Letitia James sues anti-abortion group for blocking clinics

State Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the anti-abortion group Red Rose Rescue, asking a federal court to prohibit its members from coming within 30 feet of reproductive health care clinics in New York.

Members of the group, including Christopher “Fidelis” Moscinski, a Franciscan friar who is serving a prison sentence in Michigan for trespassing, resisting a police officer and disorderly conduct, have been convicted of such offenses at abortion clinics around the nation. They include All Women's Care in Manhasset and Planned Parenthood — Hempstead Health Center and another in Westchester County since 2021.

James filed the 20-page lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Southern District, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland other counties in the Hudson Valley. 

"Here in New York, access to abortion is legal and it will stay legal and it is my honor and my responsibility to keep individuals safe from terrorists and that's what they are," James said at a news conference at Planned Parenthood in Hempstead. "New York will always be a safe haven for anyone who needs this critical care because in New York we respect a person's right to choose."

Emails to Red Rose Rescue and a call to an attorney who has represented them in their Westchester case, Steve Anduze of White Plains, were not returned Thursday.

The suit seeks to strengthen state laws to prohibit Red Rose Rescue's ability to, "injure, intimidate, discourage and/or interfere with … persons who are seeking to obtain or provide reproductive health care in New York."

Red Rose would have to abide by a "buffer zone around all reproductive health facilities in the state, extending out thirty feet from the buildings themselves and encompassing all clinic entrances and parking lots, where no protest activity may occur," according to the lawsuit.

The suit seeks civil penalties and damages to be determined by the court. Violators of the 30-foot buffer zone also would be subject to arrest by police, according to James' office.

According to Red Rose Rescue's online mission statement, "a team of pro-lifers enter the actual places where the innocent unborn are about to be 'dragged to death'" and "peacefully talk to women scheduled for abortion, with the goal of persuading them to choose life. They offer to them red roses as a sign of life, peace and love."

The statement continues: "The rescuers will not leave the unwanted, but must be 'taken away.'"

James Sample, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University, said James' request for a buffer zone is "entirely reasonable." 

Sample called it "common practice to balance First Amendment protest rights in a way that accommodates free speech but limits the place and proximity of the speakers in order to protect the rights of other groups."

"It's one thing for these protesters to stand on a sidewalk across the street but it's another thing to cause people to miss their appointments or block access," Sample said.

The anti-abortion group the Coalition for Life has filed a lawsuit against the City of Carbondale, Illinois challenging the constitutionality of an ordinance that prohibits protesters from approaching people within 100 feet of a medical clinic. The Carbondale City Council passed the ordinance in January to create the buffer zone.

By Candice Ferrette

candice.ferrette@newsday.comcandiceferrette

Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.