Red Rose Rescuers managed to shut down a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Philadelphia on Friday and stop at least 10 abortions from taking place that day.
However, a Catholic priest, Father Fidelis Moscinski, was arrested at a second rescue Friday in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and remains in jail, according to Citizens for a Pro-Life Society.
“No abortions took place” Friday at the Philadelphia Planned Parenthood, the pro-life group said. “Due to the Red Rose Rescue, no unborn children were killed at this PP clinic. We pray this reprieve will be the opportunity for at least one, and maybe more than one woman to choose life!”
The Red Rose Rescue is a peaceful outreach in which pro-life advocates provide roses, pregnancy resource information and encouragement to mothers inside and outside abortion facilities. Some rescuers go into the abortion facilities to speak with the mothers and pray, knowing that they will be arrested for trespassing.
On Friday, Laura Gies said seven pro-lifers, including herself, participated in the rescue at a Planned Parenthood abortion facility in center city Philadelphia.
Gies said the rescuers entered the waiting room around 8:20 a.m. and spoke with women for about 45 minutes before the staff called for an evacuation. At first, they thought it was because the staff figured out that the pro-life rescuers were in the waiting room, she said. However, they soon learned that the evacuation was due to pro-lifer rescuer Matthew Connolly, who had sneaked into a bathroom near the abortion procedure rooms, she said.
“The clinic staff detected that someone was ‘barricaded’ in the bathroom and they made a hasty judgment that this person was a danger to himself—not realizing, of course, that Matthew was a pro-life rescuer,” Gies said.
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As police arrived, Gies said she and another rescuer hid in the building while the rest were evacuated. Outside, she said other rescuers talked to ten different women who were there for abortions.
Eventually, a SWAT team was called in and police cordoned off an entire block around the abortion facility, she said.
“Women arriving for their abortion appointments were told point blank by the police that the clinic was closed for the day,” she said.
When police got the bathroom door open, they used pepper spray and a taser to apprehend Connolly, she said. However, she said police later released him without charges.
Eventually, Gies said police found her inside the Planned Parenthood and dragged her out after she refused to leave. She said she received a $50 citation.
On that same day, three other pro-life advocates participated in a second rescue at the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
In that case, Gies said the abortion staff detected them quickly and called police. She said police were “belligerent and hostile” and threatened to arrest a pro-life rescuer on the sidewalk as well as the three who went inside.
“Father Fidelis, Linda Mueller and John Hinshaw were arrested and taken away quickly. Sadly, abortion appointments continued for the day,” according to the Citizens for a Pro-Life Society.
They face charges of felony trespass and conspiracy to commit trespass. Mueller and Hinshaw were released on bail, but Father Fidelis refused to pay the bond and remains in jail, Gies said. His hearing is scheduled for Sept. 3.
“For those who may not understand why Father Fidelis refuses to pay the bond: When you post bail, the court has the money now, and if you are found guilty later, and you refuse to pay the fine, the fine can be deducted from the bail you posted,” Citizens for a Pro-Life Society explained.
The pro-life organization urged people to pray that the mothers who did not get abortions last week will choose life for their babies.
