Troy Edward Newman-Mariotti, known as Troy Newman (born 1966), is an American
anti-abortion activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
. He is the president of
Operation Rescue, which is based in
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...
, and sits on the board of the
Center for Medical Progress.
Newman became involved in the anti-abortion movement in the early 1990s, and in 1999 became president of Operation Rescue West which was based in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
, but moved to Kansas in 2002 because the group wanted to focus on its campaign against abortion doctor
George Tiller
George Richard Tiller (August 8, 1941 – May 31, 2009) was an American physician from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide ...
's clinic, one of the few in the nation to do abortions after fetal viability.
In 2015, Newman attracted international attention for his illegal entry to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
for an anti-abortion speaking tour and subsequent deportation.
Early life and education
Born in
Anchorage,
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, Newman was adopted at birth to a family in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
[Who We Are: Troy Newman, President](_blank)
– Operation Rescue. Retrieved October 4, 2015. His experience with being adopted helped shape his anti-abortion views.
– Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved October 4, 2015. Privately, Newman uses the name Troy Newman-Mariotti in honor of his birth father, whom he located after becoming an adult. He uses his original surname professionally.
Newman was raised as a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
before converting to Presbyterianism.
He attended
Whitefield Theological Seminary and graduated from
Maranatha Baptist University
Maranatha Baptist University is a private Baptist university in Watertown, Wisconsin.
History
The institution was founded in 1968 as Maranatha Baptist Bible College by B. Myron Cedarholm. The college was named for the Aramaic phrase '' Maran ...
.
Career
Prior to 1990, Newman had given little thought to abortion. He and his girlfriend went to a
Planned Parenthood clinic for a blood test required for a marriage license. After attending an anti-abortion rally in 1990, he became involved in the anti-abortion movement.
Newman worked as an electronic engineer for Loral Aerospace and Ford Aerospace prior to 1995.
He quit his job in 1995 to devote his attention to anti-abortion efforts.
Anti-abortion activities
Previously a leader of San Diego Operation Rescue, Newman joined Jeff White's breakaway group, Operation Rescue West, in 1997, after it split from the national organization led by
Randall Terry
Randall Allen Terry (born 1959) is an American activist and political candidate. Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue, which he later abandoned. Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading t ...
(what is now known as
Operation Save America
Operation Save America (formerly Operation Rescue National) is a fundamentalist Christian conservative organization based in Concord, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte, that opposes human induced abortion and its legality, Islam, and ho ...
). As White's second-in-command, Newman has been cited as "responsible for closing over two dozen abortion clinics in the Southern California area",
[Liam Jackson]
"How Troy Newman Rescued Operation Rescue"
– Operation Rescue. Retrieved 4 October 2015. although that claim has been disputed by others.
His actions led to several lawsuits directed against the organization, including from Planned Parenthood and from the federal
Department of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
(under the terms of the
Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE or the Access Act, Pub. L. No. 103-259, 108 Stat. 694) (May 26, 1994, ) is a United States law that was signed by President Bill Clinton in May 1994, which prohibits the following three things: ...
). In 1999, following White's resignation, Newman became president of Operation Rescue West, and for the first time was able to draw a salary from his anti-abortion work, having previously had to rely on donations from supporters.
In 2002, Newman moved the headquarters of Operation Rescue West from California to Wichita, Kansas, and later changed the name of the organization to simply Operation Rescue. The name change was later the subject of an unsuccessful lawsuit from Randall Terry, the founder of the original Operation Rescue, who claimed that the trademark rightfully belonged to him. Shortly after the relocation of the organisation, Operation Rescue West launched its "Year of Rebuke" campaign in an attempt at publicizing the names of those with political, professional, and social ties to late-term abortion provider
Dr. George Tiller.
Their headquarters is located in a former abortion clinic which closed due to harassment by Operation Rescue and was purchased by Newman through a front group.
Newman developed the idea of utilizing panel trucks, called the "Truth Truck" fleet, being driven across the United States, covered with graphic billboard-sized images of aborted fetuses circle outside sports arenas, schools, and clinic workers' homes to publicize his organization's message.
