IRS revokes tax-exempt status of anti-abortion group

September 15, 2006

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Internal Revenue Service has revoked the tax exemption of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue West, which two years ago said it wanted to sink Sen. John Kerry's bid for the White House.

While the IRS does not provide information on its reasons for revoking a tax exemption, the group Catholics For a Free Choice filed a complaint against Operation Rescue West in 2004, accusing the anti-abortion group of electioneering.

During the Democratic Party's convention in 2004, Operation Rescue West placed an ad in The Wanderer, a conservative Catholic weekly, that asked readers to offer tax deductible donations to help "defeat (John Kerry) in November and enable President Bush to appoint a pro-life Supreme Court Justice."

Nonprofit organizations, such as Operation Rescue West, which was also known as Youth Ministries Inc., are tax-exempt as long as they do not advocate for the election of particular political candidates.

Frances Kissling, president of Catholics For a Free Choice, said she hopes "the revocation of Operation West's tax-exempt status will sends a clear message to tax-exempt groups that think they are above the law."

Operation Rescue West has reorganized and is now simply Operation Rescue, Cheryl Sullenger, the group's outreach coordinator, told The New York Times.

"Losing our tax exemption doesn't have much of an effect on us, one way or another. We have learned some lessons through this whole thing, and I think we're in a better place now than we were before the IRS investigation," Sullenger said.

-- Daniel Burke