IRS Revokes Antiabortion Group's Tax Exemption; Increase In Prohibited Campaign Activities By Charities, Churches

The Internal Revenue Service this week revoked the tax exemption status of the antiabortion group Operation Rescue West for violating electioneering prohibitions in the 2004 presidential elections, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, churches and charities generally cannot campaign for candidates, but they can advocate a stance on issues and provide voter information. The IRS in February said it has seen a rapid increase in activities that are prohibited by charities and said it plans to curb the trend. Catholics for a Free Choice in 2004 had filed a complaint with the IRS against ORW for placing an advertisement in the July 15, 2004, edition of the Roman Catholic weekly newspaper The Wanderer, soliciting tax deductible contributions to defeat Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in the 2004 presidential election. In addition, ORW in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention in Boston drove around a truck with a large photo of an aborted fetus with the words "Kerry's Choice" printed below, according to the Times. "It could not have been a more clear or blatant violation of the IRS rules," CFFC President Frances Kissling said. "We have reorganized as simply Operation Rescue," Cheryl Sullenger, OR's outreach coordinator, said, adding, "Losing our tax exemption doesn't have much of an effect on us, one way or the other. We have learned some lessons through this whole thing, and I think we're in a better place now than we were before the IRS investigation." Troy Newman, president of OR, said, "Whatever structure we have, we are going to speak out, we're not going to be intimidated, we're not going to be muzzled and we're not going to be gagged." The IRS in February said it is seeking to revoke the tax exemptions of three more organizations, but it declined to name them (Strom, New York Times, 9/15).

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