May 8, 2018
Operation Rescue is the largest civil disobedience movement in American history. Between 1988 and 1992, more than 50,000 people were arrested for non-violent lockdown abortion clinics, and even warned the civil rights movement. But most people, even most Catholics, don’t know the story. On the rare occasions when it is covered by the media, it has been portrayed with a false laugh as violent and extremist.
Today’s episode is like the oral history of operational rescue, spoken by Bill Cotter, the director of Boston, who spent 19 months in prison for involvement in the protest. I’ve also heard it from Phil Lawler, Catholicculture.org’s own. Phil Lawler provided the public face of Bill while he was in prison or in Boston, and wrote a book about the movement in 1992.
link
Phil Lawler’s book, Rescue Operation: Challenge the Conscience of the Nation
https://www.amazon.com/operation-rescue-challenge-nations-conscience/dp/0879735066
Operation Rescue Boston http://orboston.org/
Operation Rescue National Website http://www.operationrescue.org/
Video of police brutality against rescuers during “Summer of Mercy.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xspto_gq5cu
LA police footage breaks rescuer’s arm with nunchuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6h-8_ve6oc
Timestamp:
Interview with Bill Cotter
3:00 Rescue explanation
6:49 Tactics to delay police from pulling people apart
10:13 Factors that prevented rescue from continuing to block abortion clinics in large numbers since the heyday of the late 80s and early 90s: Court injunction, most people don’t want to go to prison longer than weekends.
12:07 Most of the people involved are not the type of activist, and rescue was not a demonstration. They had specific specific goals: to prevent the baby from being killed that day, at that time, at that place
14:31 According to Phil Lawler’s book Operation Rescuebetween 1988 and 1992, more than 50,000 rescuers were arrested. So why don’t more people know? (Do I need to ask?)
17:00 Lack of support and even hostility from today’s Catholic clergy, heading towards the promotion of life movement
18:19 Police brutality against rescuers in West Hartford, Connecticut
22:22 The bill spent 19 months in prison
27:15 Mixed reactions to or to Boston
29:19 OR; Early times; increasingly attracting attention
34:06 Participated in rescue in the Boston suburbs of the building. Rescue in 1987 when St. JPII visited the United States. Wichita’s Summer of Mercy
37:39 What is it today?
39:54 Is it true that young people are becoming more and more alive?
42:05Learning about operational rescue is a challenge to our self-satisfaction and desensitization of the continued tolerance of abortion. Why should I not be in prison now?
47:51 The importance of prayer
49:28How people learn and engage more
50:31 Current signs of hope for the pro-life movement. Apocalyptic hope
Phil Lawler’s interview
55:12 How Fill was involved in Operation Rescue
56:35 His first impression or person
57:52 Phil was the public face of Bill Cotter while he was in prison or Boston.
58:47Arrested
59:55 Phil and media interaction on behalf of media or personal experiences of media bias
1:02:00How the Archdiocese of Boston was treated
1:04:07The media and others have routinely been criticized or accused of violence. Ted Kennedy gave a speech or “Participation of Fire and Murder Policy” (!!!)
1:04:59 Optimism of the Pro-life Movement at the moment
1:07:52Judges with severe penalties imposed on protesters
1:10:24 Why do Catholics know so many, why so few?
1:11:02 Could the rescuer get caught up in these long prison sentences and not stop everything? Phil gives his own personal answer
1:13:27 Joan Andrews, Dorothy’s Day in the Modern Pro-Life Movement. Red Rose Rescue Today
1:15:20 Excerpt from this week: Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas EST
