In response to an urgent 911 call, nearly a dozen police SUVs raced down the streets of Morristown, New Jersey with lights flashing and sirens blaring. Arriving at the scene—where bags of human remains were discarded daily—police rushed in and slammed the offenders to the ground, cuffing their hands behind their backs.
The offenders were led outside, each by two officers, and placed in a separate police vehicle. Witnesses filmed the accused being carried out one by one. One man called out, “We love you, Father. God bless you for what you do.” The prisoner nodded in acknowledgement before following the officer’s instructions to turn around and climb into the vehicle.
Evidence of the alleged crimes remained inside, including calling-card red roses with notes attached that said, “You were made to love and to be loved.”
Friends, this is not the story of a serial killer finally facing justice. Instead, this was the scene at Garden State Gynecology on Saturday, July 13, 2019. In a force more typical of an open shooter threat, the 911 caller reported that two priests and two laypersons were praying and offering roses with notes of love and encouragement to women considering abortion inside the clinic.
Those arrested were Fidelis Moscinski, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal; David Nix, a former EMT and paramedic and current Catholic hermit; Will Goodman, a full-time pro-life advocate and lifelong Catholic; and a Christian who wishes to remain nameless. They were arrested during an early-morning Red Rose Rescue.
This is the origin story of Red Rose Rescue, whose promise is to “place yourself between the killer and someone who’s slated for death.”
Who Started Red Rose Rescue?
Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter
—Proverbs 24:11 (NKJV)
Red Rose Rescue was inspired by Mary Wagner, a Canadian born in 1974 and was the third of twelve children. Every day during prayer, Mary’s parents led the family in a prayer for an end to abortion. She began advocating for life in high school and was arrested approximately six times for praying and offering help to women at abortion clinics before joining a monastery for four years.
In 2010, Mary walked in the crowded hallway of an abortion clinic carrying roses. She offered the rose, encouragement, and practical help to every woman waiting for an abortion. Over the next 20 years, Mary spent a collective total of six years in prison for her efforts to save just one more child of God.
Mary is the inspiration for the US based Red Rose Rescue, that was started in 2017. Red Rose Rescue offers a formula for a way to “peacefully talk to women scheduled for abortion, with the goal of persuading them to choose life.”
What Does Red Rose Rescue Do?
Red Rose Rescue looks a little different from Mary Wagner’s one-woman ministry. Rescuers attach a note to each rose. The notes include phone numbers of local Pregnancy Centers and biblically based messages of love and encouragement that speak to all of humanity, regardless of faith.
According to their website, there are many ways to participate in or support a Red Rose Rescue. During a rescue, up to six people will enter an abortion clinic to sit in the waiting room, talk to mothers, offer roses, and pray. Some inside the clinic may quietly pray in solidarity in support of their fellow rescuers. They may also serve as witnesses in court for those who choose to remain until they are removed by law enforcement.
Additional rescuers outside pray, film the events, or engage in peaceful sidewalk counseling.
Red Rose rescuers serve in many other ways, such as transportation support, writing and speaking, prison support, preparing roses and notes, and outreach. In every capacity and in all things, Red Rose rescuers act in charity, nonviolence, love, and solidarity as representatives of Jesus Christ.
Persecution of Red Rose Rescuers
Red Rose rescuers have spent countless nights behind bars for their actions. Among them are many pro-life activists persecuted during the previous presidential administration and pardoned by President Trump in January 2025, including: Paulette Harlow, William Goodman, Jean Marshall, Lauren Handy, Fidelis Moscinski, Joan Bell, Jonathan Darnel, John Hinshaw, and Herb Geraghty.
However, legal battles for Red Rose Rescuers continue at the state level. For example, in New York, Attorney General Leticia James described Red Rose rescuers as a militant group.
Robert Muise, an attorney for Red Rose Rescue, said James’s suit was “Nothing more than a tool of intimidation . . . to attack and vilify peaceful pro-lifers to discourage them from engaging in activity that is constitutionally protected.”
Muise went on to say that James is “either incompetent in that she does not know the facts or she is malicious in that she doesn’t care about the facts and just wants to intimidate all pro-lifers. My bet is on the latter.”
In March 2025, US District Judge Kenneth M. Karas dismissed the case.
New Jersey
Those involved in the Garden State Gynecology in 2019 waited almost six years for resolution. In an interview, Nix said he knew they would likely be arrested for refusing to leave the clinic, but the “necessity” of the circumstances left no other option. He explained his philosophy as a rescuer with an analogy:
If we’re walking through a rich neighborhood, [with] a covenant-controlled swimming pool, and a gate that said ‘No trespassing,’ but you could see . . . an eight-year-old girl drowning. Could you refrain from obeying that sign and save the life of a child? [. . .] While we recognize that the abortion center is private property, the requirement to refrain from trespassing takes a second place in the requirement for anybody to stop murder.
However, what he didn’t anticipate was the over-blown response to a peaceful rescue:
As an ex-paramedic who ran every single call with police, [the police response] was so disproportionate to have 10 SUVs come flying, lights and sirens, code three, as we say, to the end of this cul-de-sac. I noted how odd it was for the police to be so forceful during an arrest. I suspect . . . the abortionist on the 911 call probably implied we were terrorists because, by the time they came, it was a big cop [. . .] and the way he arrested Fr. Fidelis is [that] he body-slammed [him] on the ground.
For Nix, Goodman, Moscinski, and their friend, on March 14, 2025, all four were found guilty of trespassing. They were sentenced to 30 days in jail, but the sentences were suspended as long as they abide by the terms of 18 months of probation, during which they will not be required to report to a probation officer.
The Future of Red Rose Rescue
As long as abortion is legal in the United States, movements such as Red Rose Rescue will always have plenty of work to do.
In her December 20, 2024, interview, Mary Wagner offered gratitude and encouragement to the Americans who walk in her footsteps:
I am so grateful [for their] peaceful interventions. I pray that others would be touched by that witness and see that the natural continuum of care for our unborn brothers and sisters and their moms doesn’t stop where the law arbitrarily says we can’t go. My hope and prayer is that [the Red Rose movement] would continue as one of many ways that we’re trying to live the gospel of life and truly love those who are in need. I pray that God would multiply like He multiplied the loaves and fishes.
Conclusion
At PreBorn!, our mission is to save babies and souls by connecting with abortion-minded women and provide them alternatives, along with resources, and community, and free ultrasounds so she understands the precious life growing inside of her.
In those moments, we pray that the staff and the Holy Spirit will move that mother’s heart as she hears about the love of God who created both her and her baby.
FAQ
What is Red Rose Rescue?
Red Rose Rescue is a pro-life movement in the United States that conducts peaceful interventions to save the preborn and their mothers from abortion. Rescuers work to help defend lives, save souls, make reparation, and directly confront the evil of child sacrifice in those darkest places in the world with the unstoppable light of Christ’s love.
How did Red Rose Rescue Start?
Red Rose Rescue was inspired by the work of Canadian pro-life activist Mary Wagner. Mary entered abortion clinics and offered roses, encouragement, and assistance to women waiting for their scheduled abortion.
What do Red Rose Rescuers Do?
Red Rose rescuers offer roses and notes of encouragement to women waiting for their abortion procedure, and they talk with women in hopes of saving both mothers and babies from the devastation of abortion. Other volunteers support the rescue through prayer and many other efforts.
What challenges have Red Rose rescuers faced?
Red Rose Rescuers have been arrested, detained, and persecuted. Despite recent pardons by President Trump, rescuers continue to fight legal battles at the state level.
