Army Forced to Confirm Pro-Life Organizations are Not Terrorist Groups
On August 5, 2024, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) sent a legal demand letter on behalf of Operation Rescue to Christine E. Wormuth, the Secretary of the Army. The letter demanded a clear, direct acknowledgement and written apology for grossly mislabeling Operation Rescue as a domestic terrorist group in its training sessions – not once, not twice, but approximately 150 times over a seven-year period. The letter also demanded express assurance that such baseless labeling will not recur.
Whistleblower Photo Goes Viral
Operation Rescue’s demand letter came after a whistleblower released a photo on X of a presentation slide falsely identifying Operation Rescue and other pro-life organizations as “TERRORIST GROUPS” at a training at Fort Liberty Army Installation in North Carolina.
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“This type of training that mislabels peaceful pro-life groups is a disgrace to these men and women who fight real terrorists,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “If peaceful pro-life activism is now ‘terrorism,’ what does that say about a society that allows Planned Parenthood to profit from selling the remains of aborted children? The true criminals are those profiting from death, not those defending life.”
Newman was not the only one aghast by the Army’s shocking designation.
Legislator Gets Involved
Amid a media uproar, U.S. Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) sent a letter confronting Wormuth for the Army’s egregious targeting of pro-life groups. Wormuth admitted in her July 16 response that the controversial slide had been used every two to three weeks for at least seven years. The letter included the following statement:
“I want to state unequivocally that non-profit groups such as National Right to Life and PETA, are not terrorist groups and should not be described as such in Army documents or training materials” (emphasis added).
Newman observed the statement was “bizarre since PETA, an animal rights group, was not on the referenced slide at all.” Yet, Operation Rescue, featured most prominently, was “overtly absent.”
Army Concedes after Operation Rescue Threatens Legal Action
The ACLJ’s demand letter, sent on behalf of Operation Rescue, emphasized the Army’s statement had “no reference to [Operation Rescue] and no disclaimer of the description of [Operation Rescue] as a terrorist organization.”
When faced with the threat of legal action, the Army conceded and sent a letter to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel U.S. House of Representatives. The correspondence provided details concerning the investigation into Fort Liberty’s trainings and steps taken to ensure this type of mislabeling would not happen in the future. The letter explicitly stated that Fort Liberty training presented to Soldiers at Fort Liberty on July 10 inaccurately referenced Operation Rescue in a manner inconsistent with the Army’s anti-terrorism policy and training.
Operation Rescue Celebrates Victory, Vows to Keep Fighting
This is a victory, not only for Operation Rescue and other pro-life groups, but also for the American people and First Amendment rights.
“The Army knows it had no right to brand Operation Rescue a terrorist group without a shred of evidence. This win reaffirms that the Army should concentrate on real threats, not smear campaigns.”
Newman added, “Operation Rescue did not and will not back down. No label, no smear, no lie will ever stop us from standing up for the unborn. For 30 years, our only weapons have been faith, truth, and peaceful protest. If speaking for the unborn makes us dangerous, then the real threat lies within those trying to silence us.”
LifeNews Note: Anne Reed writes for Operation Rescue.