IRS Revokes Tax Status Of Far-Right Anti-Abortion Group

The Internal Revenue Service in September revoked the tax-exempt status of Operation Rescue West, an anti-abortion group that two years ago announced it would work to block the election of U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to the presidency.

The 1RS does not provide explanations for actions like this, but Catholics for a Free Choice (CFC), a foe of Operation Rescue West, complained about the organization to federal tax authorities in 2004. At that time, CFC accused the anti-abortion group of blatant electioneering.

Religion News Service reported that during the Democratic Party's convention in 2004, Operation Rescue West placed a full-page ad in The Wanderer, a conservative Catholic newspaper, soliciting donations to "defeat [Kerry] in November and enable President Bush to appoint a pro-life Supreme Court Justice."

A spokeswoman for Operation Rescue West said the group would continue its activities.

"Losing our tax exemption doesn't have much of an effect on us one way or the other," Cheryl Sullenger said. "We have learned some lessons through this whole thing, and I think we're in a better place now than we were before the 1RS investigation."

Catholics for a Free Choice has also asked the 1RS to look into the activities of Catholic Answers, a group CFC says published biased voter guides in 2004. It has also accused the group Priests for Life of improper politicking and recently released a report titled "Faithless Politics" outlining the group's pattern of partisan intervention.

In other news about religion and politics:

* An Episcopal congregation in California that is being investigated by the 1RS for possible political intervention in 2004 has announced it will resist the inquiry.

All Saints Church in Pasadena is being investigated because a guest minister gave a sermon the Sunday before the 2004 election that was sharply critical of President George W. Bush. The 1RS has asked the church to provide various documents related to the homily.

Church officials say they will not comply.

"We came to this decision because we believe that these summonses intolerably infringe upon our constitutional rights," church official Robert A. Long said in a statement.

* The Christian Science Monitor says church-based politicking is a bad idea. The newspaper editorialized against the practice Oct. 5, observing, "[T]he chief danger is to religion itself. Ultimately, people join churches for spiritual nurturing, progress, and fellowship. That purpose peters out when a church acts too much like a political party. A minister's highest calling has to be helping congregants to a better understanding of God, and giving them spiritual tools to deal with their life and their world. That's very different from telling them how to use these tools in political campaigns."

* U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has introduced legislation that would allow houses of worship to intervene in political campaigns. The bill, dubbed "The Religious Freedom Act of 2006" (S. 3957), would revise the prohibition against church-based politicking.

Inhofe's bill is modeled on a measure pushed by U.S. Rep. Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.) in the House. Inhofe's action is likely to keep the issue alive through the 2008 elections.

Copyright Americans United for Separation of Church and State Nov 2006
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