Randall Terry

Randall Allen Terry (born 1959) is an American activist and perennial candidate.

Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue.

In 1986, Terry was arrested for the first time for chaining himself to a sink at an abortion clinic.

Terry was frequently in the news because of his activities as the leader of Operation Rescue.

Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading the entrances to abortion clinics; Terry led the group until 1991.

He has been arrested more than 40 times, including for violating a no-trespass order from the University of Notre Dame in order to protest against a visit by President Barack Obama.

In 1990, Terry helped to organize protests outside the hospital where Nancy Cruzan was a patient, around the time when her feeding tube was removed.

The group Missouri Citizens for Life was also involved in the protests, along with the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, a former Operation Rescue staffer.

He was also involved in protests which were related to the Terri Schiavo case.

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.

Rather than pay the settlement, Terry promptly filed for 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 avoid paying court fines."

The amendment was not included in the final bill.

In 1994, Terry was a named defendant in Madsen v. Women's Health Center Inc. which ultimately made it all the way to the US Supreme Court.

The Justices sided with Aware Woman Clinic and upheld a Buffer Zone.

In 1998, he ran for Congress in Upstate New York, and in 2006, he ran for a seat in the Florida State Senate, both times, he lost in the Republican primary.

In 1998, NOW obtained more than 25,000 "frequent flyer miles" which were held by Terry in order to help satisfy a legal judgment.

In 1998, Randall Terry ran for the United States House of Representatives in Upstate New York.

Terry competed with radio station owner William "Bud" Walker for the Republican nomination to face Democratic incumbent Maurice Hinchey.

Terry received the endorsement of Focus on the Family head James Dobson; however, national and state Republicans were not supportive of Terry's candidacy.

Terry was defeated by Walker 53% to 35%, but he was the Right to Life Party's nominee in the general election.

Terry came in third place, winning 7% of the vote, with Hinchey and Walker winning 62% and 31% respectively.

In 2000, Terry and his son Jamiel promoted the candidacy of Steven Forbes in the Republican presidential primary.

In 2003, Terry founded the Society for Truth and Justice and conducted a program which he called Operation Witness.

In June 2005, Terry announced plans to run in the primary against Florida Republican state senator James E. King, citing King's attempt to block legislation which would have kept Terri Schiavo alive.

In August 2006, in an attempt to undermine King's support in a Republican primary the next month, Terry publicized an endorsement of King by "Bill Clinton" — actually, robo-calls by a professional impersonator of former president Bill Clinton.

The two "Clinton" scripts each contained a disclaimer.

One was, "Hello friend, Bill Clinton here – not really!"

The other was "This is a celebrity impersonation."

Terry used the scripts and the impersonator in 43,000 calls.

The "no amnesty" line was a reference to immigration reform proposals which were an issue in many campaigns in 2006.

On September 5, 2006, Terry was defeated in the primary, with King receiving over two-thirds of the votes which were cast.

On March 20, 2009, the White House announced that President Barack Obama was going to speak at the May 17 Commencement of the University of Notre Dame.

Terry declared that Notre Dame, which is one of the foremost Catholic universities in the nation, should not have allowed Obama to speak.

Terry objected to Obama's speech because Obama supports abortion rights.

In an article which was published in the university's newspaper, The Observer, Terry was quoted as stating that he planned to turn the commencement into "a circus."

On the Notre Dame campus on May 1, 2009, Terry was arrested for violating a no-trespassing order.

He posted a bond of $250 at the St. Joseph County Jail, was released that same day, and was assigned a court date later that month.

In a statement which he released to a Christian news service, Terry claimed that Notre Dame's invitation to Obama was a betrayal of Catholic teaching, comparing it to Judas' betrayal of Jesus Christ.

When Kansas obstetrician George Tiller was murdered while he was serving as an usher in his Wichita church on the morning of May 31, 2009, Terry immediately issued a statement in which he denounced Tiller.