Pro-life advocates are celebrating a Pennsylvania court’s decision to drop charges against them for attempting to prevent late-term abortions of unborn babies at an abortion clinic last year.
Red Rose Rescue, a pro-life activist group, posted on Facebook last week that six of their advocates had all criminal misdemeanor charges dropped against them during a special plea hearing at the Delaware County Courthouse in Media, Pennsylvania.
According to the post, activists Dr. Monica Miller, Eric Holmberg, Patty Woodworth, Will Goodman, Christy-Ann Collins, and Joan Andrews Bell arrived at a center in Chester, PA, last July. They passed out life-saving information to pregnant moms, and staff members were also given information about how to leave the abortion industry and find support from former abortion staff members who became pro-life.
“On the day of the rescue, there were 6 unjust arrests: 3 pro-life counselors on the 1st floor hallway of the old hospital building housing the abortion mill; and 3 rescuers handing out roses inside the waiting room of the actual killing center,” the post recounted.
“As a result of this peaceful intervention, this abortion facility closed for the whole day and NO BABIES WERE KILLED!!”
The group of pro-life activists was arrested and “subjected to rough treatment by the police.” They also had to spend several days “in a filthy overcrowded county prison” before being released on bond.
Miller, Holmberg, Woodworth, Goodman, Collins, and Bell were charged with two class D criminal misdemeanors which included defiant trespass and disorderly conduct.
Pro-life lawyers with the Thomas More Society and local attorneys advised the group to enter a “no contest” plea during the hearing, which requires no admission of guilt.
“It provides for the conscience protection of the rescuers who did nothing wrong in their efforts to peacefully intervene to save a human life in immediate mortal danger,” Red Rose Rescue explained.
And while the group claims the plea is “unusual,” it meant the activists would not have to pay fines, complete community service, serve probation, or complete “unjust requirements.”
During the hearing, the pro-life advocates told the judge that their actions last summer were justified because there is “undoubtedly human life in the womb,” and while they respect the law, they cannot watch the innocent be killed.
“Your Honor, let me tell you something about myself. I am one of maybe 50 people who (have) actually taken the bodies of aborted unborn out of abortion center trash dumpsters. I’ve seen up close what abortion does to these innocents. I have looked on things the human eye is not meant to see,” Miller directly told the judge.
“We went to that abortion center to plead for and defend the lives of unborn babies, and equally were there to offer help, love, compassion, and understanding to the moms scheduled to kill their children. The unborn have a right to exist, and we want to work for a culture that accepts all human beings, that respects all human lives, made in the image of God,” she continued.
Holmberg pointed out that the rescue took place at an abortion facility right outside the seminary where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. received his education. He added that the activists were “carrying on his legacy through direct action to help the voiceless.”
Thankfully, the judge accepted the plea deal, and as a result, each rescuer was simply given “time served,” and all criminal misdemeanor prosecution was dropped.
The pro-life advocates express gratitude not only to their legal team for their work, but to the many supporters who prayed for them.
“We shall keep working with confidence because we believe and know that ‘the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome the Light’,” said Woodworth.
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