Plaintiffs sought monetary damages and injunctions under the RICO, Hobbs, and the Travel Acts, alleging that the defendants against whom the suit was filed are racketeering organizations engaging in a conspiracy to prevent access to health care facilities providing abortion services.

The Circuit and Supreme courts heard appeals and the matter was eventually consolidated with National Organization for Women et al. v. Operation Rescue.

A 2003 ruling that non-economic violence does not violate the RICO Act left other federal charges intact, including associated monetary damages and a national injunction against interference with abortion clinic operations, but the entire matter remained unsettled until the final decision in 2006 when the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in favor of Scheidler and PLAN (see below).

[3] The suit against Scheidler and PLAN members was filed by NOW and supporting clinics in 1986, under the Sherman Antitrust Act and violations of various state laws.

In 1997, class-action status was granted by the district court, certifying NOW as representing the class of all women seeking reproductive health care.

In 1998, Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue who was facing over $100,000 in costs from other abortion clinic-related charges, settled the case against him, agreeing to a permanent personal injunction.

The decision left open the question of whether the law generally entitled private parties to injunctive relief (as opposed to after-the-fact monetary damages) in RICO cases.