Randall Allen Terry (born April 25, 1959) is an American politician, activist and author. Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue. Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading the entrances to abortion clinics; Terry led the group until 1991. He has been arrested more than 40 times,"Randall Terry, Operation Rescue founder, moving to St. Augustine?" December 5, 2002. St.Augustine Record including for violating a no-trespass order from the University of Notre Dame to protest against a visit by President Barack Obama.Sly, Randy. Randall Terry Arrested at Notre Dame . May 1, 2009, Catholic Online (news).
In 2003, Terry founded the Society for Truth and Justice and conducted a program he called Operation Witness. In 1998, he ran for Congress in Upstate New York, and in 2006, he ran for a seat in the Florida Senate. Both times, he lost in the Republican primary.
Terry ran in the 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries. He was the Constitution Party nominee for president of the United States in the 2024 presidential election, and his running mate was Stephen Broden.
Career as an activist In 1986, Terry was arrested for the first time for chaining himself to a sink at an abortion clinic. Terry was frequently in the news because of his activities as the leader of Operation Rescue.
Terry was named as a co-defendant in the 1994 Supreme Court case, NOW v. Scheidler, a class-action suit to compel anti-abortion leaders to compensate clinics for loss of business. Terry settled out of court with the National Organization for Women. Rather than pay the settlement, Terry promptly filed for bankruptcy, prompting Senator Charles Schumer to propose an amendment to a bankruptcy bill in Congress which would "specifically ... prevent abortion opponents from using the bankruptcy code to avoid paying court fines." The amendment was not included in the final bill. In 1998, NOW obtained more than 25,000 "frequent flyer miles" which were held by Terry in order to help satisfy a legal judgment.
In 1990, Terry helped to organize protests outside the hospital where Nancy Cruzan was a patient, around the time when her feeding tube was removed. The group Missouri Citizens for Life was also involved in the protests, along with the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, a former Operation Rescue staffer. He was also involved in protests which were related to the Terri Schiavo case. In 1994, Terry was a named defendant in Madsen v. Women's Health Center Inc. which ultimately made it all the way to the US Supreme Court. The Justices sided with Aware Woman Clinic and upheld a Buffer Zone.
On March 20, 2009, the White House announced that President Barack Obama was going to speak at the May 17 Commencement of the University of Notre Dame. Terry declared that Notre Dame, which is one of the foremost Catholic universities in the nation, should not have allowed Obama to speak. Terry objected to Obama's speech because Obama supports abortion rights. In an article which was published in the university's newspaper, The Observer, Terry was quoted as stating that he planned to turn the commencement into "a circus." On the Notre Dame campus on May 1, 2009, Terry was arrested for violating a no-trespassing order. He posted a bond of $250 at the St. Joseph County Jail, was released that same day, and was assigned a court date later that month., 2009. Available only via paid archive at South Bend Tribune of Indiana. Excerpt available here accessed May 29, 2009. In a statement which he released to a Christian news service, Terry claimed that Notre Dame's invitation to Obama was a betrayal of Catholic teaching, comparing it to Judas' betrayal of Jesus Christ.Arrested at Notre Dame; Statement by Randall A. Terry . May 5, 2009. Christian Newswire story in Catholic Online (news).
When Kansas obstetrician George Tiller was murdered while he was serving as an usher in his Wichita church on the morning of May 31, 2009, Terry immediately issued a statement in which he denounced Tiller."Dr. Tiller's Death: Randall Terry Releases Video for Pro-life Leaders Concerning Dr. Tiller's Killing", Christian Newswire, May 31, 2009, Retrieved June 8, 2009Barnes, Robert. Abortion Provider Shot Dead In Church, June 1, 2009. Washington Post. On the same day, June 1, Terry released a video in which he called president Barack Obama and pro-choice politicians "child killers", and he also stated that Tiller was a "mass murderer" who "reaped what he sowed." He voiced regret that Tiller was not able to "get things right with his maker" and he also stated that it was unfortunate that Tiller did not get a "trial of a jury of his peers and to have a proper execution."Randall Terry Video Statement on Tiller Murder , June 1, 2009. Crooks and Liars. Accessed June 4, 2009. Terry's comments provoked a backlash, and Operation Rescue released a statement disavowing any connection to Terry, specifically criticizing his statement that Tiller's murder had "the potential to propel us more quickly to our goal." In an editorial, the Albany Times-Union accused Terry of undermining the credibility of the "generally peaceful" anti-abortion movement."Murder, in the name of life", Albany Times Union, June 4, 2009
In 2013, Terry appeared on an episode of MTV's True Life and during his appearance on the show, he advocated the criminalization of all forms of birth control. During the course of the episode he stated, "Do we want to make the pill illegal? Yes. Do we want to make the IUD illegal? Yes. The morning after pill? Yes. The patch? Yes. Anything that's a human pesticide, they all have to be made illegal. A woman has to go to jail if she kills her baby."
Terry produces and hosts a television program titled Randall Terry: The Voice of Resistance, which airs on The Walk TV and can be seen on his website "Voice of Resistance".
