The Region - News from July 27, 1987

A fundamentalist minister who has prayed for the death of Supreme Court justices supporting abortion asked his followers to join him in praying for the removal of ailing Justice Harry A. Blackmun “in any way that God sees fit.” In a sermon to his Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle congregation, meeting at the Ambassador Hotel, the Rev. R.L. Hymers asked his followers to hold hands, bow their heads and direct their prayers against Blackmun, 78, a key member of the high court’s liberal wing, who recently suffered a recurrence of prostate cancer. “Pray with me now,” Hymers said, “for God to remove Harry Blackmun from office in any way that God sees fit.” Hymers condemned Blackmun and other justices as “pro-death” for their landmark 1973 decision legalizing abortions.