr (August 9, 1919 – July 29, 1994), and wounded Barrett's wife, June, a retired nurse. The murders resulted in several members of Congress calling for the FBI to infiltrate anti-abortion groups, as it had with the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. Hill was sentenced to death on December 6, 1994, and executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

on September 3, 2003. He was the first person in the United States to be executed for murdering a doctor who performed abortions. In a piece several months earlier in '' GQ'',

Tom Junod Tom Junod (born April 9, 1958) is an American journalist. He is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors. Early life In 1980, Junod graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the S ...

had profiled a number of parties involved in the murders: not only Britton, but also Hill and the Barretts. Britton and Hill are also interviewed in Tony Kaye's documentary '' Lake of Fire'', which was released in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton, John American primary care physicians American abortion providers Victims of anti-abortion violence in the United States Assassinated American people American murder victims Terrorism deaths in Florida Deaths by firearm in Florida People murdered in Florida Male murder victims University of Virginia School of Medicine alumni Georgia Health Sciences University People from Boston 1925 births 1994 deaths 1994 murders in the United States People from Fernandina Beach, Florida