Seventeen pro-life activists—ten men and seven women—spent the night of December 5 in a Memphis jail after staging a peaceful protest in front of Planned Parenthood’s headquarters in Tennessee. The action, organized by the Rescue Resurrection movement, is part of a series of non-violent initiatives aimed at reactivating the pro-life “rescues” movement in the United States.
Among the detainees are prominent names in pro-life activism: Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue; Joan Andrews Bell, historic defender of life; Terrisa Bukovinac, director of PAAU; Nathan Berning, head of Let Them Live; and Professor Monica Miller, of Citizens for Life.
«A small price to defend the babies»
Despite the fatigue after a sleepless night in a crowded cell, Terry told LifeSiteNews that imprisonment is “a very small price to defend the babies.” From inside the jail, Berning agreed with the same idea: “It’s time to make real sacrifices for the babies, even if that means going to prison.”
After her release, Joan Andrews Bell expressed gratitude for participating in what the organizers describe as the beginning of a renewed rescues movement: “It is a privilege to be part of the first of many Rescue Resurrection actions.”
Published videos show Terry, Bell, and other protesters being arrested and dragged by the police.
Planned Parenthood, in the crosshairs despite the illegality of abortion in Tennessee
Although abortion is illegal in Tennessee, the organizers suspect that Planned Parenthood helps pregnant women—including minors—to travel to other states where the practice remains legal. From his cell, Terry accused the organization of “trafficking women and helping minors cross state borders to abort.”
“We are not going to leave,” Terry told the police, “because Planned Parenthood is the biggest child killer in the Western Hemisphere.” The pro-life leader also reiterated accusations about trafficking fetal parts and denounced that “the real criminals” are those who practice or facilitate abortions.
A movement seeking to reactivate the pro-life struggle in the U.S.
Rescue Resurrection announced that its next major action will take place in Washington D.C. on January 22, 2026, with a sit-in in front of the FDA headquarters. The goal: to demand that President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ban the abortion pill and withdraw federal approval for drugs that induce abortions.
Terry argues that the pro-life cause needs to regain the lost social momentum: “Abortion isn’t even among the top ten issues that concern voters the most. That’s a crisis for the unborn.” For him, the “social tension” generated by peaceful civil disobedience is necessary to bring the debate back to the center of national politics.
“The most important thing,” he added, “is that here there is the greatest diversity of pro-lifers I’ve seen: Democrats, Republicans, whites, blacks, young, old, Catholics and evangelicals, all willing to be arrested together.”
«If abortion is murder, the sacrifices must match the crime»
For the organizers, these actions aim to remind of the value of each human life. “How much is the life of a baby worth?” Terry asked, harshly describing the violence of abortion. In his view, spending a weekend in jail cannot compare to the fate of the children who arrive at abortion clinics: “We are well-fed, we are warm, we are not tortured or killed.”
The Rescue Resurrection movement coordinates peaceful rescues at abortion clinics and government agencies. Its purpose is to publicly oppose abortion, protect the unborn, and pressure for an end to all abortive practices and the drugs that facilitate them.