This study describes how violent anti-abortion militancy and "Christian Patriot" militia (unregulated private army) activity in the US converge. "Christian Patriots" reject all laws except the US Constitution and its first ten amendments and claim that Anglo-Saxon Christian men are the only true citizens. The convergence of this group with anti-abortion groups can be seen by the fact that militia leaders have been arrested for blocking women's health centers, and anti-abortion leaders have been linked to militia and white supremacist groups. This anti-abortion/militia link has a great potential for violence. The two groups also rallied around standoffs between federal agents and extremist groups such as that which occurred in Waco, Texas. The mainstreaming of militias is seen to be a relatively new phenomenon, and people like Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, are identified as "almost a shadow congressman" in the US. Pratt's organization contributed to 46 Republican campaigns in 1994 and bankrolled Operation Rescue when federal agents seized the organization's bank accounts for failure to pay a court-ordered fine. A chart illustrates the names, state, primary affiliation, secondary affiliations, and actions or statements of 22 of the individuals involved in militias and anti-abortion efforts. It is also noted that anti-abortion militants use private Christian schools as vehicles to spread their views, and the increasing threat to abortion providers of militia violence is reviewed. It is concluded that abortion is a "bridge" issue which allows religious political extremist factions to recruit members. Abortion is being used as a catalyst in the struggle of these white supremacists to replace democracy with a theocracy which seeks to enforce idiosyncratic versions of God's law.
