The Justice Department filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday against two anti-abortion groups and seven protesters who it said had wrongly blocked patients’ access to medical care by preventing them from leaving their vehicle, filling waiting rooms and surrounding Ohio abortion clinics during the 2021 protests.
Protesters organized by the nonprofit Citizens for a Pro-Life Society and Red Rose Rescue, an affiliated group, occupied the waiting room at the Northeast Ohio Women’s Center on June 4, 2021, according to the lawsuit. The groups allegedly encouraged patients not to have abortions, then filled the waiting room and refused to leave, prompting a police response. The next day, protesters surrounded the Bedford Heights Surgery Center, stretched out in front of the clinic entrance and stood in front of a patient’s car door to prevent him from leaving, according to the lawsuit.
washingtonpost
