Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-841-1700; Cheryl Sullenger, Outreach & Media Coordinator, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- Operation Rescue announced today that it has awarded the 2006 Malachi Man of the Year Award to Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline for his courageous investigations of abortionists George R. Tiller and Planned Parenthood for violations of Kansas laws prohibiting the concealment of child rape and illegal late-term abortions.

Recipient of the 2006 Malachi Woman of the Year Award is South Dakota activist Leslie Unruh for her work spearheading the controversial South Dakota abortion ban. After the ban was signed into law, it was narrowly defeated at the polls November.

“Both Kline and Unruh have shown tremendous courage, dedication, and self-sacrifice in their bold efforts to protect the innocent in the face of tremendous adversity,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “In doing so, they helped bring the tragedy of abortion into the national debate, which has served to advance the cause of life.”

“Kline’s efforts to investigate abortion clinic wrong- doing was continually mischaracterized by the left- leaning Kansas media as a ‘fishing expedition’ into private medical records even though the names of the women were redacted from documents he received from the abortion clinics during the course of his inquiry. Eventually it cost him re-election to the Attorney General’s office. It would have been politically expedient to have walked away from his investigation in order to save his political career, but instead he chose to stand on integrity and principle,” said Newman.

In an ironic twist, Kline was later appointed to the position of Johnson County District Attorney where he will serve out the term of the man who defeated him.

“Unruh faced the ire of the abortion cartel by helping South Dakota become the first state in history to pass a ban on abortion in defiance of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that decriminalized abortion in America. She bravely persevered in her efforts to protect the pre-born in spite of having received numerous threats against her life and safety,” said Newman.

The Malachi Award is named after an aborted baby that was discovered among the trash outside a Texas abortion mill. The name means “My Messenger.”

Operation Rescue plans to present the awards during the Wichita ’07 – A Cry For Justice event to be held in Wichita, Kansas, on January 19- 22, 2007.

About Operation Rescue
Operation Rescue is one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation. Operation Rescue recently made headlines when it bought and closed an abortion clinic in Wichita, Kansas and has become the voice of the pro-life activist movement in America. Its activities are on the cutting edge of the abortion issue, taking direct action to restore legal personhood to the pre-born and stop abortion in obedience to biblical mandates.

Website: http://www.operationrescue.org