Erika Schanzenbach sues abortion militants:

Obscene harassment, stalking, and harmful assault by radical abortion militants have led Erika Schanzenbach to sue for recompense in Tennessee’s Sullivan County Chancery Court. Thomas More Society attorneys filed a lawsuit on October 2, 2020, seeking damages and an injunction on behalf of Schanzenbach, a peaceful pro-life witness, as a result of the physical harm and emotional distress that she has suffered at the hands of members of a radical pro-abortion organization.

The lawsuit names Denise Skeen, her adult daughter Alethea Skeen, and the Bristol Regional Women’s Center abortion facility as the abusers responsible for the wrongs perpetrated against Schanzenbach. They are accused of intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, and public nuisance. The lawsuit seeks damages and an injunction to stop the Skeens’ malicious conduct.

The Skeens, self-identified online as “Pro-Choice Bristol,” have boasted about their illegal treatment of Schanzenbach on social media. The abortion center is named in the lawsuit for its provision of material support, physical accommodations, supervision, and encouragement of the Skeens’ repeated assaults on Schanzenbach.

“These radical abortion promoters have stepped beyond the limits of both civility and the law in their attempt to shut down pro-life speech. Erika Schanzenbach is peacefully exercising her First Amendment rights to speak against abortion and advocate for life-affirming alternatives,” shared Thomas More Society Counsel Michael McHale. “The Skeens have engaged in abusive, threatening, and illegal conduct – which they boast about online. Their so-named ‘Pink Manifesto’ states that they will ‘use any means necessary’ ‘whether legal or not’ to physically block pro-life witnesses. Their hostile and belligerent conduct cannot be allowed to continue unchecked. The court must hold the Skeens and the Bristol Regional Women’s Center accountable for their misdeeds.”

Thomas More Society attorneys possess video evidence, much of it readily available on social media, documenting the Skeens’ illegal actions. Some of the abusive and obnoxious acts that the Skeens have perpetrated against Schanzenbach include:

• Directing lewd comments to Schanzenbach and hurling profanities, taunts, and obscene gestures directly in her face
• Licking Schanzenbach’s arms
• Blaring damaging noise at Schanzenbach’s face and ears
• Making repeated unconsented close and invasive physical contact with Schanzenbach, including skin to skin, despite her emphatic requests to not do so
• Stalking Schanzenbach and closely tailing her on the long walk back to her vehicle
• Shadowing her and invading her personal space
• Surrounding Schanzenbach and blocking her in with large, open umbrellas

All of these abuses were conducted outside the Bristol Regional Women’s Center abortion facility in order to intimidate and harass Schanzenbach and prevent her from conducting her ongoing witness for life on the public right-of-way.

“In the case of Erika Schanzenbach,” added McHale, “these radical abortion promoters stepped way too far out of line. We ask the court to hold them responsible and put a stop to it.”

Read the Sullivan County Chancery Court lawsuit, Schanzenbach v. Alethea Skeen, Denise Skeen, and Bristol Regional Women’s Center, P.C., filed October 2, 2020, by the Thomas More Society, here.

This lawsuit is in addition to petitions for protection orders that Schanzenbach filed earlier this year, with the help of Thomas More Society attorneys. A trial in that case was held in August, where the judge verbally reprimanded the Skeens for their unacceptable behavior. However, the judge found that the allegations would be more fitting in a civil lawsuit, and he dismissed the case without prejudice. Schanzenbach has since filed an appeal of that ruling to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.