(LifeSiteNews) — In late June, pro-life activist priest Fr. Fidelis Moscinski was sentenced to six months in prison after having been found guilty of violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act for blocking access to a New York abortion facility during a Red Rose Rescue mission in July 2022.
Fr. Fidelis and his fellow Red Rose Rescuers risk years of prison time in court cases around the country simply for being the last line of defense for the unborn. They are the proverbial canary in the coal mine, the first wave of pro-lifers facing harsh sentencing guidelines from increasingly punitive federal and state Justice Departments who view pro-life activity as criminal behavior.
LifeSiteNews’ Jim Hale sat down with Will Goodman, one of Fr. Fidelis’ closest Red Rose Rescue associates, to find out compels the Franciscan priest to put his personal freedom and safety on the line in order to protect the unborn, and why he’s willing to go to jail.
“Father is a man of great courage. And during these times we really need that,” Goodman began. “As a Franciscan religious, as a Catholic priest, he bears witness to the courage of Christ.”
“I’ve seen it where they’ve come up with bullhorns, full blast, right in his ear, and he maintains his peace. He continues in prayer and he keeps his focus,” Goodman said.
Donald Trump has suggested a 6-week abortion ban is ”too harsh”, attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis for his bill protecting innocent human life after 6 weeks.
Obviously pro-lifers wish to protect all human life from conception with outright abortion bans.
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The former president said he is ”looking at all alternatives” when asked if he would support such a 6-week ban, making this a crucial opportunity for pro-life voters to make their views known to him in no uncertain terms.
“He has to do what he has to do,” Trump said about Gov. DeSantis’ abortion bill. “If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people don’t even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh.”
Anyone truly in the pro-life movement thinking the ban is too harsh must mean it’s too harsh on those babies less than 6-weeks who can still be murdered.
Mr. Trump’s outlandish claim about anyone in the pro-life movement opposing the ban is doubtful to say the least, but there was more to follow in the interview.
When pressed on whether he thought the bill was ”too harsh”, Trump would not answer directly, instead saying: ”I’m looking at all alternatives. I’m looking at many alternatives. But I was able to get us to the table by terminating Roe v. Wade. That’s the most important thing that’s ever happened for the pro-life movement.”
The former president is correct in saying the overturning of Roe v. Wade was a monumental step for the pro-life movement, but it should only be the beginning of banning the killing of babies in the womb entirely.
Donald Trump’s belief that even a 6-week abortion ban is extreme spells trouble for every citizen concerned about ending abortion, which is why we need you to take part in this urgent petition to him.
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Our true loyalty is to innocent human beings facing death, none more so than those in the womb, and any candidate who prevaricates about something so important to building a civilized society has to be corrected.
We urge all Republican candidates to advocate for a total ban on abortion, without any exceptions – not just at 6-week’s gestation as an incremental measure.
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MORE INFORMATION:
Trump distances himself from 6-week abortion ban by DeSantis: ‘Too harsh’ – LifeSiteNews
Peaceful pro-lifers saddled with draconian sentences
“I speak of Father as having a shepherd’s heart. We hear in Scripture of the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He doesn’t run for fear of the wolves,” Goodman said.
“In our time, Fr. Fidelis is not running from the wolves who are in the DOJ, or the Attorney General’s office of the state of New York,” he continued. “Father continues to love and serve consistently. I couldn’t be more edified by his example, and I’m humbled to try to follow him in this mission.”
“Last year in August, he and I with Matthew Connolly were serving a 90-day sentence in New York, and subsequent to that there’s been a lawsuit in which the Attorney General for New York has said that Red Rose Rescue is a terrorist group, involved in terrorist activities, assaulting and harassing women,” Goodman explained. “The present Department of Justice has been very aggressive through their civil rights division to go after peaceful pro-lifers and try to saddle them with draconian sentences.”
‘We’re there to serve those children at the last minute when all else has failed’
Pressed on whether Red Rose Rescue tactics might be less helpful to the pro-life movement than they once were, Goodman said, “Our mission isn’t to help the movement. It’s to help the babies.”
He elaborated, paraphrasing Fr. Fidelis:
What if we or one of our loved ones was in immediate danger of being killed by dismemberment, painful dismemberment. Would we not want the full measure of protection to be afforded to us? Would we not want that one that we love so much to be protected by people who are willing to give all?
So what Father Fidelis shows is he’s not about the politics. He’s not about a movement per se. He’s all about serving these pregnant mothers and loving these children and sacrificing for them so that their lives may be saved.
What we’ve seen through Red Rose Rescue is that abortion centers have closed. Mothers have chosen life. And there are babies alive today because of their work.
This isn’t to diminish the great work of the pro-life movement, of course. But the reality is that we’re there to serve those children at the last minute when all else has failed. And so that’s what Father does. I think he might say, as long as a child is in danger, there will be a need for rescuers.
Facing a maximum of 11 years in federal prison for peacefully praying
Goodman told LifeSiteNews that he will be in the Washington, D.C. area on August 9 for another FACE and conspiracy trial.
“We’re facing a maximum of 11 years in federal prison for peacefully praying in an abortion center.” It’s just another of “three or four different FACE cases going on right now of different rescue groups.”
Goodman asked for prayers that our Lord might use the trials “as an opportunity to bring about constitutional personhood protection for the pre-born, that they might get due process, that their equal rights might be established, and that mothers could be protected from the violence of abortion.”
