CHOICES: THE PENSACOLA MURAL

1994
ROCHELLE SHICOFF, JANET BRAUN-REINITZ

The Ladies Center, Pensacola, FL
5’ x 20’, acrylic on concrete
with Clinician Initiative, Planned Parenthood NYC

Photos © Janet Braun-Reinitz

A year after the murder of gynecologist Dr. David Gunn (1945-93), who weekly performed abortions at The Ladies Center, Shelly and Janet designed Choices to make the clinic’s waiting room a welcoming place. Visitor arrivals and departures were still under the protection of the National Guard.

In 1977, four years after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion (Roe v. Wade), Dr. Gunn began performing abortions as part of his regular practice. Every week he traveled from AL, where he was based, to GA, and then back to AL (Montgomery and Mobile) before finishing the week in Pensacola. He did so at great risk. In summer 1992, Dr. Gunn was the subject of Wanted-style posters distributed by the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.  

On the morning of March 10, 1993, Dr. Gunn arrived at the Ladies Center to find an anti-abortion rally taking place. As he got out of his car, a man – as reported by The Washington Post – yelled, “Don’t kill any more babies,” and fired three gunshots into the doctor’s back. Dr. Gunn died that day in a Pensacola hospital. In 1994, Michael F. Griffin was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

According to The Post, it is widely believed that Gunn’s death was “the first in the nation’s ongoing struggle over abortion.” The National Abortion Federation (NAF) has compiled these staggering statistics: since the 1970s, in the U.S. there have been at least 11 murders, 42 bombings, 196 arsons, and 491 assaults against abortion providers.