It’s been nearly a decade since the Center for Medical Progress’s riveting undercover videos exposed the brutality of fetal organ harvesting. As the world watched abortionists cavalierly discuss how to extract the best “specimens” from babies born alive to make a profit, pro-life advocates were outraged by the barbaric atrocity.
The Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust (“Survivors”) took up the fight to expose the fetal organ harvesting that was taking place at public universities and hospitals across the country. One of those hospitals is Zuckerberg, (yes, THAT Zuckerberg) General Hospital, affiliated with the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). The hospital routinely commits abortions through 24 weeks and offers third trimester abortions in certain cases.
These dedicated pro-life activists have engaged in demonstrations outside the hospital to raise awareness about human subject experimentation at UCSF including:
- Transplanting the intestines of babies at 18-24 weeks gestation onto the backs of rodents
- Implanting the reproductive tracts of late-term fetuses into mice
- Engrafting mice with human fetal thymus and liver tissue
Despite the peaceful nature of the Survivors’ activities on property open to the general public, hospital administrators and UCSF police have repeatedly cited the pro-lifers for trespass. All cases have been dismissed – none ever made it to court. The citations and threat of arrest were just a tactic to prevent the truth of what was happening at the hospital from being exposed on its very doorstep.
Life Legal attorneys have vigorously defended the pro-lifers from these baseless criminal charges. But this spring, Life Legal affiliate attorney Mike Millen launched a counteroffensive of documentary evidence and controlling legal precedent that stopped the attack on pro-life speech dead in its tracks. The hospital and the police have agreed that these peaceful free speech activities do not violate the law or current hospital policies. Thus, the S.F. Dept. of Public Health (“DPH”) will no longer attempt to stop or otherwise interfere with orderly free speech activity outside Zuckerberg General Hospital.
In the wake of liberty celebrations across the country this past week, the bells of freedom are ringing loud and clear for pro-life advocates in San Francisco. For today we rejoice with those who rejoice!
Even as we celebrate, we remain vigilant – this is San Francisco after all. Though the current policies do not prohibit holding signs, leafletting, and informing the public about the horrors that take place on the infamous 6G floor, the S.F. Dept. of Public Health has vowed to conduct a “thorough review of their policies.” You know what that means. Our fight for the free speech rights of pro-life advocates is not over. While we enjoy today’s victory and freedom from false arrest, we stand prepared for the next battle in the fight for life.
Thank you for standing with us to defend the constitutional rights of courageous pro-life advocates in San Francisco and across the nation. Please consider making a generous donation today to ensure that speech in defense of the most vulnerable among us remains protected.