Little more than a year ago, most Americans had never heard of Operation Rescue. Today, of course, “Op-R” commands headlines nationwide, in large part because of the surprisingly brutal methods often used by police to suppress this new “civil-rights” movement. But it would be incorrect to say that the media have provided generous coverage: its pro-abortion bias has perhaps never been more obvious than in the highly selective reporting of the rescue movement; large demonstrations that dominate the front pages of local newspapers often get no attention whatever from the national media. Absent the “police brutality” factor, Op-R would have failed to advance toward the goal it unashamedly pursues—notoriety sufficient to challenge the conscience of the nation. Strange to say, the deliberate blackout has included so-called “pro-life” publications as well. Or perhaps it is not so strange? Operation Rescue has undoubtedly snatched the spotlight away from the anti-abortion Establishment: “official” organizations that parallel the permanent organs (e.g., Planned Parenthood) of the opposition. It has been the small-circulation “religious press”—both Catholic and Protestant—which has regularly reported on the burgeoning rescue movement, providing support that has both sustained Op-R’s growth and (surely?) embarrassed the Major Media: it must be an uncomfortable feeling to have your unprofessional prejudices exposed on a weekly basis. This journal has not failed to report the story. In our Spring 1988 issue, we published Mary Meehan’s “Joan Andrews and Friends,” which must surely have been the first in-depth recounting of Op-R’s origins, and the reasons why “St. Joan” became the patron saint of the rescuers. Then, Op-R was just about to launch the New York City demonstrations that first gained national headlines. Tina Bell provided an eye-witness account of that premier outing in our Summer 1988 issue. In our lead article, Miss Meehan returns with a timely update, having been “On the Road” with Op-R over the past year. Always the meticulous reporter, Mary gives you plenty of the who-what-whywhen-where the media ignores, but she also provides the inside story of what it all means, not only to the rescuers themselves, but also to the badly-shaken abortionists pinned down by Op-R’s continuous barrage which, she predicts, will grow in intensity, with no end in sight.

—J.P. McFadden, Introduction, Summer 1989 Human Life Review.