- Operation Save America
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See also: History of Operation Rescue and Operation Rescue (Kansas)
Operation Save America members protest in front of an abortion clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, during their 2006 National Event in that city.
Operation Save America (formerly Operation Rescue National) is an organization based in Dallas, Texas, that opposes human induced abortion and its legality. In 1994, Flip Benham became the director of the organization, then called Operation Rescue National. Benham replaced Keith Tucci, who had replaced Randall Terry.[1] All of these individuals have been convicted of crimes while practicing civil disobedience.[2]
Contents
Name dispute
In the late 1990s, Benham abandoned the name of Operation Rescue, and changed the name of his organization to Operation Save America. Once Newman's organization (the former Operation Rescue West or California Operation Rescue) began to grow in prominence and use the name Operation Rescue, Benham also began using the name Operation Rescue. After a feud with Newman, and after Benham was named in a lawsuit from the United States Department of Justice, Benham officially changed the name of Operation Rescue National to Operation Save America.[1] Meanwhile, Benham broadened the scope of Operation Save America to include criticism of homosexuality, pornography, and Islam, and formed alliances with Christian conservative groups and the Constitution Party.[3]
Activities
Operation Save America conducts mass protests at abortion clinics to promote pro-life cause. Operation Save America has mobilized its members for other causes common to the Christian right, for example, opposition to Gay-Straight Alliances in public schools. At South Rowan High School, near Charlotte, North Carolina, when a Gay-Straight Alliance was forming at that school, Operation Save America arranged to have some 700 people to show up at the school board meeting and get the board to ban the club from the school.[4]
They have also been involved in burning the Islamic holy text, the Qur'an, despite the opposition of most of the Muslim community to the practice of abortion. Their actions have been described as "an affront to Islam, all people of faith, and to our society as a whole... not Christian [and] not American" by the Mississippi Religious Leadership Conference.[5]
In August 2006, after Wal-Mart publicly announced its corporate partnership with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), Operation Save America began a nationwide campaign to protest the alliance. Headlining the campaign was the slogan, "Corporate America is Being BLACKMAILED by the Radical Homosexual Agenda".[6] Wal-Mart did not renew their membership with the NGLCC the following year.
On July 12, 2007, three members of the organization (Ante and Kathy Pavkovic, and their daughter Christan Sugar) tried to shout down a Hindu clergyman as he offered the traditional morning prayer on the US Senate floor. [7] The protest was denounced by Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.[8]
Operation Save America says it is dedicated to non-violence[9] and asks those that participate sign a disclosure of non-violence.
References
- ^ a b Operation Rescue, Montana Human Rights Network.
- ^ For one of Keith Tucci's convictions: "Anti-Abortion Leader Will Surrender," Sarasota Herald Tribune, Thursday, July 15, 1993, 3B; For one of Flip Benham's convictions: "Leader Convicted for Religious Demonstration at School," Reading Eagle/Reading Times, Wednesday, February 18, 1998, C14; For one of Randall Terry's convictions: "Court Upholds Terry's Sentence," The Gadsden Times, Sunday, February 27, 1994, A2
- ^ Standing By His Conviction, Washington Post Mar 18, 1998
- ^ Valle, Kirsten (11 April 2006). "School Board bans SRHS's Gay/Straight Alliance". Salisbury Post. http://archive.salisburypost.com/archive_detail.php?archiveFile=2006/April/11/Area/46586.xml&archive_pubname=Salisbury+Post%0A%09%09%09. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ^ Anti-abortionists' burning of Quran called 'hateful' - The Clarion-Ledger, July 20, 2006
- ^ Christian Groups Protest Wal-Mart Support for Homosexuality, Abortifacient Birth Control
- ^ Protesters disrupt historic reading of Senate prayer by Hindu - The Guardian, July 13, 2007
- ^ Christian protesters disrupt first Senate prayer by a Hindu, Boston Herald
- ^ Operation Save America, Why We Don't Shoot Abortionists
Sources
- Operation Rescue: A Challenge to the Nation's Conscience by Philip F. Lawler (1992) ISBN 0-87973-506-6
- Live From the Gates of Hell: An Insider's Look at the Antiabortion Underground by Jerry Reiter (2000) ISBN 1-57392-840-2
- "METRO DATELINES; Anti-Abortion Group Will Close Its Offices", The New York Times, December 17, 1990
- Jim Risen & Judy L. Thomas, Wrath of Angels: The American Abortion War (1998)
- New York Times Sept 15, 2006 "Anti-Abortion Group Loses Tax Exemption" by Stephanie Strom
- CourtTV
- Clinics Prepare for Operation Rescue 1993
- Man's views change radically 2001 Jerry Reiter interview
External links
Categories:- 1986 establishments in the United States
- Organizations established in 1986
- Christian political organizations
- Concord, North Carolina
- American pro-life organizations
- Christian fundamentalism
- Organizations based in Dallas, Texas
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