LifeNet

Major charges by feds for nine participants in 2020 clinic protest and blockade

Here is the press release put out by the Department of Justice. The FBI made arrests in the last several days - "...defendants each face up to a maximum of 11 years in prison..." We will pass on more information as we may receive it.

Nine Defendants Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Conspiracy and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) Offenses for Obstructing Patients and Providers of a Reproductive Health Services Facility

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia today announced a two-count indictment charging Lauren Handy, 28, of Alexandria, Virginia; Jonathan Darnel, 40, of Arlington, Virginia, Jay Smith, 32, of Freeport, New York; Paulette Harlow, 73, of Kingston, Massachusetts; Jean Marshall, 72, of Kingston, Massachusetts; John Hinshaw, 67, of Levittown, New York; Heather Idoni, 61, of Linden, Michigan; William Goodman, 52, of the Bronx, New York; and Joan Bell, 74, of Montague, New Jersey, with federal civil rights offenses in connection with an alleged reproductive healthcare clinic invasion in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 22, 2020. The defendants were charged with conspiracy against rights and a FACE Act offense.

The indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges that the nine defendants engaged in a conspiracy to create a blockade at the reproductive health care clinic to prevent the clinic from providing, and patients from receiving, reproductive health services. According to the indictment, as part of the conspiracy, Smith, Harlow, Marshall, Hinshaw, Idoni, Goodman and Bell traveled to Washington, D.C., from various northeast and midwestern states, to participate in a clinic blockade that was directed by Handy and was broadcast on Facebook by Darnel. According to the indictment, Handy, Smith, Harlow, Marshall, Hinshaw, Idoni, Goodman and Bell forcefully entered the clinic and set about blockading two clinic doors using their bodies, furniture, chains and ropes. Once the blockade was established, Darnel live-streamed footage of his co-defendants’ activities. The indictment also alleges that the nine defendants violated the FACE Act by using a physical obstruction to injure, intimidate and interfere with the clinic’s employees and a patient, because they were providing or obtaining reproductive health services.

If convicted of the offenses, the defendants each face up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $350,000.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington, D.C. Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of New Jersey, District of Massachusetts, Eastern District of Michigan, Eastern District of New York and Southern District of New York; and FBI Field Offices in Newark, New York City, Boston and Detroit provided valuable assistance.

A complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Boston sidewalk counselor testified at the Supreme Court nominee hearing

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Thanks to our correspondent Laurie for sending us this. This story was also covered by the Daily Wire - go here

A pro-life sidewalk counselor expressed concern before members of the U.S. Senate Thursday that Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson has misrepresented people like her. “When I see a woman approaching…I always say, ‘Good morning! I’m Eleanor. How can I help you?’” said Eleanor McCullen, an 85-year-old Catholic grandmother located near Boston, describing how she greets women outside abortion clinics.

“It’s a powerful moment when a woman looks at me and our eyes connect, and she stops to talk,” McCullen stressed during her March 24 testimony. “It’s in that moment I promise her she will never walk her journey alone.”

McCullen testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the Jackson’s confirmation hearings. She told CNA that she has dedicated 22 years to empowering women. Located in Newton, she engages with pregnant women considering abortion outside a Planned Parenthood in Boston.

“So many women I’ve met believe that their only choice is to end the life of their baby,” McCullen told senators. “It is in that moment of isolation and fear, that I have the privilege of offering a different choice—one that empowers and encourages the woman to know she is fully capable of becoming a mom and pursuing a job and going to school and having a successful and happy life.”

McCullen introduced herself as the lead plaintiff in a 2014 Supreme Court case regarding free speech. In that case, McCullen v. Coakley, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down a Massachusetts law that imposed a 35-foot “buffer zone” around abortion clinics, which prevented sidewalk counselors from speaking with women entering those clinics. Faith-based legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom helped with the case.

The court’s opinion in the case mentions another case, McGuire v. Reilly, which involved Jackson. In 2001, Jackson co-authored an amicus brief in McGuire v. Reilly, in support of a Massachusetts “buffer zone” law, pro-life groups, such as Susan B. Anthony List, have cautioned.

In the amicus brief Jackson wrote on behalf of abortion groups, pro-life leaders previously told Senate leaders, she “portrayed pro-life sidewalk counselors as a ‘hostile, noisy crowd of 'in-your-face protesters.’”

