Key Leaders

Operation Rescue (OR), also known as Youth Ministries, Inc., is currently lead by Troy Newman. Newman took the helm of this organization in 1998 and moved it from San Diego, CA to Wichita, KS. Newman has continued OR's long tradition of harrassing staff and patients at clinics and was arrested after refusing to sign a ticket for littering during these activities. Newman also has authored a book called "Their Blood Cries Out" and is known for condemning religious leaders who do not take more extreme actions in fighting the legality of abortion. At the Supreme Court's upholding of the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban," Newman has said the following: "[Now] we can do more than just put hurdles in front of women seeking abortions -- we can put roadblocks in front of them."

Operation Rescue has had many leaders since its beginnning in 1986. The original organization was founded by anti-choice activist and sometime country singer Randall Terry. Terry became known for accosting women and staff outside of clinics and displaying large images of purportedly aborted fetuses. These efforts started in Binghamton, NY, where Terry and his followers were eventually ordered by a federal judge to stop blocking women from entering clinics. In the late 1980s Terry had the support of big name evangelicals like Jerry Falwell, who supported his protests at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Anti-choicers distanced themselves from Terry when his personal life, most notably his divorce from his first wife and subsequent remarriage to a younger woman, became subject to criticism in the late 1990s. Terry recently re-emerged as a spokesperson for the parents of Terry Schiavo. See this article on Planned Parenthood's website for more information on Terry.

Another leader for Operation Rescue, and the current leader of Operation Save America, is Flip Benham. In 1998 Benham expanded the focus of Operation Rescue to denounce Islam, homosexuality and child pornography. It was at this time that Newman made his affiliate organization a separate entity with a focus solely on the elimination of abortion rights.