Operation Rescue Backed by ACLU in Court Case

The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California has filed a legal brief in support of Operation Rescue, the anti-abortion organization that has demonstrated outside abortion clinics, ACLU officials said Thursday.

The ACLU action supports an Operation Rescue appeal of a federal judge’s ruling upholding the use of “pain compliance” techniques by the Los Angeles Police Department. In its brief filed with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the ACLU said pain compliance techniques violate demonstrators’ 4th and 5th Amendment rights.

“We have long been concerned about pain compliance,” said ACLU executive director Ramona Ripston. “We want police departments to treat all people they are arresting in a humane way.” ACLU officials added that their brief does not mean they have dropped their opposition to Operation Rescue’s “obstructive tactics against women seeking services” at abortion clinics.