Racketeering Law May Be First Test of Administration Abortion Stance

The Supreme Court on Tuesday gave the new Administration its first chance to get involved in the abortion controversy, as it asked the Justice Department to voice its view on whether Operation Rescue activists can be forced to pay damages under a federal anti-racketeering law.

Last week, the court on a 6-3 vote stripped abortion clinic operators of the key weapon they had used against Operation Rescue, the Ku Klux Klan Act that outlaws conspiracies to deprive individuals of their legal rights.

Now, the new Administration’s lawyers will be asked to determine whether the 1970 anti-racketeering statute--Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations, or RICO law--can be used against activists who try to shut down abortion clinics.

Under RICO, legitimate businesses can seek money damages against an “enterprise” that uses “extortion” or “fraud” against it.

Four years ago, the National Organization for Women filed a RICO suit against Operation Rescue and other militant anti-abortion leaders, alleging that these activists had undertaken a national campaign of bombings, blockades and attacks on abortion clinics with the intention of forcing them to close.

But last year, a U.S. appeals court in Chicago dismissed the suit and ruled that a RICO suit requires an “economic motive” by the perpetrators. Because the anti-abortion activists acted for political and moral reasons, they cannot be sued under the RICO law, the appeals court said.

In November, NOW’s lawyers asked the Supreme Court to review this judgment. The court did not set a deadline for the new Administration to file its brief in the case (NOW vs. Schiedler, 92-780).