Anti-abortion activists will be in Wichita for the next week for a series of demonstrations they’re calling the Summer of Justice. Organizers say they’re peaceful and have been unfairly criticized in the past.
Operation Save America, an anti-abortion group headquartered in Waco, Texas, has partnered with local and state organizations for a week of protests starting today.
Many of the organizers of this year’s protests were involved in the Summer of Mercy, widespread anti-abortion demonstrations held in Wichita in 1991 and 2001. Rusty Thomas, director of the organization, says his group has been labeled as domestic terrorists by the media.
“We have 30 years of history of non-violence," he says. "Close to 60,000 arrests through Operation Rescue National. Not one conviction of violence.”
Thomas says the group doesn’t have any plans to interfere with the operations of South Wind Women’s Center or be involved in acts of civil disobedience.
The demonstrations will last until July 23.
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