'God had other plans': Charges against pro-life activist Anastasia Rogers dropped

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, October 01, 2026

Pro-life activist Anastasia Rogers says the dismissal of charges against her over a video she filmed outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in San Francisco shows that “God had other plans.” 

In an Instagram post, the pro-life group Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust announced that all charges against Rogers had been dropped in connection with “a 14-second video filmed outside a San Francisco Planned Parenthood" that prosecutors alleged sought to intimidate Planned Parenthood staff.

The video led to her “being arrested and charged under California’s [Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances] Act,” the group said. The state law makes it a crime to use force, the threat of force or physical obstruction to interfere with someone seeking or providing reproductive healthcare. Rogers was also “placed under a protective order restricting her sidewalk outreach.”

The first trial ended in a mistrial after a hung jury, meaning jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict. It expressed gratitude that the remaining charges had now been dropped and the protective order lifted. The group thanked Life Legal Defense Foundation for representing Rogers.

Rogers described the case in a joint Instagram post with Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, its San Francisco chapter and Life Legal Defense Foundation.

“Just over one year ago, I posted a 14-second Instagram reel. Yesterday, the FACE Act charges filed against me were dismissed. For a year, I watched my time, my energy, my First Amendment rights and for a part of that time, even my ability to sidewalk counsel, get dragged through the courts,” she said.

“California took me to trial, and they couldn’t convict me,” Rogers added. “They even wanted to try again but God had other plans. It’s over. We beat the FACE Act. Remember that God is faithful.”

Rogers ended her video message by urging people to “pray for the women who walk through those doors” and “pray for the babies.”

Her original video showed her sidewalk counseling at a San Francisco Planned Parenthood. Sidewalk counseling means approaching people outside abortion clinics to offer alternatives and resources. The caption noted that “the video went viral and the DA decided to press California FACE Act charges.”

“Anastasia was arrested and was facing 2 years in prison for simply being pro life in a city and state that loves child sacrifice,” the Instagram post stated. “Despite this she stood strong and with her @lifelegal defense team took this all the way to a jury trial. After almost 2 weeks of trial the completely pro-choice jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision so while the majority were saying NOT GUILTY a mistrial was declared.”

In a statement Monday, Life Legal Defense Foundation said jurors voted 10-2 to acquit Rogers on one count and 9-3 to acquit her on the other.

“Anastasia was willing to go to trial again and the state of California was pursuing trial at first before agreeing to just a 3 month diversion where after three months the charges would drop completely if Anastasia stayed out of legal trouble. Yesterday, it all ended," the Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust statement reads. 

“Standing for life, especially in areas that are overwhelmingly anti-life, can be scary. The laws may not always be used to support you even when you are following them. But with God on our side, we can’t fail. He is our strength and His will be done — we have no reason to fear. Praise the Lord for such an amazing outcome."

Life Legal Defense Foundation said in a statement published after Rogers’ arrest in December 2025 that on-duty security cited “threatening language” in one of Rogers’ social media posts about her pro-life activism as the reason for the arrest.

In video footage of the arrest, Rogers defended her outreach at the clinic as she sat in the back of a police car.

“There’s some chalk on the sidewalk. We have leaflets that have information [about] other resources in the neighborhood," she said. 

Rogers said the materials she gave women at the clinic also included “phone numbers that people can contact if they need help about abortion pill reversal” and information “if they need counseling after an abortion.” She insisted that “there’s no intent to intimidate ever — we’re never intimidating people, we’re trying to help people.”