Pro-lifer arrested after handing out brochures outside Planned Parenthood 

Law enforcement recently arrested a pro-life woman for her advocacy in San Francisco.

Anastasia Rogers, who works with the pro-life group Survivors San Francisco, was arrested and taken into custody Dec. 18. She was on a public sidewalk, near a San Francisco Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, handing out pro-life pregnancy center pamphlets at the time of the arrest.

A Planned Parenthood security guard called the police and alleged Rogers had used “threatening language,” Life News reports. Police officers who arrested Rogers cited a previous warrant related to the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which places rigorous restrictions on pro-life demonstrators and even those who are merely praying near abortion clinics. 

Rogers was released from jail the same day, Pro-Life San Francisco said, though pro-life advocates have called her arrest a First Amendment violation. 

Rogers also argued the arrest infringed on her right to free speech. 

“Yesterday, I was arrested for my pro life work at Planned Parenthood, specifically for social media content made at the sidewalk,” Rogers said in a statement. “Despite never breaking any laws during my time at the San Francisco Planned Parenthood, they’re using laws, as expected, to persecute people like me using false claims of ‘intimidation’ despite knowing I can’t intimidate a fly. 

“Yesterday was a very long and unexpected day and I still have a migraine as typing this however there are babies who die every day because of Planned Parenthood and we will not be intimidated into backing down,” she added. 

Pro-Life San Francisco called the arrest an abuse of power, saying it was “exactly the kind of legislative abuse we warned about when AB 1356 was being debated in 2021 – a dangerous expansion of the California FACE Act signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.” 

The organization pointed out even supporters of abortion rights, including state Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, and the American Civil Liberties Union, previously criticized the law as too vague. 

Pro-life advocates say Rogers didn’t block entrances, issue threats or break the law. They argued the arrest was based on a false claim made by the security guard. 

Pro-life San Francisco said Planned Parenthood was “actively working to target and silence Survivors activists through false accusations and legal intimidation.” 

Rogers was previously detained by law enforcement in a similar case. In 2023, authorities briefly held her and another activist for distributing pamphlets near Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. The hospital, connected to the University of California, San Francisco, provides abortion services, according to reports.