New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a motion to hold Red Rose Rescue, an anti-abortion extremist group, in contempt for willfully defying a court order that prohibits the group and its members from blocking access to reproductive health care clinics. In June 2023, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) filed a lawsuit against Red Rose Rescue for invading reproductive health care clinics, threatening staff and clinicians, and terrorizing patients. In December 2023, OAG obtained a preliminary injunction that prohibited the group from coming within 15 feet of reproductive health care clinics within the jurisdictions of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and the Eastern District of New York (EDNY).
Just three weeks after the order was granted, Red Rose Rescue member Bernadette Patel was captured on camera accosting patients outside of a Planned Parenthood in Manhattan – the first of at least four instances in which she blatantly defied the court order. Patel had previously indicated that OAG’s lawsuit would not stop her from obstructing access to clinics.
“Red Rose Rescue will stop at nothing to interfere with anyone seeking or providing reproductive health care,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “If Red Rose Rescue and its members want to flagrantly disregard a court order, then they must also be prepared to face the consequences. Too many New Yorkers have suffered at the hands of this hateful group – it is time they be held accountable for their blatant disregard of our laws, our courts, and our bodily autonomy.”
The preliminary injunction Attorney General James won in December 2023 prohibits any member of Red Rose Rescue from coming within 15 feet of any reproductive health care facility in 13 downstate New York counties. Patel first violated the injunction on January 6, 2024, three weeks after the order was granted. That day, other anti-abortion activists posted photos of Patel standing directly in front of Planned Parenthood in Manhattan, positioning herself in the middle of walkways to accost and follow patients as they approached.
One week later, on January 13, 2024, Patel was again photographed within 15 feet of Planned Parenthood in Brooklyn, standing close to the clinic doorway in order to confront patients entering the building. Both days, Patel wore a pink vest resembling the vests of legitimate Planned Parenthood clinic escorts in an effort to confuse patients who approached the clinic about her true intentions.
Original source can be found here.