This article was updated following publication for clarity.
HEMPSTEAD, New York (LifeSiteNews) — Well-known pro-life advocates Father Fidelis Moscinski and Laura Gies were sentenced in New York Friday morning for “trespassing” and “obstruction” in connection to an April 2021 “Red Rose Rescue” in which they urged mothers not to abort their babies.
Father William Kuchinsky told LifeSiteNews in a Friday email correspondence that Moscinski, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, and Gies were both sentenced in the Nassau County District Court on Friday morning for “Obstruction of Governmental Administration” and trespassing.
Nassau County Judge Karen L. Moroney sentenced Moscinski to 90 days for the obstruction charge and 15 days for trespassing, to be served concurrently. Gies received 45 days for obstruction and 15 days concurrent for trespassing. Moroney rejected requests from prosecutors to punish the pro-lifers with the maximum penalty of one year behind bars.
The sentencing came in relation to a Red Rose Rescue carried out by Gies, Moscinski, and fellow pro-lifer John Hinshaw at an abortion facility on April 24, 2021. During “Red Rose Rescues,” pro-life advocates enter abortion facilities to offer flowers to pregnant mothers and encourage them not to go through with abortion.
The pro-life advocates tried to “remain with the babies they sought to rescue” during the April intervention, according to Kuchinsky, after which they were arrested and charged with trespassing and obstruction. Hinshaw has already served his sentence.
Catholic priest Father Fidelis Moscinski was arrested by the police in Manhasset, Long Island, on April 24, for refusing to leave an abortion clinic. Father Moscinski is a well known pro-life activist. pic.twitter.com/IVJp9q6IOR
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) April 27, 2021
READ: Red Rose Rescuer: How going to jail served as a continued witness to the sanctity of life
Gies, who received her sentence on Friday before Moscinski, read a prepared statement in court explaining that her pro-life intervention was conducted “peacefully” and that “it is worth the effort to reach out to mothers at abortion facilities.”
“On April 24th, 2021, I peacefully intervened between the knife and the child and mother, because this is needed resistance in the face of horrendous and grave evil,” she said. “The only difference between an unborn child and a just-born child and you and me, is time, growth, and breathing air outside her mother’s womb.”
“Abortion is a totalitarian act against a helpless child,” Gies said.
The staunch pro-life advocate reportedly quoted the battle cry of the Cristeros, “Viva Cristo Rey,” as she exited the courtroom.
Kuchinsky told LifeSiteNews that, when the time came for Moscinski’s sentencing, the “humble Franciscan priest” simply shook his head when asked if he wanted to provide a statement. Moscinski then “left the courtroom in chains but to the cries of: ‘We love you, Father!’ and, ‘You’re a hero, Father!’” from the crowd of about 15 people who came to support the pro-lifers.
Supporters in attendance included Gies’ husband as well as nuns with the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal.
According to Kuchinsky, both Moscinski and Gies had “ample time to say goodbye and hug loved ones” ahead of the sentencing. After the sentence was handed down, both was immediately escorted away.
This isn’t Moscinski’s first sentencing this week alone.
The dedicated Catholic priest, who has been arrested many times for his fearless pro-life advocacy, was also sentenced on Tuesday to six months in prison under federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance (FACE) Act charges for blocking access to a New York abortion facility last summer, LifeSiteNews reported.
READ: Father Fidelis sentenced to six months in prison after blocking access to abortion center
As LifeSite previously reported, Moscinski was charged, convicted, and sentenced after he locked the gates of a Planned Parenthood facility in Hempstead, New York. The “lock and block” effort was not associated with the Red Rose Rescuers.
Though local authorities merely charged him with an ordinance violation following the action, federal authorities later brought FACE Act charges against the priest.
In court, Moscinski told the judge that he locked the gate “because Planned Parenthood as an organization is in the business of killing.”
“Every procured abortion that occurs on its premises constitutes the deliberate killing of an innocent human being,” he said. He also argued that he was not guilty of violating the FACE Act since the law can’t “be seen as anything other than null and void since it attempts to give legal protection to actions which are intrinsically evil and unjust.”