News
Featured Image
 Photo courtesy of Life Legal Defense Foundation

SAN MATEO, California (LifeSiteNews) — A woman has been charged with aggravated battery after she allegedly shoved 88-year-old pro-life sidewalk counselor Ross Foti outside a California Planned Parenthood abortion facility in October, causing him to fall against a fire hydrant and suffer serious injuries requiring hospitalization.

Life Legal Defense Foundation, the pro-life law firm representing Foti, made the announcement in a March 1 press release.

According to Life Legal, Foti was shoved by a “Planned Parenthood client” who “was furious that Ross had parked in front of the abortion mill. She screamed at him and then shoved him into a fire hydrant.”

“Even though the woman found another place to park, she screamed at Ross and then charged at him, ramming him with her arms and pushing him into the fire hydrant,” the legal group said.

The 88-year-old, who has spent the past 30 years praying outside Planned Parenthood facilities and counseling abortion-seeking women, reportedly “suffered a punctured lung and other serious injuries and was hospitalized after the assault.”

Following his release from the hospital after four days, Foti remains “in pain and requires ongoing treatment,” according to the press release.

RELATED: WATCH: Pro-life sidewalk counselor punched, bloodied by violent abortion activist

A previous press release issued in October suggested the aggression aimed at Foti isn’t anything new.

“Pro-aborts in the neighborhood have been trying to prevent Ross from parking at the Planned Parenthood for years,” the press release said, explaining that “one went so far as to post a flyer urging people to move their cars in front of the clinic in an effort to keep Ross from parking where his signs are most visible to clients.”

Foti’s signs, which have included graphic images of the mutilated bodies of murdered preborn babies, have sparked outrage from pro-abortion activists and led to numerous legal fights since the 1990s.

In its March 1 press release, Life Legal said no charges were initially filed against the woman who allegedly assaulted Ross until it launched a campaign urging supporters to contact the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office on behalf of Foti.

Following the campaign, Life Legal said it “learned that Ross’s attacker has been charged with aggravated battery causing serious bodily injury and battery against an elder, which carries enhanced penalties.” Though charged, she has not been arrested.

While hailing the charges against the woman as a “victory,” Life Legal argued that the district attorney wouldn’t have delayed filing the charges if the situation had been reversed. If Foti had shoved the woman, they argued, “he would likely have been arrested on the spot and immediately charged.”

The news comes hard on the heels of the full acquittal of pro-life sidewalk counselor Mark Houck, who was raided by the FBI and charged with two felonies for a minor incident outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic.

The charges stemmed from an altercation in which Houck pushed Planned Parenthood “escort” Bruce Love, who he said was verbally harassing his then-12-year-old son. Though complaints filed against Houck were tossed out by local authorities, the case was later picked up by the Biden administration’s Justice Department, which sent heavily armed FBI agents to his private property to arrest him at gunpoint in front of his terrified family.

Republicans have argued that Houck’s treatment suggests that the Biden administration is targeting pro-lifers and Catholics while failing to equally follow up on pro-abortion violence against pro-life pregnancy centers.

RELATED: GOP senators grill Merrick Garland over FBI, DOJ terrorizing Mark Houck and his family

Meanwhile, this is far from the first time Foti has been at the center of controversy stemming from his pro-life activism.

In 2007, Foti was banned from attending Mass at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in San Mateo after disagreements centering around his decision to park his vehicle, covered in graphic photos of the victims of abortion, outside the church.

In a September 24, 2007 letter, Rev. Anthony McGuire said Foti had failed to “conform with one of the demands which we had agreed to on Thursday, Sept. 20; namely that you would not attend the children’s Mass on Friday mornings.”

“You also agreed to cover the pictures and words on your truck when you came to church. Because you reversed your position … you are no longer welcome at St. Matthew’s Church,” McGuire wrote.

Foti was hit with two trespassing charges later that year when he attempted to go to Mass at St. Matthew’s.

In 2013, Foti made a citizen’s arrest of a Planned Parenthood “escort” who allegedly assaulted him as he was passing out pro-life materials to an abortion-seeking woman, LifeSiteNews <reported at the time.

12 Comments

    Loading...