Starke, Fla. ? Paul Hill, a former minister who said he murdered an abortion doctor and his bodyguard to save the lives of unborn babies, was executed Wednesday by injection. He was the first person put to death in the United States for anti-abortion violence.

Hill, 49, was condemned for the July 29, 1994, shooting deaths of Dr. John Bayard Britton and his bodyguard, retired Air Force Lt. Col. James Herman Barrett, and the wounding of Barrett’s wife outside the Ladies Center in Pensacola.

As he has since the slaying, Hill showed no remorse and urged abortion foes to use whatever means to protect the unborn.

“If you believe abortion is a lethal force, you should oppose the force and do what you have to do to stop it,” Hill said as laid strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber. “May God help you to protect the unborn as you would want to be protected.”

Hill was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m., Gov. Jeb Bush’s office said.

Death penalty opponents and others had urged Bush to halt the execution, some of them warning Hill’s death would make him a martyr and unleash more violence against abortion clinics. The governor said he would not be “bullied” into stopping the execution.

Florida abortion clinics and police were on heightened alert for reprisals. Several officials connected to the case received threatening letters last week, accompanied by rifle bullets.

“Paul Hill is a dangerous psychopath,” said Marti McKenzie, spokeswoman for Dr. James S. Pendergraft, who runs clinics in Orlando, Ocala, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale.

Outside Florida State Prison, extra law enforcement officers, explosives-sniffing dogs and undercover officers were in place to prevent protests from getting out of hand.

Hill, a former Presbyterian minister, had final visits with family members and prayed with his religious adviser until just before his execution.

Paul Hill's supporters pray for him before his execution outside Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla. Hill was executed Wednesday for the 1994 shotgun slayings of abortion doctor John Britton and his bodyguard James Barrett outside a Pensacola, Fla., abortion clinic.