Abortion Clinics Closed After Doctor Killed

Women seeking abortions were directed to other cities Friday, and a prosecutor said he expected to seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing a doctor during an abortion protest.

The city’s two clinics where abortions are performed have been closed since Wednesday’s shooting of Dr. David Gunn. He was the only doctor to perform abortions at the clinics. With other physicians volunteering their services to fill the void, the clinics are expected to reopen next week.

John Burt, a lay preacher from nearby Milton, who led the demonstration being conducted when Gunn was slain, said protesters would return when the clinics reopen.

State Atty. Curtis Golden said he expected that a grand jury would indict Michael F. Griffin on a charge of first-degree murder, possibly as early as next week. If so, Golden said, he would seek the death penalty, his policy in premeditated murder cases.

Two doctors at a clinic in Melbourne resigned Thursday because of the killing. But the executive director of the Washington-based National Abortion Federation said she knew of no other resignations, adding that most people in the abortion-rights movement would carry on.

“While it’s clear people are frightened, they were frightened before this,” said Barbara Radford. “I don’t think you are going to find in reaction to this killing many physicians who will discontinue providing abortions.”

Gunn, 47, of Eufaula, Ala., was shot in the back three times at point-blank range as he got out of his car behind the Pensacola Women’s Medical Services clinic while an anti-abortion demonstration was going on in front of the building, police said.

Griffin, 31, a Pensacola chemical plant worker, is being held without bond at the Escambia County Jail.

Women seeking abortions at the two clinics Friday were referred to clinics in the nearby town of Mary Esther, in Tallahassee and in the Alabama cities of Mobile and Montgomery. Volunteers were available at The Ladies Center in Pensacola to drive patients to the other clinics.