Posted on 04/03/2020 1:00:17 PM PDT by Morgana
Ron K., who has maintained a peaceful pro-life presence outside a San Francisco Planned Parenthood for over a decade, was arrested and issued a criminal citation today for praying outside the facility. Officers said Ron violated the citys shelter-in-place ordinance and threatened to take him to jail if he did not leave immediately. Ron remained a safe distance away from women and staff entering the abortion mill at all times.
The arresting officer told pro-life activists on the scene that their constitutional right to protest has to take a back seat to the health order. Ron was the only pro-lifer who received a citation, which requires him to appear in court on criminal charges later this month.
Meanwhile Planned Parenthood continues to operate its clinics, including the one in San Francisco, at full capacity. They insist that surgical and chemical abortions, sex-change hormone therapy, abortion-inducing birth control, morning-after abortion pills, and controversial Gardasil vaccines are essential services. Because they refuse to shut down during the coronavirus crisis, Planned Parenthood and other abortionists are now competing with hospitals and doctors for scarce personal protective equipment needed to treat patients who desperately need life-saving medical care.
You may remember that Ron K. was violently assaulted outside the same San Francisco abortion mill last year. Life Legal Senior Staff Counsel Allison Aranda, a former prosecutor, urged the police department to take action and even provided officers with the identity and location of the assailant. SFPD did not take any meaningful steps to apprehend the perpetrator.
Life Legal is prepared to file a civil lawsuit, but we have not been able to find the attacker, who has since gone underground. We are working with a private investigator to try to track him down and bring him to justice.
SFPD refused to exercise their authority to protect an elderly manand now they are threatening him with jail time because he is doing what he has done every abortion day for more than ten yearspraying for women and offering them life-saving alternatives to abortion.
Life Legal believes that as long Planned Parenthood is allowed to stay open, women have the right to information about all of their optionsnot just the one that lines Planned Parenthoods bloody pockets. Pro-lifers who help direct women to pregnancy centers, abortion reversal, post-abortion counseling, and other life-affirming healthcare are providing essential services and we will defend their right to do so.
Please pray for Ron, as well as the other courageous advocates for babies who are maintaining their pro-life witness during an increasingly hostile time. Pro-aborts are exploiting the current crisis to remove all opposition to their murderous business. We cannot let them get away with this. Life Legal is representing a number of pro-lifersincluding our own Mary Rileywho have been spit on, threatened, harassed, and assaulted because they refuse to back down.
Please stand with Ron, Mary, and so many pro-life champions. I know this is a challenging time for many, but I was wondering if you would consider making a donation today so we can continue to fight for the most vulnerable among us. A gift of even $10, $25, or any amount would be so helpful right now. We are so grateful for your support, especially during this difficult time.
**Video on link**
The ACLU mustve lost the coin toss to Life Legal because theyd be right there !
Our ‘Punish the Good, Reward the Bad’ society at it again.
Fire the badge monkeys who arrested this man.
Most of these dufus cops are non-essential!
ALL natural and civil rights must take a back seat to our 50 petty dictators.
Problem is he was not arrested for praying outside a Planned Parenthood facility. He was ticketed for ignoring the shelter in place law.
If he had stopped to pray while entering the facility for medical assistance, which they do actually do, he would have been fine. But when he was found to be outside of his abode not enroute or returning from an essential need, he violated the law.
The first point to note is that the Bay Area order doesnt at present contain any criminal sanction for violation. As of March 17, and nothing but a warning on March 27, it is, in effect, firm guidance rather than government command backed by the threat of criminal penalties. Some European countries are imposing monetary fines for breaking such orders. The San Francisco order doesnt do that. So the line that said....requires him to appear in court on criminal charges later this month, is manure. There are none attached to the sheltr law.
They can get him for nuisance based on a 2010 law voted in by the people for another reason. Generally the punishment is up to 6 months in jail and/or $1000 fine. But it is not tied into the shelter law and I seriously doubt they would do anything in a high profile situation like this. They’ll make a deal.
The order does request that the police ensure compliance with and enforce this order. And it declares that violation of the order constitutes an immediate threat and creates an immediate menace to public health. But if the police chose to arrest violators, this language would probably not be enough to sustain a criminal conviction. The order is simply too vague, and the punishment for constituting a threat or a public health menace would have to come from some existing statute or ordinance. And it would be a real stretch with the criminality not being determined in the original order.
rwood
I hope the officer personally gets sued out of existence.
Have to be careful, though - if I get arrested I can lose my job (DoD security issue).
“The order is simply too vague.”
True. Thankfully, the pro-lifers in San Francisco always have a huge movie camera running when they are praying outside the PP clinic near Army Street. Thus, the Ron K. guy probably has excellent video of the meeting with the police.
California, and especially the northern part, is extremely political. There is almost no such thing as a conservative in the state and the San Francisco area is ridiculous socialist. Wish they had argued about it and had seceded from the union. One less pain in the back of the lap.
rwood
Communism
Careful, you'll trigger the "thin blue line" and "back the blue" crowd.
Nah, public funds will be used.
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