Operation Rescue Reportedly Needs Money, Close to Shutting Down

According to the wingnut news site CNSNews.com Operation Rescue, founded by pro-life extremist Randall Terry, is close to running out of money and shutting down. Could it just perhaps be because would be donors do not want to be associated with an organization whose founder and former leader has never denounced the murder of abortion providers and who has in fact comp licitly condoned the actions of the murders? The most recent example is the murder of Dr. George Tiller and Terry's extremist remarks at the time. While most folks do not know that Terry and Operation Rescue have parted ways some years back. Like it or not, Randall Terry - who is also an extreme homophobe - continues to be the face associated with Operation Rescue. The other irony is, of course, that due to their opposition to contraception, birth control and sex ed education, groups like Operation Rescue actually cause the number of abortions in the USA to fail to fall to rates similar to those in Europe where there are comprehensive sex education and birth control projects. Here are some story highlights:

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Wichita, Kan. (AP) - Operation Rescue, one of the nation's highest-profile groups in the anti-abortion movement, has told its supporters it is facing a "major financial crisis" and is very close to shutting down unless emergency help arrives soon. The group's president, Troy Newman, blamed the economic downturn for its money woes in a desperate plea e-mailed Monday night to donors. But the Wichita-based organization has also been under attack from both fringe anti-abortion militants and abortion rights supporters since the May 31 shooting death of Dr. George Tiller.

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Tiller's killing has also been a public relations nightmare for the group - despite its public condemnation of the slaying - since the name and phone number of the group's senior policy adviser was found in Roeder's car when he was arrested. A television crew zoomed in on the scrawled note inside the car in images that made their way to the Internet.

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The Internal Revenue Service revoked Operation Rescue's tax-exempt status in 2006 for prohibited political activity during the 2004 election. That means donations to the group are no longer deductible on taxes. Newman has said the IRS revocation did not affect donations. Meanwhile, other groups in the abortion fray have not noticed a similar decline in contributions.

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"They have publicly denounced his murder, yet they move their headquarters to Wichita and spend years harassing and trying to put him out of business," Saporta said. "And people involved with Operation Rescue had also been in communication with Scott Roeder so their hands aren't necessarily 100 percent clean in this scenario." Abortion rights supporters contend some of Operation Rescue's activities contribute to the atmosphere that encourage people like Roeder to take the law into their hands.

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Operation Rescue's fundraising letter hinted at a secret project it hoped to launch in the next 30 days that would be a "new phase in the pro-life fight." But while the group's fundraising efforts are often tied to some new anti-abortion activity, its latest letter had an unprecedented tone of desperation.

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Sometimes people and organizations reap what they sow and Operation Rescue has historically taken extreme positions and engaged in over the top actions that have now apparently come back to haunt it. I will not shed a tear if the organization shuts down.