2 organizations, 7 people sued by DOJ for allegedly blocking Northeast Ohio abortion clinics
WASHINGTON (WJW) — The U.S. Department of Justice has brought a civil rights lawsuit against two organizations and seven individuals accused of illegally blocking access to two reproductive health clinics in Northeast Ohio.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, prohibits anyone from threatening or using force against someone because they’re seeking reproductive services, or physically obstructing them. It was enacted in 1994 in response to violent anti-abortion protests that were interfering with abortion clinics.
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Members of the two groups named in the complaint — Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, a Michigan-based charity; and Red Rose Rescue, whose website is operated by the charity’s president and solicits donations — trespassed at two Northeast Ohio abortion clinics over two days in June 2021, according to the complaint.
On June 4, 2021, Laura Gies and Clara McDonald (AKA Stephanie Berry) got into the waiting room of the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center in Cuyahoga Falls via its back entrance, by claiming to be seeking its services, prosecutors allege. Minutes later, Christopher Moscinski and Audrey Whipple came through the front door.
They then began handing out roses, urging patients against having abortions. McDonald “forcefully grabbed a patient’s body and told her not to go through with the abortion,” reads the complaint.
Clinic workers told them to leave, but they refused, even after police arrived, occupying the floor of the waiting room by laying down or kneeling, according to the complaint. Police carried them out into police cars about a half-hour after they entered the clinic.
But by that point, the clinic’s scheduling had been disrupted. Five patients didn’t show up and others called to reschedule or cancel after seeing a police presence outside, according to the complaint. Disruption is the goal for Red Rose Rescue, and the group considers that result a “success,” the complaint reads.
Read the full complaint below:
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A similar incident happened the following day, June 5, at Planned Parenthood of Ohio’s Bedford Heights Surgery Center, according to prosecutors. Lauren Handy and Monica Miller entered its private, fenced-in parking lot and talked to people who were waiting in their cars, then followed them when they got out, trying to “force the patients to accept brochures and roses,” the complaint said.
Jay Smith (AKA Juanito Pichardo), entered the waiting room and began passing out brochures, prosecutors allege. When asked to leave, he pushed against a patient with his shoulder.
Police told the protesters to leave, but they refused. Handy then knelt in front of the clinic’s door. Another person, who wasn’t charged, laid down behind a patient’s car then stood in front of their car door, trapping them inside. Another person in a mask, who was not identified in the complaint, scaled the fence and was told to leave or be jailed, according to the complaint.
A police supervisor reportedly told clinic management the department did not have the manpower to handle the demonstrators. At authorities’ request, the clinic closed for they day, causing nine surgeries and 15 consultations set for that day to be canceled.
Several of the defendants named in the complaint have been arrested multiple times on similar charges in Ohio and elsewhere across the country, according to prosecutors. None of them are from Ohio.
Handy just last week was sentenced to 57 months in prison in a similar incident in 2020 at a Washington, D.C. clinic, according to the justice department. Smith is currently in a New York jail, according to the complaint.
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The case is now before Northern District of Ohio federal Judge Christopher Boyko. No future court dates have been set.
“Federal and state laws protect access to reproductive health care services,” Rebecca Lutzko, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, is quoted in a news release. “Individuals have the right to access facilities in Ohio to make decisions about their own bodies, health and futures, in consultation with health care providers, free from force, threats of force, intimidation or physical obstruction. Our office remains committed to enforcing the FACE Act to protect these important rights of both individuals and providers, whether or not the services provided include abortion care options, as they do here. We encourage anyone with information about potential FACE Act violations to contact our office.”
To report FACE Act violations at reproductive health clinics or other civil rights violations, call the Civil Rights Hotline at 855-365-2485 or visit the justice department’s website. Anyone who believes they are in imminent danger should call 911 or local police.
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