Doctor Sues Operation Rescue Members; Judge’s Order Restricts Group’s Actions

A doctor whose house was picketed by three members of Operation Rescue has filed suit against the national anti-abortion group and the three members, seeking an end to what he called their harassment and intimidation.

Dr. Jack Dym, an obstetrician who performs abortions as part of his practice, is seeking unspecified damages. On Friday, one day after he filed the lawsuit, Dym won a temporary restraining order that is to remain in effect pending another hearing next month.

The order bars those named in the lawsuit from trespassing on Dym’s property and from hindering anyone trying to enter or leave the property. It also prohibits them from encouraging others to do so, and orders all pickets to remain at least 100 feet from three entrances to the property.

Troy Newman, who was named in the lawsuit, said the American Center for Law and Justice in Virginia Beach, Va., the religious rights agency of the Rev. Pat Robertson, has expressed interest in helping Operation Rescue defend itself against the suit.

Other defendants are Sylvia Sullivan, an anti-abortion activist, and Cheryl Sullenger, who received a three-year prison term for conspiring to bomb an abortion clinic five years ago. The bomb did not detonate.

According to the lawsuit, the three were among a group of Operation Rescue members who picketed Dym’s Del Mar home on June 13 and harassed and intimidated Dym’s family, guests and neighbors. Demonstrators shouted “Baby murderer!” and “Repent!” while standing on the doctor’s terrace and a private sidewalk, the lawsuit said.