Pensacola
Pensacola is an incredibly important part of studying anti-abortion violence. Near the Alabama border (Item 1), abortion clinics in Pensacola served an important role in providing abortions to patients in Florida, as well as those who could not obtain them in other states. Pensacola suffered a particularly high amount of abortion violence beginning with the 1984 Christmas Day clinic bombing and then with David Gunn's murder which is largely attributed to being the first murder of an abortion provider for providing abortion (Item 2).
The violence that occurred in Pensacola sparked a nationwide conversation about violence and the pro-life movement. In this section, we discuss key historical moments and their repercussions, using Pensacola as a microcosm to study nationwide violence and right-wing movements.
Pensacola provides an interesting narrative on anti-abortion violence.
This news article details the history of violence in Pensacola, specifically with the context after the 2022 leaked draft opinion from the U.S Supreme Court. The Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization leaked draft threatens federal protection of the right to an abortion, reigniting the abortion debate in Pensacola, Florida.
The article contrasts demonstrations from abortion rights activists in Pensacola following the leaked draft in comparison to Pensacola's previous history of anti-abortion violence, as seen with the Christmas bombings of 1984 and David Gunn's murder. One notable continuation includes anti-abortion activists protesting behavior of holding up posters with images of "bloody, aborted fetuses" outside of the abortion clinics, like protestors in the late-twentieth century.
1. The Nature Conservancy. “Pensacola and Perdido Bay Watershed.” Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/florida/stories-in-florida/florida-pensacola-east-bay/.
2. Little, Jim. "Pensacola was once the anti-abortion battleground as bombings and murders rocked nation." Pensacola News Journal. June 24, 2022.