Last month, Monica Miller of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society was sentenced to 45 days in jail for entering a Michigan abortion clinic where she handed a rose to women there.
The controversial "Red Rose Rescue" is done with the understanding that misdemeanor laws have been broken and the abortion clinic will press charges, so there is no surprise when a jail cell is the result. Three others who participated have been sentenced, too, but Miller was the first to be released after 34 days behind bars.
According to a LifeSite News story, Laura Gies will be released May 18; Matthew Connolly will be released June 6; and Father Fidelis Moscinski will be released June 12.
As far as the jail experience, Miller says the pro-life activists “stuck out like sore thumbs” because they were polite to other inmates and didn’t curse.
“In fact,” Miller recalls, “one inmate came up to me and said, You don't look like somebody who gets into trouble. What ya in here for anyway?”
She says fellow inmates were surprised to learn they were jailed after entering an abortion clinic where they urged women to keep their children. While behind bars, the pro-life activists ministered to other women, including women who have had abortions, and they also prayed with inmates daily.
“I think people need to realize when a pro-lifer goes to jail for their defense of unborn children, this isn't a period of time when you're just going to suffer and bear a punishment,” she tells AFN. “This is your mission field and we're there to help other people.”
