Washington Post Profiles Operation Rescue Founder Randall Terry

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Litigation / Medical Malpractice
Article Date: 16 Jul 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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The Washington Post on Wednesday profiled Randall Terry, the founder and former head of the antiabortion-rights group Operation Rescue. According to the Post, Terry is known as a "shock jock of the antiabortion movement" with a "theatrical bent." The Post reports that Terry was arrested dozens of times in the late 1980s and 1990s during his protests. For a short period, his "tactics transformed the antiabortion movement," earning him praise from conservative Christian leaders like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. However, after a 1994 federal law made blocking clinics a federal crime, Terry's group "started to unravel" after he struggled to pay fines for violating the law. He lost in several lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood -- resulting in him owing $1.6 million to the group -- and he filed for bankruptcy in 1998.

Although Terry left as the leader of Operation Rescue in 1991, he now has moved to the Washington, D.C., area to "try to reclaim the prominence he once enjoyed within the antiabortion movement," an effort he is making "much to the consternation of people on both sides of the abortion debate," according to the Post. Most recently, he has been leading protests outside the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The Post reports that leaders in the antiabortion-rights movement "are cringing at Terry's sudden return," saying that "his incendiary rhetoric and showy tactics turn off ordinary Americans and reflect Terry's struggle to regain his glory years." He also is focused on starting a new organization, Operation Rescue Insurrecta Nex, a Latin term translated to mean "insurrection against death" (Salmon, Washington Post, 7/15). The Post also included a timeline of Terry's personal life and history with the antiabortion-rights movement (Washington Post, 7/15).

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