A prominent Jackson anti-abortion activist, who was arrested for his activism more than 60 times by his own count, died of sepsis Thursday, reported the Clarion-Ledger.
Roy McMillan, 72, was known as a divisive figure with an abrasive style of activism. McMillan, who was white, did not hesitate to use slogans such as “Abortion=Black Genocide” while picketing Jackson abortion clinics.
McMillan joined the campaign against abortion in 1986.
Now Mississippi has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation and only a single abortion clinic, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which is subject to repeated acts of vandalism.
“Thankfully, we’ve arrived at a time I always wanted — when the women have to come through us,” said McMillan in 2004, shortly after the second-to-last clinic closed.
Pursuant to a federal consent decree, McMillan was required to remain at least 50 feet away from any abortion clinic.
In the wake of the 1994 murder of Pensacola abortion provider Dr. David Gunn by anti-abortion activist Michael F. Griffin, McMillan told the Clarion-Ledger that he felt the killings of abortion doctors were justified.
Paul Hill, a minister and close associate of McMillan, killed another Pensacola abortion provider and his escort with a shotgun months after Griffin was sentenced.
In 2003, McMillan came to Greenwood. About 20 anti-abortion protesters took to the streets of Yazoo City, Greenville and Greenwood that day. The stop was organized by Phil Carnaggio, a longtime supporter of McMillan.
“We call ourselves crusaders, witnesses. We are happy warriors,” said McMillan during that visit. “We are going to make Mississippi abortion-free.”
Several protesters who came with McMillan that day were from out of town, and they noted that they received a warmer reception in Greenwood than they had in Yazoo City or Greenville, where passersby would shout obscenities at them.
Dr. Beverly McMillan, his wife, was a medical doctor who worked in Mississippi’s first abortion clinic before changing her views.
Tanya Britton, former director of Pro-Life Mississippi, favorably compared McMillan to John the Baptist. “He proclaimed the truth,” she said.
McMillan believed that America has lost its way due to “hedonism,” “relativism,” and “materialism.”
“I grew up in a time when girls said, ‘No.’ They grew up scared of the natural consequences of sexual intercourse,” he said. “They were closer to God.”
• Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
