Operation Rescue


 * For the national organization formerly known as Operation Rescue, see Operation Rescue/Operation Save America.

Operation Rescue (formerly Operation Rescue West) is a pro-life group and offshoot of Operation Rescue, now known as Operation Rescue/Operation Save America. It is based in Wichita, Kansas.

Operation Rescue West
Operation Rescue was founded by Randall Terry in the late 1980s. Operation Rescue sprang to prominence during the 1988 Democratic Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, where hundreds of arrests for civil disobedience took place, capturing national attention.

The high water mark for the civil disobedience aspect of Operation Rescue’s work came in 1991 during the "Summer of Mercy" in Wichita, Kansas. Thousands of pro-life protesters flocked to Wichita and were arrested at sit-ins, or "rescues", at an abortion clinic owned and operated by George R. Tiller, and what was then known as Wichita Family Planning, where a large protest involving members of the clergy took place. The event lasted six weeks and culminated in a rally that filled Cessna Stadium, featuring Dr. James Dobson.

Independent Operation Rescue organizations cropped up around the country during the early years, the most successful of which was the California organization run by OR’s national tactical director Jeff White.

Randall Terry stepped down from Operation Rescue in 1989. Keith Tucci then led the national organization through the 1991 Summer of Mercy then was replaced by Flip Benham. In 1997, Benham changed the name of Operation Rescue National to "Operation Save America," and broadened the scope of the organization to include the issues of homosexuality, pornography, and Islam.

The California Operation Rescue organization under Jeff White stayed true to the original intent of the organization and maintained its focus on the abortion issue, naming itself Operation Rescue West. Using new tactics that did not involve arrest, this group was successful at closing nearly two dozen abortion clinics in the Southern California over a ten-year period. White stepped down in 1999 following an $880,000 judgment against his organization for harassment and intimidation of Planned Parenthood staff and handed the organization over to the leadership of Troy Newman. In 2002, Newman moved the headquarters to Wichita, Kansas, to focus its efforts on George Tiller, and in 2002 dropped the “West” from its moniker. Newman has publicly shown support for Shelly Shannon who shot and wounded Dr. Tiller in 1993; and James Kopp, who is serving a prison sentence for the Buffalo, NY murder of Dr. George Slepian in 1998. Newman and Benham's groups have clashed over the issue of violence as well as the “Operation Rescue legacy”.

As of September 8, 2006, Youth Ministries Inc. d/b/a/ Operation Rescue West has had its 501(c)(3) status revoked by the IRS.

Operation Rescue
Under Newman’s leadership, Operation Rescue has regained prominence in the antiabortion movement. In 2002, Newman moved his Operation Rescue West headquarters to Wichita, Kansas, to focus its efforts on abortion provider George Tiller, and dropped the "West" from its moniker.

In June 2006, Operation Rescue bought the building that formerly housed Wichita's smaller abortion clinic, Central Women's Services (also known as Wichita Family Planning), after the clinic moved out in May 2006. Operation Rescue also has publicized a number of "botched" abortions at Tiller’s Women’s Health care Services, including the third-trimester abortion death of Christin A. Gilbert.

Operation Rescue operates a fleet of "Truth Trucks", large panel vehicles that bear images of aborted fetuses. These Truth Trucks travel around the nation showing what Operation Rescue calls the "grisly truth about abortion".

Operation Rescue has become a national media representative for the pro-life movement and has been featured in Rolling Stone Magazine, in an article titled "One Man's God Squad." Staff members have been quoted in several major newspapers.

Popular Culture
Operation Rescue has been mocked in the tv show South Park and has been attacked by the melodic hardcore group Bad Religion in their song Operation Rescue.