New York Attorney General Letitia James is trying to keep the anti-abortion group Red Rose Rescue from coming within 30 feet of reproductive health clinics in the state, saying members have repeatedly sought to prevent patient access to abortions in New York and other parts of the country.
James filed a federal lawsuit against the group and some of its members in June, alleging that they routinely trespass and seek to block the entrance to New York clinics, in violation of state and federal laws that protect patient access to reproductive health care. On Wednesday, James went a step further and requested that the group be temporarily blocked from getting near clinics while the case is pending in court.
The lawsuit named as defendants members of Red Rose Rescue who have been arrested multiple times for actions in New York and nationwide and indicated that the case intends to “prevent any further illegal and harmful conduct.”
Lawyers from the Thomas More Society represent the defendants and state on their website that Red Rose members have engaged in peaceful protests that did not violate the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act or New York Clinic Access Act, as James claimed.
“These charges are another example of governmental overreach regarding the nonexistent ‘constitutional right’ to abortion,” stated Thomas More attorney Stephen Crampton.
One defendant is Christopher Moscinski, a 52-year-old Franciscan friar from the Bronx who goes by Father Fidelis Moscinski. He was recently sentenced to six months in prison for locking the front gate to a Planned Parenthood clinic on Long Island last summer and then laying down in the driveway and refusing to move.
According to Red Rose Rescue member Monica Miller, who lives in Michigan, the typical “rescue” action involves members going into clinics to try to convince patients not to get abortions. “We sit down next to the moms and we try to be as quiet and as unobtrusive as possible, to talk to them,” Miller told Gothamist.
She said in some cases, they have been successful at getting patients to leave the clinics. But if they don’t, Red Rose members refuse to leave “in solidarity with the unwanted,” Miller said, adding, “They have to take us away.”
Miller said she has not participated in a “rescue” mission in New York — but that she has served in the lawsuit as a representative of Red Rose.
In a panel discussion on abortion access hosted by WNYC in June, Dr. Gillian Dean, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, said protests at the network’s clinics have increased since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.
“I don’t know whether the protesters I’m seeing outside come from New York state or out of state, but I will tell you that the numbers have increased exponentially,” Dean said at the panel. “We’ve also experienced clinic invasions where people have come into our health centers and then caused significant disruptions because it turned out they were not patients seeking health care. They were anti-[abortion protesters] seeking to create chaos and distress our patients and staff.”
Shortly after Roe was overturned, Gov. Kathy Hochul allocated $10 million for extra security at abortion clinics.
This article was updated to clarify that Christopher Moscinski is a Franciscan Friar and to correct that Monica Miller is from Michigan.
