{"id":207404,"date":"2019-07-26T14:55:20","date_gmt":"2019-07-26T19:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=207404"},"modified":"2022-03-22T16:25:34","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T21:25:34","slug":"dc-judge-dismisses-priest-activist-abortion-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/dc-judge-dismisses-priest-activist-abortion-center\/","title":{"rendered":"DC judge dismisses charges against priest, activists for ‘Red Rose Rescue’ inside abortion center"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Life Site News<\/a>)\u00a0[…] A federal judge dismissed all charges against three pro-life activists who conducted a Red Rose Rescue at a Washington, D.C. late-term abortion facility on March 19<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bud Shaver, Father Stephen Imbarrato, and Lauren Handy entered and refused to leave Dr. Cesare Santangelo<\/a>\u2019s Washington Surgi-Clinic. They were there to offer red roses to moms considering or undergoing abortions. Red Rose Rescues<\/a>, inspired by Canadian activist Mary Wagner, consist of pro-lifers risking arrest by refusing to leave abortion centers as they distribute roses and beg mothers not to abort their children.<\/p>\n

The trio was charged with unlawful entry and failure to leave. Judge John Ramsey Johnson of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia dismissed the charges. Imbarrato had filed a motion to dismiss after the prosecution missed a July 2 discovery deadline. He told LifeSiteNews the prosecution called him on July 9 to inform him they were asking for a continuance. Imbarrato, who represented himself, told them he opposed that and would be asking for the charges to be dismissed.<\/p>\n

The judge said the charges could be reinstated, something Imbarrato speculated may have been \u201ctheir subtle way of telling us, \u2018Don\u2019t do this again.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Two priests, two pro-life activists arrested in New Jersey \u2018Red Rose Rescue\u2019<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

No Red Rose Rescue participant has been charged under the Federal Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), the strict law signed by former President Bill Clinton that imposes harsh penalties on those who protest abortion using \u201crescue\u201d-style tactics. During the dawn of the post\u2013Roe v. Wade<\/em> pro-life movement and before the passage of FACE, it was common for activists to save babies by blocking entrances to abortion centers, flooding their waiting rooms with pro-lifers, and chaining themselves to abortion equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad the Red Rose Rescue charges were dismissed because of course we did nothing wrong,\u201d said Imbarrato. \u201cWe are merely trying to save babies and bring more attention in Washington, D.C. to the daily mass murder of pre-born children that is sanctioned, protected, and funded by our government.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the fourth time<\/a> a federal judge has dismissed or dropped charges against pro-lifers after they orchestrated a Red Rose Rescue in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Washington Surgi-Clinic is in an upscale part of D.C. right next to the campus of George Washington University. In 2013, Santangelo was caught on tape<\/a> agreeing to deny medical care to a viable child who survives an abortion.<\/p>\n