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), it was started in Auckland. It 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 Catholic Phil O'Conner, a schoolteacher.
SPUC(now Voice for Life and other conservative antiabortion activists gave no 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.
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.
