Operation Save America
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Operation Save America, formerly known as Operation Rescue is a Christian Pro-Life organization, founded in the United States by Randall Terry in 1986. To distinguish it from Operation Rescue West, now simply known as Operation Rescue, led by Troy Newman, it is also sometimes referred to as Operation Rescue National although that name is seldom now in use. It promotes a pro-life agenda by conducting mass protests at abortion clinics. It is a large civil-disobedience organization, but over the years there has been violence at some of their protests. It continued to grow into the early 1990's, targeting clinics across the country.
They have also been involved in burning the Islamic holy text, the Qur'an, despite the opposition of the Muslim community to the practice of abortion. Their actions have been described as "an affront to Islam, all people of faith, and to our society as a whole... not christian [and] not American" by the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference.[1]
More than 40,000 people were arrested in Operation Save America demonstrations over the first four years of its existence as Operation Rescue. With new leadership, these arrest rates have gone down. Two events associated with drop in arrest rates were the passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act and the exit of Terry from OR's leadership. Operation Rescue's biggest public relations coup was when Buffalo, New York mayor Jimmy Griffin invited them in to protest during the "Spring of Life" in 1993. The invitation caused riots, largely sparked by out-of-area protesters bused into the Buffalo area by both pro-life and pro-choice groups. The crisis and financial hardship that the city endured because of the incidents was believed to have brought down Griffin's administration later that year.
On August 10, 1995, Norma McCorvey -- who was "Jane Roe" in the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision -- announced that she was a member of Operation Rescue, and had converted to Christianity as a result of having repeated contact with Operation Rescue since she worked near its headquarters office.
The organization has been involved in a lawsuit with the National Organization for Women and several abortion clinics since 1988. The suit alleged violations of the RICO (anti-racketeering) laws. Those contentions were rejected by the Supreme Court of the United States. See NOW v. Scheidler.
In 1999, current leader Flip Benham abandoned the name of Operation Rescue and changed the name of his organization to Operation Save America. Once Newman's organization began to grow in prominence, Benham again began to use the old "Operation Rescue" name, but now refers to his group as "Operation Save America, Formerly Operation Rescue".
Operation Save America has mobilized its members for other causes common to the Christian right, for example, opposition to Gay-Straight Alliances in public schools. At South Rowan High School, near Charlotte, NC, when a Gay-Straight Alliance was forming at that school, Operation Save America arranged to have some 700 people to show up at the school board meeting and get the board to ban the club from the school.[1] Critics contend that in so doing, the school board violated the Equal Access Act [2] which is the same act that protects the right of prayer groups and bible clubs to form in public schools.
[edit] References
- Live From the Gates of Hell: An Insider's Look at the Antiabortion Underground by Jerry Reiter (2000) ISBN 1-57392-840-2
- Operation Rescue: A Challenge to the Nation's Conscience by Philip F. Lawler (1992) ISBN 0-87973-506-6
[edit] External links
- Operation Save America Official Website
- Man's views change radically 2001 Jerry Reiter interview
- Clinics Prepare for Operation Rescue 1993
- [3] The current Operation Rescue organization led by Troy Newman