 

 

Red Rose Rescuers found guilty of criminal trespass at White Plains abortion mill - two articles

The rescue was November 28th at the misnamed "All Women's Health" abortion chamber on Mamaroneck Ave.  You can read about the rescue here - Red Rose Rescue comes to White Plains, NY.

There are two articles below - the 2nd one is less biased then the first one.

This is from the Northern Westchester Examiner about the trial in White Plains, which ended yesterday. Hit the link for the entire article; we are only excerpting part . The picture is from the Red Rose Rescue Facebook page.

Anti-Abortion Advocates Found Guilty of Criminal Trespass at White Plains Medical Facility

“The District Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute any criminal acts that interfere with an individual’s constitutional right to freely access healthcare,” Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah said in a press release following the trial. “There are no insignificant cases when it comes to the protection of reproductive rights.”

Through police body camera and security footage — as well as witness testimony from two police officers who responded to the incident and Constance Considine, chief administrator at All Women’s Health and Medical Services — it was confirmed that the individuals gained entry into the medical office through deception, using a female accomplice who made a fake appointment to gather information. 

Also in attendance for the entirety of the trial were staff members from WCLA – Choice Matters, a pro-choice advocacy organization. 

“In this time of unprecedented court attacks on abortion rights, it is essential to remember these assaults impact people right here in Westchester County,” Catherine Lederer-Plaskett, president of WCLA — Choice Matters, said. “These terrorists forced their way into a reproductive healthcare facility, frightening patients and putting needed medical care at risk.”  

“The six-woman jury spoke loud and clear when it rendered the guilty verdict in under 30 minutes,” Lederer-Plaskett continued. “Now the real work begins. We must make sure these criminals get more than a slap on the wrist.” 

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Collins on June 20. 

If convicted, they could serve up to 3 months in jail and pay a fine of up to $500. In lieu of jail time, the court may order the defendants up to one year of probation.

"Terrorists" ... oh please spare us.

Here is the Lohud article - a good bit fairer - hit the link -

The Rev. Christopher "Fidelis" Moscinski, Matthew Connolly and William Goodman were convicted after a three-day trial. They represented Red Rose Rescue, a religious group whose members speak to women at abortion clinics to try and persuade them not to get abortions, when they entered the clinic on Mamaroneck Avenue on Nov. 27 and had to be carried out by police.

The trio's lawyer, Steve Anduze, said the men were found guilty of entering the building and refusing to leave, but that they did not block access to the women seeking medical care there.

"All they did was hand out roses to the patients in the waiting room and offer them alternatives to abortion and supportive services," he said. "They were giving the women roses in the waiting room, and they were offering alternatives to abortion. They were telling them that there were services available to them, they had the opportunity to choose a different path, they wanted to save the lives of the unborn."

 

"Catholic Church in Mexico Will Deny Communion to Politicians Who Voted for Abortion"

From LifeNews -

The Catholic Diocese of Culiacán told politicians who voted to legalize abortions in Sinaloa, Mexico this month that they may not receive communion. “Can a deputy or any person who professes to be a Catholic, while openly cooperating or legislating against life, receive Holy Communion? No. You cannot approach Sacramental Communion,” diocese official Father Miguel Ángel Soto Gaxiola told lawmakers, according to the Catholic News Agency.

Soto Gaxiola said Catholic lawmakers who voted to legalize abortion may not receive communion or become godparents in the diocese, according to CNA. By voting to allow the killing of unborn babies, these lawmakers placed themselves in an “unworthy state … to receive the Body of Christ,” he said.

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“… today we have many people scandalized by the public betrayal of the Church’s teaching on faith and morals by those legislators who call themselves ‘Catholic,’” Soto Gaxiola continued. “Indeed, the questioning of the faithful makes sense: How can a Catholic who openly promotes and is in favor of policies contrary to life come to Mass and approach to take communion?”

He said the church believes in the value of every human life from conception to natural death, and being “personally pro-life” is not a legitimate argument for supporting the legalization of abortion, CNS reports.

“This is an erroneous theory, since ‘no circumstance, no purpose, no law can make an act lawful that is intrinsically illicit, since it is contradictory to the Law of God, which is written in every human heart, known by reason itself and proclaimed by the Church,’” Soto Gaxiola said, quoting St. Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae.