New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a motion on Tuesday to hold a pro-life group in contempt of court after one of its so-called “members” was accused of “accosting patients” four times outside a Planned Parenthood facility in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
In the motion, James claims that pro-life activist Bernadette Patel “blatantly defied” a preliminary injunction that James’ office filed in December of 2023, prohibiting pro-lifers from coming within 15 feet of specific abortion facilities in the state. That injunction came after James filed a lawsuit against members of the pro-life group Red Rose Rescue that accused the group of “invading reproductive health care clinics, threatening staff and clinicians, and terrorizing patients.”
Patel is said to have violated the injunction on January 6, 2024, on January 13, 2024, on August 10, 20214, and on August 15, 2024. James claims that Patel wore a pink vest “to confuse patients who approached the clinic about her true intentions” and that she was “interfering with patients’ ability to enter” the abortion business.
James said that a $500 penalty would be required for each violation of the buffer zone. “Red Rose Rescue will stop at nothing to interfere with anyone seeking or providing reproductive health care,” she said. “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.”
READ: New York AG to charge Red Rose rescuers, calls them ‘bigoted zealots’
In a statement provided to Live Action News, Patel said she is “saddened by the sloppy statement coming from the attorney general, which is surely a misuse of her office’s resources, and a shallow attempt to win publicity and score political points.” She added, “Red Rose Rescue does not have formal members and has always affirmed it does not have formal members.”
In addition, Patel noted that she “was never named in the original lawsuit against Red Rose Rescue,” adding, “[N]or was I made aware of the lawsuit by the AG’s office, nor was I served any paperwork whatsoever by her office. I was never formally informed by her office of the guidelines she accuses me of violating.”
She went on to accuse James of fabricating information about her actions.
“Letitia James shoud know that when you make a claim about someone, you should back it up with facts and evidence. I am praying for Letitia James and her whole office that they may get their priorities correct and arrest actual law violators who make New York a more dangerous place,” she said.
