Operation Rescue West
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Operation Rescue West is a pro-life group; its history intertwines with Operation Rescue.
Operation Rescue was founded by Randall Terry in the late 1980’s. 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.[citation needed]
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-lifer 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 Phillip "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 stayed with the original intent of the organization and maintained its focus on the abortion issue. 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.[citation needed]
Jeff White stepped down in 1999, and handed the organization over to the leadership of Troy Newman.
Under Newman’s leadership, Operation Rescue has regained prominence in the pro-life movement. In 2002, Newman moved his Operation Rescue West headquarters to Wichita, Kansas, to focus its efforts on late-term 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, a teenager with Down syndrome.
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 and has been quoted in nearly every major newspaper in the country.
Operation Rescue West and Troy Newman are currently under IRS investigation for charges of money laundering and tax evasion. As reported by Maggotpunks.com, Newman's organization receives hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations and has no paid staff. Newman refers to his staff as "missionaries" and, as a result, does not report their income. Using the donations Newman has purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars of real estate throughout Kansas.
As of September 8th 2006, Youth Ministries Inc. d/b/a/ Operation Rescue West has had its 501(c)(3) status revoked by the IRS.[1]
