“A Historic Vindication for the Innocent and Those Who Rescued Them”

Wichita, KS — Operation Rescue celebrates a long-overdue milestone as House Republicans recently advanced legislation to repeal the 1994 FACE Act signed by President Bill Clinton — a law that has been weaponized against peaceful pro-life citizens for decades.

Troy Newman, who participated in dozens of rescues before the FACE Act effectively squelched the early rescue movement, offers this statement:

As President of Operation Rescue, I speak not from theory, but experience. I was convicted under the FACE Act for peacefully defending life. And like tens of thousands of others, I was willing to be arrested—not for protest, but for rescuing babies sentenced to die.

In 1991, Operation Rescue helped launch the Summer of Mercy in Wichita, Kansas—a movement that mobilized tens of thousands of faithful Christians in non-violent civil disobedience. That summer, alone, saw over 2,600 arrests, and it ignited a national conscience.

Across the country, our movement led to more than 75,000 arrests—all peaceful. All prayerful. All on behalf of babies scheduled to die.

This repeal is not about free speech. It is about the recognition of unborn children as human beings, and the vindication of those who risked everything to save them.

We didn’t block doors—we stood in the gap between death and life. 

The FACE Act was never about safety. It was a legal bludgeon to protect abortion profits, criminalize compassion, and bury the truth. 

To the children we tried to save: Your lives mattered. And this nation is finally starting, albeit slowly, to restore human rights and dignity to the children created in God’s image.

To the 75,000 rescuers: You were right. You were brave. You were ahead of your time. And this is your vindication.

We won’t stop until every abortion clinic is closed, and every baby is welcomed in love and law.

Troy Newman has served as President of Operation Rescue since 1999. A longtime advocate for innocent children in the womb, Newman was convicted under the FACE Act and currently faces an $18 million judgment from Planned Parenthood for exposing the abortion industry’s trafficking in baby body parts.