Anti-Abortion Protester Isn’t Broke After All

Last month, Operation Rescue’s Troy Newman sent out a frantic fund-raising e-mail declaring his anti-abortion group “FLAT BROKE!!!” In all caps, Newman wrote that Operation Rescue was “$22,000 IN THE RED” and needed $43,000 in 10 days or “PLANNED PARENTHOOD COULD WEASEL OUT OF THESE 107 CHARGES.” How Planned Parenthood could “weasel” out of criminal charges brought by the nation’s leading abortion opponent – Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline – wasn’t clear. We called Newman to find out.

How’d you get $22,000 in the red?

By overspending. We’re back in the positive now. I do the projects that are necessary and worry about the details later. We have enough money in our savings account to cover that, and so it isn’t a problem. But we need to replenish our war chest to get back in the fight.

So you had the money in savings?

My accountant called me and told me we were upside down, what should we do? I said take it out of the savings account.