Posted on 12/10/2025 8:51:05 AM PST by Morgana
MEMPHIS, Tennessee (LifeSiteNews) — Ten men and seven women spent last night in a Memphis jail after staging a peaceful protest in front of the Memphis, Tennessee, Planned Parenthood building.
The December 5 protest was organized by “Rescue Resurrection,” a pro-life movement planning “rescue” actions across the country.
Those arrested included well-known figures in the pro-life movement: Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue; Joan Andrews Bell, a longtime pro-life advocate; Terrisa Bukovinac, director of PAAU (Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising); Nathan Berning, director of Let Them Live; and Dr. Monica Miller of Citizens for Life, among others.
READ: Operation Rescue founder and companions jailed after Planned Parenthood blockade
As of Saturday morning, there were conflicting reports that some of those arrested and charged with trespass had been released. Most are expected to be held over until at least Monday while being processed through the city’s over-burdened court system.
Exhausted from spending a sleepless night in an over-crowded holding cell with no beds, Terry nevertheless told LifeSiteNews today that “this is a very small price to pay to stand up for the babies.”
Also speaking to LifeSite by phone from jail, Nathan Berning echoed Terry, emphasizing the willingness of participants to bear personal costs for their convictions.
“It’s time we make some real sacrifices for the babies, including going to jail,” said Berning.
Early this morning, after her release from custody, Joan Andrews Bell expressed gratitude for being part of what organizers say is only the beginning of a renewed rescue movement.
“It is the greatest privilege to be a part of the first of many of the Rescue Resurrection movement,” she said. “This is what needs to happen to save the babies, and I thank everyone who participated with all my heart.”
subscribe to our daily headlines
US Canada Catholic
Video footage of the arrests captured by journalist Ford Fischer shows Terry, Bell, and other pro-life protesters being dragged away by police before being transported to jail.
While abortion is illegal in Tennessee, Planned Parenthood is suspected of helping pregnant moms obtain abortions in states where abortion remains legal.
“Planned Parenthood is trafficking these women, helping minors get across state lines to kill their babies,” said Terry from his jail holding cell.
“When we sat down in front of the door at 8 a.m., about a dozen police squad cars flew from around the corner and piled out,” recounted Terry. “It was startling.”
“They at first gave us warnings, but we said, ‘We’re not going to leave because Planned Parenthood is the largest murderer of children in the western hemisphere. They’re trafficking baby body parts, they’re trafficking minors to kill their children,” said Terry.
“They are the criminals in this situation.” Next stop: Washington, D.C.
“We’re trying to ignite a fire of passion for the babies, a renewed rescue movement, renewed civil disobedience,” Terry added.
“Our next stop is Washington, D.C., on January 22, 2026. We’re asking our pro-life brothers and sisters to join us in a sit-in in front of the FDA (the Food and Drug Administration) headquarters in order to call on President Trump and Health and Human Services head, RFK, Jr. to ban the murder [abortion] pill,” urging federal authorities to end approval of abortion-inducing drugs.
“If we’re going to revive passion to save the babies, it will only happen by producing ‘social tension,’” he explained.
Abortion currently is not among the top ten issues weighing on American voters’ minds, and Terry believes this “is a crisis for the unborn.”
“Social tension and peaceful civil disobedience drive an issue to the forefront,” he previously told LifeSiteNews. “And that is our mission; to make the abortion genocide a top political issue once again, so that we can make it illegal in all 50 states to kill babies.”
“What’s so important about this civil disobedience is that we’ve got the biggest cross section of pro-lifers I’ve ever seen – Democrats, Republicans, whites, blacks, young and old, Catholic and Evangelical – who are willing to get arrested together,” said Terry.
“If abortion is going to again be front and center for the American public, these activities have got to happen on a regular basis.”
Rescue Resurrection organizers say the Washington, D.C., action is intended to be a major public witness, continuing the series of “rescue” events launched under the Rescue Resurrection banner.
“What is a baby’s life worth?” asked Terry. “These children are having their heads crushed, their limbs torn off.”
Terry said that the inconvenience and discomfort of spending the weekend in jail pales in comparison to the fate of these children once their moms enter Planned Parenthood with the intent to abort. “We’re being fed, we’re warm, we’re not being tortured or killed,” he observed.
“This puts teeth in our rhetoric. If abortion is murder, we have to make sacrifices equal to the crime,” Terry said. “We are taking a page from the playbook of Dr. Martin Luther King. Social tension is necessary to create social change. So please join us in Washington, D.C. at the FDA to ban the murder pill.”
Rescue Resurrection is a pro-life movement coordinating peaceful, non-violent “rescue” actions at abortion facilities and government institutions across the United States. The movement seeks to publicly oppose abortion, advocate for the protection of unborn children, and to call on authorities and the public to end all abortion and abortion-inducing drugs.
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Pro life Ping
Were they actually trespassing or just protesting on a public sidewalk?
God Bless these activists. There is a special place for them waiting in Heaven.
They at first gave us warnings,
Listen to cops is a popular mantra here.
My interpretation of sitting in front of the door is either trespassing or at least interfering with someone's ability to get to a private property (from public property like a sidewalk).
From the article:
“When we sat down in front of the door at 8 a.m., about a dozen police squad cars flew from around the corner and piled out,” recounted Terry. “It was startling.”
“They at first gave us warnings, but we said, ‘We’re not going to leave because Planned Parenthood is the largest murderer of children in the western hemisphere. They’re trafficking baby body parts, they’re trafficking minors to kill their children,” said Terry.
Not bad advice I would think for most cases. But maybe your mileage will vary.
So they were trespassing. I applaud their cause, but not their method. As the activist said, a small price to pay for saving lives, but a price to be paid nonetheless.
From what I read just protesting. I can’t tell they did anything wrong.
It’s so sad that the general public is unaware of all the unjustly imprisoned pro-life activists who Trump had to pardon. If he weren’t president, they’d still be in jail. Even people who aren’t staunchly pro-life would be against the imprisonment of non-violent protestors, or the shutting down of crisis pregnancy centers.
I go by there all the time and usually see a couple of people on the sidewalk with signs. It’s on the way to my mother’s house.
This time they were on the property in front of the door. This I have never seen before.
Just more proof that the police are completely willing to violate your rights if so ordered.
This time they were on the property in front of the door.
= = =
Maybe they can ‘declare’ that they are pregnant (the men, too), and need Planned Parenthood assistance.
Wait, what, didn’t that great war hero Mark Kelly come over and tell you not to obey illegal orders?
RE: cops
Last year Monica Miller (author and pro-like activist) said, learning from the past year’s protest arrests, she and the others in a Michigan leaflet distribution action at an abortion place were careful to follow each rule the police told them earlier. No chanting, no attempts to block a woman’s progress as she walked in from the parking lot and so on.
They followed each rule and still got arrested anyway. Cop said “We have orders from the city to do this no matter what you do.”
Sev÷ral years ago, I had the privilege of meeting several opera/ion rescue members while attending a huge prolife conference. These people have a spirit about them that I can’t even describe, but if I were a demon I’d be running the other way PDQ!!
They are absolutely awesome and fearless. It’s definitely a calling to be on that team. They need our prayers, big time, not to mention people with that calling.
And they deserve it.
That’s the sad truth.
Steve Mulroy has something to do now.
One line described them as sitting in front of the door, for what it’s worth. But I suspect that, as in the UK, had they been away from the property line yet praying audibly, or just being seen with their lips moving, they would have been busted. We’re approaching the worst of England’s disgusting role of so-called law enforcement.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.