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Friday, March 12, 1993
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University of Kansas STUDENT SENIOR
NATION/WORLD
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Abortion clinic doctor killed
Investigators find no evidence of conspiracy
The Associated Press
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Investigators found no evidence yesterday of a conspiracy in the shooting death of a doctor outside his abortion clinic. The anti-abortion demonstrator who reportedly confessed was ordered held without bond.
In the wake of what's believed to be the nation's first killing stemming from an abortion demonstration, clinics around the country tightened security, and women's groups urged Congress to approve legislation making the blocking of clinics a federal crime.
At conservative Pensacola's two abortion clinics, police increased security.
"The whole community feels violated by the killing," Mayor Jerry May-garden said.
Michael Frederick Griffin, once described by his wife as suffering
"great fits of violence," was ordered held without bond. Wednesday, he shot David Gunn, calmly surrendered and confessed, authorities said.
A candlelight vigil in Gunn's memory was planned for last night.
"At this time we have no evidence to indicate a conspiracy exists," police Sgt. Jerry Potts said. "The case is not closed, but I can't say we anticipate additional arrests."
In Washington, several national groups urged an FBI investigation of anti-abortion violence.
The shooting, abortion rights advocates said, is indicative of growing extremism in the anti-abortion movement.
"The government needs to ensure that vigilantes, terrorists and religious extremists do not take away our basic right to choose," said Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion Rights Action League.
Randall Terry, a leader of the antiabortion group Operation Rescue, called the killing an "inappropriate, repulsive act," but he also called Gunn a murderer of babies.
at Gum from a .38-caliber revolver at point-blank range.
Gunn, 47, was getting out of his car at the back door of the Pensacola Women's Medical Services as anti-abortion demonstrators picketed the clinic.
Although the slaying is believed to be unique in the long struggle over abortion, it wasn't the first time Pensacola has been the site of anti-abortion violence.
On Christmas Day in 1984, abortion foes bombed two doctors' offices and twice bombed a clinic here. Four people were convicted. In March 1986, six protesters were arrested after they stormed into the same clinic, damaging equipment and injuring two women. One of the arrested protesters was John Burt, a leader of Wednesday's protest at Gunn's clinic.
"He was such a caring, compassionate physician," said K.B. Kohl, director of Beacon Women's Center in Montgomery, Ala., where Gunn worked. "These women really do feel like he gave his life for them."
Congress challenges Yeltsin's power
President Bill Clinton contacted the Pensacola home of Gunn's brother to offer his condolences, Kohls said.
The Associated Press
MOSCOW — Russia's Communist-dominated Congress voted yesterday to strip President Boris Yeltsin of more of his powers and canceled a national referendum he had sought to cement his authority.
The resolution, which will be up for final approval today by the Congress of People's Deputies, dealt another blow to Yeltsin's eroding authority by weakening his ability to carry out market reforms and by making him more vulnerable to impeachment.
Although the Congress could change its mind, support for the measure was overwhelming, and Yeltsin's chance of prevailing was slim.
Climaxing a series of votes on the second day of its emergency session, the Congress resoundingly voided an agreement reached with Yeltsin in December to hold a referendum on April 11. That referendum would have
addressed the power struggle by asking the people who should govern, the parliament or the president.
Deputies in the 1,033-member Congress ignored a call for compromise by Yeltsin, who earlier in the day issued a stern challenge to Russia's highest parliamentary body.
"The Congress must make a choice between agreement or confrontation," he said. "It's either one or the other."
His principal rival for power, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Khasulatov, shot back minutes later in an emotional speech that dismissed Yeltsin's proposals as "petty ideas." He said that the only document the Congress would recognize was the Communist-era constitution.
The political showdown has been building for months. Both the executive and legislative branches have been grappling for power in the vacuum left by the collapse of the ruling Communist Party in 1991.
The lawmakers did grant some concessions to Yeltsin in his efforts to gain control over the Central Bank. Reformers blame the bank for pushing the inflation rate to 2,000 percent last year by handing out credits to insolvent state enterprises.
A committee that included Yeltsin and Khasbulatov approved making the heads of the Central Bank, the State Property Fund and several other agencies members of the government. However, the agency heads will remain under the supervision of the Supreme Soviet, the smaller standing legislature.
It was not clear what steps Yeltsin might take in the power struggle. Hard-liners fear he may try to impose some kind of presidential rule that would enable him to bypass Congress.