Newman protested at the execution of
Paul Jennings Hill
Paul Jennings Hill (February 6, 1954 – September 3, 2003) was an American minister and anti-abortion terrorist who murdered physician John Britton and Britton's bodyguard, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Barrett, in 1994. Hill was ...
, who murdered physician
John Britton and his bodyguard James Barrett in 1994. In a September 3, 2003 press release Newman stated, "There are many examples where taking a life in defense of innocent human beings is legally justified and permissible under the law."
In 2000, Newman published the book ''Their Blood Cries Out'', featuring extensive sections comparing Tiller to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, and likening abortion to "sacrifice to demons". He argued that doctors who performed abortions should be executed by the government "in order to expunge
bloodguilt
Blood guilt or Bloodguilt may refer to:
*any unlawful killing, see manslaughter
**murder
*any crime severe enough to be punished by the death penalty
**crimes falling under high justice in feudal Europe
See also
*Weregild (blood money), paid in at ...
from the land and people".
On September 11, 2006, the IRS revoked Operation Rescue West's
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
nonprofit, tax-exempt status. Newman's organization now operates under the name "Operation Rescue."
When Scott Roeder, who
murdered Tiller in 2009, was interviewed by Amanda Robb of ''
Ms.
Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed)''Oxford English Dictionary'' online, Ms, ''n.2''. Etymology: "An orthographic and phonetic blend of Mrs ''n.1'' and miss ''n.2'' Compare mizz ''n.'' The pr ...
'' magazine, Roeder said he had met Newman and discussed
using violence to stop abortion; "something like if an abortionist—I don't even know if it was specifically Tiller …was shot, would it be justified?… And
ewmansaid, "If it were, it wouldn't upset me." Roeder owned a hand-signed copy of Newman's 2000 book.
On September 29, 2015, Newman had his
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n visa canceled by Immigration Minister
Peter Dutton
Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician who has been leader of the opposition and leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. He has represented the Queensland seat of Dickson in the House of Representatives sinc ...
. Newman was due to speak at a number of anti-abortion events across Australia throughout October. Newman defied Australian authorities and entered the country without a valid visa. This caused him to be detained upon arrival and held at the
Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre
Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre was an Australian immigration detention facility in Maribyrnong, Victoria. The centre was originally opened in 1950, as the Maribyrnong Migrant Hostel, then later the Midway (Migrant) Hostel in the late 19 ...
. On October 3, a High Court bid to overturn the cancelling of his visa was rejected, and Newman was
deported
Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
back to the United States. Newman abandoned a bid to challenge the ruling.
Newman was interviewed for the 2018 documentary ''
Reversing Roe
''Reversing Roe'' is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg. Through interviews, the film analyzes the abortion laws in the United States and the effects of the 1973 ''Roe v. Wade'' case. The film is interna ...
''.
On November 15, 2019, in a civil lawsuit that was primarily against
David Daleiden
David Robert Daleiden (born 1989) is an American anti-abortion activist who worked for Live Action before founding the Irvine, California-based Center for Medical Progress in 2013.
Early life and family
Daleiden says he is the "child of a cri ...
and
The Center for Medical Progress, damages were also assessed against Newman, as a board member of that organization.
Views on other topics
Newman believes that the existence of
LGBT communities poses a threat to the United States as a whole. He claimed that the
late 2000s recession
The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...
and
extreme weather
Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a locat ...
events were in part brought upon by
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
as
retributive punishment because of legal abortion and
tolerance for LGBT people. In Newman's view, broader
American society
The society of the United States is based on Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, ...
has made it "too easy" to be LGBT. He argues that God will inflict active harm and judgment against such persons.
Host: Jim Schneider - Guest:Troy Newman
Recorded July 9, 2015.
References
External links
Troy Newman one of two featured debaters on ''NOW'' on PBS website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newman, Troy
1966 births
Living people
American anti-abortion activists
People from Anchorage, Alaska
Kansas Republicans
People deported from Australia
Maranatha Baptist University alumni
Converts to Presbyterianism
Converts to Calvinism from Roman Catholicism
American adoptees
American Presbyterians
Far-right politics in the United States
Activists from Kansas
Activists from California