CV NEWS FEED // The New York State Attorney General’s Office wants to fine the pro-life group Red Rose Rescue for continuing to pursue its mission in violation of state laws regarding freedom of access at hospital entrances.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced in an August 27 press release that her office had filed a contempt of court motion against Red Rose Rescue “for willfully disregarding a court order prohibiting the group and its members from blocking access to reproductive health clinics.”
“Red Rose Rescue will stop at nothing to hinder anyone seeking or providing reproductive health care,” James said in the press release, adding:
If Red Rose Rescue and its members are going to blatantly disregard a court order, they must be willing to face the consequences. Too many New Yorkers have suffered at the hands of this hateful group – it’s time they were held accountable for their blatant disregard for our laws, our courts, and our bodily autonomy.
The pro-life group’s website describes its work as “peaceful,” carried out by volunteers who, when possible, visit abortion clinics to talk to women who are considering abortion and convince them to choose life.
Volunteers offer women in the clinics a red rose “as a symbol of life, peace and love.” If the woman has an abortion, the volunteers stay in the facility “out of solidarity with their abandoned brothers and sisters.”
James’ filing focuses in particular on one of the group’s members, Brianna Manget, who goes by the alias Bernadette Patel. According to the Attorney General’s office, Patel was photographed at least four times protesting outside abortion clinics.
The request was made after the Attorney General obtained a temporary restraining order in December 2023 prohibiting the group and its members from coming within five meters of abortion clinics in the state’s southern and eastern counties.
The Attorney General’s Office noted that Patel resumed her protests within three weeks of the temporary restraining order being issued. The Attorney General’s Office also stressed that Patel “had previously indicated that the Attorney General’s action would not stop her from obstructing access to clinics.”
The press release quoted a July 2023 opinion piece by Patel in which she explains, “Just as Satan seeks to tempt and entice all followers of Christ into sin, the state persecutes us in the hope that we will relent in our pro-life approach or stop advocating for life. I certainly will not do that, and neither will my friends.”
According to an August 27 report by lohud.com, Red Rose Rescue director Monica Miller called the attorney general’s motion “one of the most trumped-up lawsuits ever” and denied that Patel acted on behalf of the department, saying the department “has no members” and is “not a formal group.”
However, the sixth rule of the “Code of Conduct for Red Rose Rescue,” available on the group’s website, explicitly states that “participants in a Red Rose Rescue must obey the leadership of RRR,” suggesting the existence of a formal structure within the group.
James is asking the court to impose sanctions of “at least $500 per violation, with a total of at least $2,000,” in addition to attorney fees. The press release says the sanctions are an attempt to prevent Patel and other members of Red Rose Rescue from continuing to hold office.
