Victory: Judge Throws Out Disgraced New York AG’s Lawsuit Against Pro-Life Activists

By Life Site News Staff

A federal judge in New York has delivered a victory for attorneys from the Thomas More Society and a group of peaceful pro-life advocates in an unsubstantiated harassment lawsuit brought against them by former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

A Memorandum & Order issued July 20, 2018 by U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon in United States District Court – Eastern District of New York has denied a request for an injunction by the state in People v. Griepp et al.

The federal lawsuit, filed in June 2017, charged the peaceful pro-life sidewalk counselors – who offer abortion-bound women information on life-affirming alternatives – with “a weekly pattern of threatening, obstructive and violent activity.” The charges were brought despite lack of evidence of any of the purported threats, harassment, or groping that the prosecution had claimed occurred outside of the Choices Medical Clinic abortion facility in Jamaica, Queens.

Former Attorney General Schneiderman justified his claims under the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act. Schneiderman had sought both a preliminary and a permanent injunction, compensatory damages, and additional monetary penalties against the pro-life advocates.

Thomas More Society Special Counsel Martin Cannon, who represented ten sidewalk counselors who are members of the Church@TheRock in Brooklyn, New York, explained the problems with Schneiderman’s case. 

“The FACE Act specifically exempts constitutionally protected advocacy from its prohibitions. U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon obviously agreed. After a three-week trial on the preliminary injunction, she issued a 103-page opinion, systematically rejecting the credibility of the state’s witnesses, the merits of the state’s arguments, and the request for the injunction itself.”

Kenneth Griepp, Senior Pastor at Church@TheRock and one of the defendants in the lawsuit, declared, “We thank the Lord that our life-affirming work to counsel women considering abortion was upheld in federal court. As Christians who seek to honor Jesus, like Him, we will continue to offer compassion to those who see abortion as the only way out of an unexpected pregnancy. 

We said from the beginning that the charges against us were baseless and an offense to the First Amendment. We are grateful for the court’s thoughtful and detailed opinion that vindicates our rights. I speak for all the Church@TheRock pro-life sidewalk counselors when I say that we are also grateful for the superb and committed representation we have received from the attorneys at the Thomas More Society.”

Life Site News article continues here

Concentration Camp Survivor Urges Americans to Defend the Preborn: ‘Stand Up For the Innocent’

“I wish that the Christians had laid down their lives to save us. They were all pro-life; they were against what the government was doing. But they did nothing.”

By Carole Novielli
Live Action News

As a long time pro-life journalist and activist, I do not think I have ever been as moved speaking with an older pro-life activist as I was when I interviewed concentration camp survivor, Eva Edl, about her recent arrest during a pro-life rescue. 

At 82 years old, Eva was one of eleven Christians arrested on May 13, 2017, at the EMW abortion facility in Louisville, Kentucky, at a rescue organized by Operation Save America.

Eva once told an audience that her definition of courage is to “Do what you know you have to do no matter how much fear you experience.” Eva’s surname, Edl, means “noble” in German, but she jokingly says it’s really an acronym for “extremely determined lady.”

Eva considers a rescue — placing her body in front of an abortion facility — to be an act of obedience and worship to God.

She described the first time she participated in such an event. 

“The first time I realized there were abortion clinics in our country was in 1988. I said to my husband, ‘these are the death camps of America.’ I saw people sitting in front of abortion clinics in Atlanta and I’ve been involved ever since.”

Eva says that when she chose to sit in front of the Kentucky abortion facility, she knew the cost, but she believes that intervening on behalf of innocent children being led to their deaths is an act of mercy. 

“When the government decided to make it a Federal offense by passing the F.A.C.E. Act [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances], most people didn’t dare to interpose and put their bodies in front of the door anymore,” Eva said. “I only rescued once in Philadelphia – but I knew that the time would come that we would have to risk it in order to give God the excuse to be merciful to our nation. I think it’s our last chance.”

Eva knows all too well what can happen when Christians are silent in the face of evil.

Eva is ethnic German, and at the age of nine, was one of many men, women, and children who were forcefully removed from their homes and taken to a communist concentration camp during the Hungarian occupation of Yugoslavia.

Live Action News report continues