Mineola rally in support of Planned Parenthood in Hempstead

A crowd of nearly 50 protesters rallied Thursday night in support of a Hempstead Planned Parenthood clinic after a Bronx man allegedly attempted to prevent entry earlier this month.

Outside the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola, demonstrators — community members, area officials and elected leaders — gathered to show solidarity with those seeking an abortion and decry efforts to prevent people from getting the procedure.

Susan Bruno, of South Hempstead, said she was “disheartened” by the alleged perpetrator who prevented people from entering the center.

“I don’t know what people are thinking,” Bruno, 51, said. “It’s traumatic for those people who showed up” to the center.

On the morning of July 7, a Hempstead Village police officer saw Christopher Moscinski, 52, laying in the entry driveway of the Planned Parenthood — Hempstead Health Center on Fulton Avenue, according to a copy of the criminal complaint. Moscinski prevented vehicles from entering the location “causing annoyance, alarm and inconvenience,” the complaint states.

He was charged with disorderly conduct and given a desk appearance ticket, according to court records. Moscinski’s attorney, Douglas Reda, of Woodbury, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Hempstead Village Mayor Waylyn Hobbs, who spoke at the rally, said he wanted to show support for the facility so “people have a choice and safe choice” for an abortion.

The rally came as questions of continued over future legal access to abortion in New York and nationwide. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June overturned national, legalized abortion and returned the question of the procedure's legality to the states. While abortion remains legal in New York, some Republican leaders have said their goal is to make it illegal nationwide.

Moscinski previously blocked patients from entering a medical office in White Plains.

In March, Moscinski and two other men were found guilty of criminal trespass when they entered All Women’s Medic, a private medical office in White Plains, according to a news release from the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office.

“The District Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute any criminal acts that interfere with an individual’s constitutional right to freely access healthcare,” Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah said in a statement at the time of their conviction.

“There are no insignificant cases when it comes to the protection of reproductive rights,” Rocah said.

According to a criminal complaint, Moscinski on Nov. 27, 2021, entered the property and “unlawfully” stayed for two hours at the location and refused to leave despite verbal warnings. The doors of the property “exclude individuals without an appointment from entering,” the criminal complaint said.

The three, who are affiliated Red Rose Rescue, an anti-abortion religious group, will be sentenced in August.