Operation Rescue New Zealand

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Operation Rescue New Zealand was a short-lived New Zealand pro-life civil disobedience group (1989-1992), descended from Wellington and Christchurch's "Pro-Life Action Groups." Both organisations had parent organisations within the United States, such as Joseph Scheidler's Pro-Life Action League and Randall Terry's Operation Rescue (now Operation Save America). It was founded by conservative Catholic anti-abortionist Mary O'Neill after visiting the parent organisation in the United States.

Unfortunately for Operation Rescue New Zealand, it was caught between its radical clinic invasion political tactics, a conservative anti-abortion movement and well-networked pro-choice counterparts who swiftly mobilised clinic counterpickets in Christchurch and Wellington. Faced with such opposition, Operation Rescue New Zealand became trapped in a no-win tactical situation- as pro-choice opposition mounted, more conservative pro-lifers expressed concerns about tactical naivetie on the part of Operation Rescue, and conservative Catholic/fundamentalist Protestant tensions emerged, as for example when conservative Catholic Operation Rescue advocates prayed the rosary outside clinics before invasion attempts, to the derision of their fundamentalist counterparts who disdained such sacramentalism. As time went on, donations diminished as SPUC(now Voice for Life) and other conservative pro-lifers withdrew their financial support, and Operation Rescue legal bills mounted, as did the imprisonment terms of its members. After only three years, Operation Rescue New Zealand petered out, with no effect on abortion access within New Zealand during its short duration, unlike the United States.

Unfortunately for the pro-life movement, it also raised antagonisms within its ranks. Former Christchurch Operation Rescue members joined Christchurch SPUC (now Right to Life New Zealand) and favoured more radical parliamentary strategies like the reintroduction of the Status of the Unborn Child Bill, which the parent organisation thought to be unfeasible. After repeated provocation, SPUC expelled its errant Christchurch branch, now Right to Life New Zealand.

[edit] Sources

  • Gordon Campbell: "Inside Operation Rescue" New Zealand Listener (27 November 1989):125 (2595): 10-13.
  • Lynne Loates: "State of Siege" More Magazine: 80: February 1990: 64-70.
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