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Randall Terry

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Randall Terry
Born
Randall A Terry

1959
Occupation(s)Pro-life activist, author, musician
Known forFounding Operation Rescue
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Cindy Dean (div. 2001)
Andrea Sue Kollmorgen
ChildrenEbony Whetstone
Jamiel Terry (adopted)
Tila Terry (adopted)
Faith Terry

Randall A. Terry is an American political and conservative religious activist and musician. He founded the pro-life organization Operation Rescue in 1987 and led the group for its first 10 years. He has been arrested over 40 times for his anti-abortion activities. In 2003, he founded the Society for Truth and Justice and he conducted a program called Operation Witness. Terry was the spokesman for the Schindler family in the Terri Schiavo case. He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the Florida State Senate, eighth district in 2006.

Pro-life activist

Shortly after founding Operation Rescue, Terry was first arrested in 1986 for chaining himself to a sink at an abortion clinic. Operation Rescue grew to become a well-known example of civil disobedience by the American conservative right, and Terry was often in the news because of his activities as the group's leader. By the mid-1990s, Operation Rescue was, in Terry's words, "the largest peaceful civil disobedience movement in American history,"[citation needed] accounting "for over 70,000 arrests from 1987 to 1994." [citation needed]

In 1990, Terry helped to organize protests outside the hospital where Nancy Cruzan was a patient, around the time that her feeding tube was removed. The group Missouri Citizens for Life also was involved in the protests, along with the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, and Terry's actual level of involvement is unclear.

In 1992, Terry, along with Robert Schenck and Harley David Belew, were arrested and sentenced to five months in prison for arranging to have a fetus in a jar delivered to then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.

Lawsuit, Now v. Scheidler

Terry was named as a co-defendant in the 1994 Supreme Court case, NOW v. Scheidler, a class action suit to compel anti-abortion leaders to compensate clinics for loss of business. Terry settled out of court with the National Organization for Women. He promptly filed bankruptcy, prompting Senator Charles Schumer to propose an amendment to a bankruptcy bill in Congress which would "specifically ... prevent abortion opponents from using the bankruptcy code to escape paying court fines." The amendment was not included in the final bill.

On February 28, 2006, the Supreme Court voted 8-0 for Scheidler, against NOW. [1]

Controversy in his personal affairs

In 2000, Terry divorced his wife of 19 years and married Andrea Kollmorgen, with whom he has had three children.

Flip Benham, the new head of Operation Rescue, reluctantly chastised Terry publicly. "Sadly, there is much more that could be mentioned, but this is sufficient to demonstrate that even if Randall's past efforts for the cause of Christ were considered, he has completely disqualified himself from any leadership position in the Christian community through his unwillingness to be held accountable for his adultery, theft, lies, deceptions, misrepresentations, perjury, failing to provide for his first wife and children, and evasion of church discipline.". [2] Included in the letter from OR is a note of censure from the Landmark Church of Binghamton, New York, Terry's church of fifteen years. He was censured for a number of reasons including a "pattern of repeated and sinful relationships and conversations with both single and married women."

Both of Terry's adopted daughters became pregnant outside of marriage; one later converted to Islam. [3]

In 2004, Terry's son Jamiel, adopted at age eight, came out as a homosexual and wrote an article for Out Magazine[4].

In 2005, Terry joined the Catholic Church [5]

Political involvement

In 1998, Terry ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in New York as a member of the New York State Right to Life Party.

After the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which struck down a Texas law against sodomy, Terry advocated for the impeachment of the six justices who voted to strike down the state law. [citation needed]

In June 2005, Terry announced plans to run in the primary against Florida Republican state senator James E. King[6], citing King's work in attempting to block legislation which would have kept Schiavo alive. On September 5 2006, Terry was defeated in the primary, with King receiving over 2/3 of the votes cast.

Terry announced plans to run for the state legislature in 2008.

Terri Schiavo case

In 2003, Terry became the spokesman for Terri Schiavo's parents and was in the news as "Terri's Law" was passed in Florida. He continued as the Schindler's spokesman as the struggle rose to the level of national crisis and Schiavo's death in March 2005. Terry earned $10,000 for two months as their spokesman. [7]

James Jewel, Chuck Colson's former chief-of-staff, wrote in his blog [citation needed]:

I find the Schindlers to be wonderfully sincere and incredibly sympathetic characters, but they made a terrible decision naming Randall Terry as their spokesperson. He has been a disaster for the pro-life movement throughout the years, and is the wrong voice for this case and any other when we need measured reason and effective discourse.

Bibliography

  • Accessory To Murder: The Enemies, Allies, And Accomplices To The Death of Our Culture (1990) ISBN 0-943497-78-7
  • Why Does A Nice Guy Like Me... ...Keep Getting Thrown In Jail?: How theological escapism and cultural retreatism in the Church have lead to America's demise. (1993) ISBN 1-56384-052-9
  • The Sword: The Blessing Of Righteous Government And The Overthrow Of Tyrants (1995) ISBN 1-887690-00-X

Discography

Wikiquote has quotations related to Randall Terry.

Older articles

Sites mentioning NOW settlement

Supreme Court rulings in RICO case

2003 (Terri's Law)

2004 (Jamiel comes out)

2005

March (Schiavo crisis and death)

April

Current

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