Man accused of blocking access to New York Planned Parenthood

A man has been charged with illegally blocking access to a New York Planned Parenthood clinic that provides reproductive health services, including abortion.

Christopher Moscinski, 52, was arrested Thursday. He's accused of fastening padlocks and bicycle locks to the gated entrance of the Hempstead facility early July 7. According to court documents, some of the locks had glue poured into them.

An attorney who is thought to be representing Moscinski was not immediately reached for comment Thursday.

In filing documents, law enforcement officials say Moscinski returned to the health center in a religious robe and used his body to block vehicles from entering the clinic's parking lot until he was arrested.

Moscinski said in a July 14 interview that he put six locks and chains on the clinic's gates and laid in front of the gate to try to keep Planned Parenthood closed for as long as possible after his arrest. Moscinski is serving a three-month jail sentence for trespassing at an abortion clinic in White Plains, New York.

Samuel Mitchell, chief operating officer of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, said patients seeking care shouldn't be harassed and intimidated.

Over the years, we have seen anti-abortion extremists lie and use physical force to threaten our staff, bully our volunteers, and demoralize our patients. Mitchell said that nationwide attacks on abortion rights have fueled their vitriol. We will not allow our communities to fall victim to extreme hate. We will pursue every avenue of legal recourse to ensure the safety and security of patients, staff and volunteers. In a statement, Moscinski prevented women from seeking health services they were legally entitled to, said Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Peace said that the office will enforce federal law to protect clinics and staff that provide reproductive health services while safeguarding the rights of their patients.

In 1994, Congress passed the FACE Act in response to an increase in violence toward patients and providers of reproductive health services, officials said. It prohibits violent, threatening, damaging or obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate or interfere with an individual s right to seek, obtain or provide reproductive health services, officials said.

First-time convictions are misdemeanor violations punishable by up to a year in federal prison. The convictions of subsequent convictions are a felony.