Bowed by a $70,000 debt and increasing numbers of court-imposed fines, Operation Rescue (OR) closed the doors of its Binghamton, New York, headquarters. But Randall Terry, founder of the activist prolife group, vowed the rescue movement “will not even skip a beat” as a result of the closing.
“There are more than 100 rescue groups around the country,” he said. “They will continue doing what they have been doing.”
Terry made the announcement at a news conference following his surprise release from an Atlanta correctional institution on January 30. Terry had served four months of a two-year prison sentence for refusing to pay fines related to rescues during the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta in 1988. According to Terry, an anonymous benefactor from out of state paid the $550 fine, securing his release.
Terry had refused to pay the fines on moral grounds and admitted it was “a distress” to him that through the unknown donor, the money still went to the officials. But, he said, “It is also a distress to me that some of my taxes go to Planned Parenthood,” referring to that organization’s receipt of federal family-planning funds. He added, “The only way someone could be free from any association whatsoever with the death industry would be to renounce U.S. citizenship and go to another country.”
Terry said that reflection during his time on a “chain gang” work detail in prison led him to the conclusion that prolifers, and Christians in particular, are being subjected to “hard-core political oppression and persecution.” He noted that recently in Oregon, a judge sentenced several prolifers to jail indefinitely until they take an oath that they will not do any more rescues.
He said similar “oppression” is responsible for OR’s financial difficulties. In December, the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York seized OR bank accounts and financial information after the group refused to pay a $50,000 fine levied as the result of a lawsuit brought against it by the National Organization for Women. OR is appealing the case to the Supreme Court.
“It is unprecedented in American history for the federal government to go after any protest group with such draconian fines,” Terry said.
The prolife leader said he plans to spend the next few weeks with his family but will soon return to rescue activities and a schedule of speaking engagements.
Advocates of legalized abortion welcomed the news of the closing of OR’s headquarters. “Now it is clear that Operation Rescue is financially as well as morally bankrupt,” said Kate Michelman, executive director of the National Abortion Rights Action League. “This … is another sign of the increasing public repudiation of antichoice extremists.”
Yet, prolife rescuers say their work will go on, stronger than ever. According to OR acting director Joseph Foreman, an indefinite campaign of monthly rescues has been launched in Atlanta.