Political campaigns
1998 congressional campaign In 1998, Terry ran for the United States House of Representatives in Upstate New York. Terry competed with radio station owner William "Bud" Walker for the Republican nomination to face Democratic incumbent Maurice Hinchey. Terry received the endorsement of Focus on the Family head James Dobson; however, national and state Republicans were not supportive of Terry's candidacy.Corn, David. Riding with an Abortion Foe Who Once Targeted Tiller . June 2, 2009. CQ Politics. Terry was defeated by Walker 53% to 35%, but he was the Right to Life Party's nominee in the general election.Randall Terry Defeated – Cost $100 per Vote. September 17, 1998, at PublicEye.Org. Terry came in third place, winning 7% of the vote, with Hinchey and Walker winning 62% and 31% respectively.New York House Races (1998) . September 15, 1998, National Journal. In 2000, Terry and his son Jamiel promoted the candidacy of Steve Forbes in the Republican presidential primary.
2006 state senate campaign In June 2005, Terry announced plans to run in the primary against Florida Republican state senator James E. King, citing King's attempt to block legislation which would have kept Terri Schiavo alive. In August 2006, in an attempt to undermine King's support in a Republican primary the next month, Terry publicized an endorsement of King by "Bill Clinton" — actually, robo-calls by a professional impersonator of former president Bill Clinton. The two "Clinton" scripts each contained a disclaimer. One was, "Hello friend, Bill Clinton here – not really!" The other was "This is a celebrity impersonation." Terry used the scripts and the impersonator in 43,000 calls. The "no amnesty" line was a reference to immigration reform proposals which were an issue in many campaigns in 2006. On September 5, 2006, Terry was defeated in the primary, with King receiving over two-thirds of the votes which were cast.
2012 presidential candidacy
In January 2011, Terry announced his intention to challenge President Barack Obama in the Democratic Party primaries for the presidential election of 2012.Dwyer, Devin (January 18, 2011) "Activist Vows Graphic Anti-Abortion Ads During Super Bowl", ABC News. Retrieved January 18, 2011. His campaign strategy was based upon a commercial during Super Bowl XLVI featuring graphic photographs of aborted fetuses; historically, the networks have refused all political and issue-related advertising during the Super Bowl, citing equal-time rules, and the advertisement did not air.Teinowitz, Ira. Fox Won't Sell Super Bowl Ads to Candidates . TV Week. January 24, 2008.
The attempt to air the ads led to legal action and a statement by the Democratic National Committee that Terry was not a legitimate candidate, and thus should be forbidden privileges given others running.
In December 2011, he became the physical target of candidate Vermin Supreme, who sprinkled glitter over his head during a debate, claiming he was "turning Randall Terry gay."
Terry received 18% of the vote in the 2012 Democratic Oklahoma presidential primary. He also won 12 counties in the state, including the entire panhandle, and was awarded two delegates in the Democratic primary. Kansas TV station KDGL-LD channel 23, is an Independent TV station serving Southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. It and its sister stations carry Randall's Walk TV program, broadcasting the length of the Panhandle. It was the only primary in which Terry won any counties or delegates. He had also appeared on the ballots in Alaska, Missouri, and New Hampshire. He received 22,858 votes or 0.3% in the Democratic primary.
Campaign finances Detailed below are the FEC-filed finances of Randall Terry for President Campaign Committee as of September 5, 2014
+ ReceiptsFinancial SourceAmount (USD)Itemized Individual Contributions10,012Unitemized Individual Contributions13,006Total Contributions23,018Offsets to Operating Expenditures5,025Total Offsets5,025Total Receipts28,043
+ DisbursementsDisbursementsAmount (USD)Operating Expenditures30,274Exempt Legal and Accounting5,500Total Disbursements35,774
+ Cash SummaryCategoryAmount (USD)Beginning Cash On Hand7,731Current Cash On Hand2,802Net Contributions401,939Net Operating Expenditures379,678
2012 congressional candidacy Although he lives in West Virginia, Terry paid his filing fee and ran as an independent candidate for Congress in Florida's 20th District. Incumbent Democrat Alcee Hastings won that election with 88% of the vote on November 6, 2012.
2024 presidential candidacy On March 29, 2024, Terry declared his candidacy in the 2024 United States presidential election.
He was nominated by the Constitution Party for president on April 27, 2024. He said he would not accept the nomination if Stephen Broden was not nominated for vice president. He was nominated by the Constitution Party of Oregon on May 28, 2024. Some state parties such as Nevada and Utah rejected Terry's nomination and instead nominated convention opponent Joel Skousen.
In August 2024, The New York Times reported that some Democratic Party donors and operatives were assisting Terry's ballot access efforts and seeking to promote his campaign among pro-life voters, in order to help Democratic nominee Kamala Harris by taking votes from Donald Trump.
Terry's campaign paid for ads that aired on ABC in October, during commercial breaks for ABC World News Tonight, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The View. They drew media attention for containing graphic photos of aborted fetuses, and narration which compared celebrities who supported abortion rights to Nazis. Because Terry met the Federal Communications Commission's definition of a "legally qualified candidate", ABC was required to air the advertisements without any edits, though due to their controversial content, the network ran disclaimers noting its legal duty to broadcast them and warning viewers of the imagery within.
Personal life