Red Rose Rescue Trial Defense

Fr Stephen’s Thoughts and Statement about the September 15th, 2017
Red Rose Rescue, Arrest, November 20th 2017 Trial Defense
Fr Stephen Imbarrato

I have formed my conscience over a period of many years, in many ways, through many means about numerous peaceful, yet direct actions to save babies lives and end preborn childkilling in this country.

Decades ago I was morally guilty of failing to give proper witness to the pregnant mother of my twins thus causing the subsequent death of 2 children. I promised myself many years ago that I would never again be complicit in such an act and, if given opportunities, I would always witness to pregnant moms in a effort to save their babies. I have done this for 20 plus years all over the country in countless locations and situations. Part of my witness is my own complicity in the abortion of my own 2 children. Through the grace of God I have had a hand in saving many babies by properly influencing their parents.

As a Catholic priest, but more importantly as a member of the human family, I have a moral obligation to stand up in defense of those who cannot defend themselves. Science is indisputable that human life begins at fertilization and we know morally, medically, and scientifically that abortion is the direct ending of a human life; as Pope John Paul II states in Evangelium Vitae (1995), article 58, “an unspeakable crime” and “murder.” The words of this Pope and the infallible teaching of my faith have been etched on my heart and conscience. I have a Masters Degree in Theology and Bioethics which has formed me in the teachings of the Catholic Church, the natural law, and Catholic morals and ethics.

I adopted an 8 year old boy (1987) from an orphanage in Columbia, South America, and raised him to adulthood. He and his wife have given me 4 beautiful grandchildren and, most recently, my granddaughter has given birth to my beautiful great grandchild whom I very recently baptized. Three years ago, my son committed suicide and within a month of his death, my granddaughter, the mother of my great grandson was diagnosed with kidney cancer, lost a kidney, and is now in remission. What all this has taught me and formed in my conscience is that all life is “unique, precious, and unrepeatable” as my Catholic faith teaches. Again as a Catholic priest, a father, grandfather, and great grandfather, I have a moral obligation to protect the vulnerable and defenseless. This desire to protect the innocent is etched into my conscience and is who I am.

I have developed a website www.protestchildkilling.com which has been in existence for years, predicated on the fact that human life begins at fertilization and that at fertilization these human children are persons. The website is about ending preborn child killing in this country through the recognition that children in the womb are persons from fertilization. On the website is the case for constitutional personhood (Joshua Craddock’s treatise on the 14th Amendment and Personhood). Also on the website are peaceful yet decisive strategies to end preborn childkilling and the necessity to do so based on personhood at fertilization. I fully believe and expect in the coming months, President Trump will sign a Presidential Executive Order proclaiming constitutional personhood at fertilization, directing all federal agencies and departments to act according. I have been working diligently toward this since May of this year. Again www.protestchildkilling.com is the website with the strategies including the Personhood Proclamation Presidential Executive Order. Thus in a few months, I believe that actions such as the Red Rose rescue will be legal and necessary according to the law.

What if this killing of the unborn was happening in plain view of everyone? If I was walking down the street passing the property of an abortionist and he was performing these abortions in plain view of everyone, outside in the open with people being able to see the fingers, toes, arms, legs, heads, and bodies being extracted from a woman and laid out on a table, who would not directly intervene to stop those actions. Would the court have us just stand there on the property line and watch? Would we not be obligated to directly intervene?

Inside the abortion facility at Alexandria Women’s Health Clinic, if the police went into the surgical area and saw live babies being killed, would they not be obligated to intervene? I did not go into the surgical area. I believe now that I should have. We told the police that we were there to save babies from death and to remain there in solidarity with the babies that were being murdered. Did the police go into the surgical area to see if babies were indeed being killed? If not, why not? If so, what did they see? If they saw evidence of babies, would they have intervened to stop the deaths? (NB: One of the officers testified in court that he was aware that we were in the abortion facility because “they were killing babies.”

The fact is we were arrested unjustly and arbitrarily because of where we were, our location in the waiting room, for doing what would have been legal and also necessary in other locations and situations and will be, I believe, legal and necessary all locations and situations in the near future. In addition, I also believe that this arrest was invalid, that we were justified in our actions and in similar future actions. I also believe that laws protecting the murder of innocent persons are immoral and thus such laws need to be peacefully ignored. Finally, in our country where the government clearly sanctions the mass murder of innocent and defenseless unborn children, who clearly are persons in the eyes of God and according to natural law and ample US case law, that no US court or judge has the moral authority to put us on trial and find us guilty of doing what we have a moral obligation and necessity to do.