Operation Rescue

Years ago, Randall Terry and Troy Newman were brothers in arms in the struggle against legal abortion. "Troy was my son in the movement," said Terry, 50, a onetime used-car salesman from upstate New York who founded Operation Rescue in 1986. Terry rose to fame leading clinic blockades until lawsuits, jail terms and finally a stunning 1998 legal settlement forced him to abandon his militant tactics, and he faded from the forefront of the struggle. Newman, meanwhile, was an up-and-coming activist in San Diego and a spokesman for Operation Rescue there.

Operation Rescue: An article in Wednesday's Section A about a trademark battle over the name Operation Rescue attributed to Randall Terry a statement that the group is a C corporation in Kansas, meaning it must audit its books like a nonprofit and with the same accountability. The statement was made by Troy Newman.

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

The Supreme Court ended a 20-year-old lawsuit against militant antiabortion groups Tuesday, ruling unanimously that their use of "physical violence" outside clinics did not violate anti-racketeering laws. The decision marked the third time this case had been decided by the high court and, this time, the justices made sure it would be the last. The impact of the ruling will be limited, however, because a federal law enacted in 1994 makes it illegal to block entrances to an abortion clinic.

The Supreme Court, taking up an appeal from militant antiabortion activists, said Monday it will decide whether medical clinics can use the federal racketeering law against protesters who conspire to shut down businesses that perform abortions. The case, to be heard in the fall, does not concern the right to demonstrate peacefully. The justices turned away Operation Rescue's claim that its clinic invasions were protected as free speech under the 1st Amendment.

The antiabortion group Operation Rescue will demonstrate in front of high schools throughout the nation next week, including some in Orange and Los Angeles counties, organization leaders said Wednesday. While they would not disclose when or where the demonstrations would occur, a local antiabortion activist said Laguna Beach High School will be among those targeted.

Antiabortion protesters carrying large colored pictures of supposed aborted fetuses demonstrated outside Laguna Beach High School on Tuesday but were largely ignored by students, most of whom shrugged past the protesters, rejecting their literature. The 7 a.m. demonstration, held as students were arriving for morning classes, marked the first time the Dallas-based antiabortion group Operation Rescue has targeted an Orange County school.

The director of a national antiabortion group was convicted of trespassing and sentenced to six months in jail for organizing a religious demonstration at a public high school. Flip Benham of Operation Rescue National said he was "flabbergasted" at the outcome. The Dallas-based Benham said he has conducted demonstrations at nearly 2,000 schools nationwide without facing criminal charges before. More than 150 students from Liberty University in Lynchburg demonstrated on Nov. 10 outside E. C.

Operation Rescue, a confrontational anti-abortion, anti-gay group, will protest inside Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom during an annual gay celebration at the Florida theme park in June, the group's leader said Wednesday. "We'll probably just let Orlando be a living parable of the battle we're fighting," the Rev. Philip "Flip" Benham said, accusing the Walt Disney Co. of promoting homosexuality. The Gay Days revelry, which is not organized by Disney, has taken place since 1991.