Jury Refuses to Prosecute Pro-Life Advocate for Recording Planned Parenthood Video

A San Francisco jury deadlocked Friday in the bogus criminal case against pro-life advocate Anastasia Rogers.

Their decision, a temporary victory for the pro-life woman, forces a mistrial after most jurors rejected prosecutors’ claim that a 14-second social media video she recorded outside a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic amounted to illegal intimidation.

The case stemmed from a brief Instagram reel Rogers posted contrasting her peaceful sidewalk outreach with the work of a clinic escort. Prosecutors charged her four months later under California’s Freedom of Access to Clinic and Church Entrances (FACE) Act and Penal Code 423.2(g), alleging she intentionally videotaped within 100 feet of the reproductive health facility without consent and with the intent to intimidate.

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After nearly two weeks of trial and deliberations this week, jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict.

According to information disclosed following the mistrial, the jury stood 10-2 in favor of acquittal on Count 1 and 9-3 in favor of acquittal on Count 2.

“This prosecution never should have been brought,” said Alexandra Snyder, chief executive officer of Life Legal Defense Foundation, which represented Rogers. “Anastasia has endured the stress, expense, and uncertainty of criminal prosecution because of a brief social media post expressing her pro-life beliefs. After nearly two weeks of trial, not only did the State fail to convince the jury that she committed a crime, but ten San Francisco jurors voted to find her not guilty.”

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office may seek to retry the charges. A hearing is scheduled for Monday morning at 9 a.m. in Department 17 at the Hall of Justice to determine the next steps.

Supporters of Rogers, who filled the courtroom during the trial, viewed the case as an attempt to criminalize peaceful pro-life expression on public property.

No one was obstructed or threatened during the filming, according to Rogers and her legal team

Rogers was arrested December 18 while peacefully handing out pregnancy resource pamphlets on the public sidewalk in front of the Planned Parenthood at 1522 Bush Street in San Francisco.

She had posted the 14-second video two months earlier as part of a popular “handshake” trend set to the song “Illegal” by PinkPantheress. The clip showed Rogers shaking hands toward the camera — symbolizing pro-life outreach offering help to women in crisis pregnancies — then toward a clinic escort.

Rogers has maintained she never threatened anyone.

“If Planned Parenthood thinks that throwing me in jail for 7 hours or 7 days is going to stop me from loving my neighbor — the preborn child — they’re wrong,” she said after her arrest.

Life Legal Director of Criminal Litigation Allison Aranda, one of Rogers’ attorneys and a former prosecutor, stated, “In my years as a criminal trial attorney, I have never seen or heard of the prosecution re-trying a case after ten jurors voted to acquit the defendant.”

Snyder added: “Political disagreement is not intimidation, and advocacy is not a crime. Americans should be deeply concerned when protected speech becomes the basis for criminal prosecution. Today’s mistrial is an important reminder that our constitutional freedoms do not disappear simply because someone disagrees with a speaker’s viewpoint.”