"Appeals Court upholds Mass. abortion buffer zones
BOSTON --A federal appeals court has upheld Massachusetts' abortion buffer zone law. The 2007 law creates 35-foot protest-free zones around the entrances and driveways of clinics that offer reproductive services. Abortion protesters who filed the lawsuit last year said the buffer zones infringed on their First Amendment right to free speech. Attorney General Martha Coakley's office defended the law, saying it enhanced public safety and clinic access, while still guaranteeing people's right to express their opinions near the clinics.
Related: Coakley's Challenge
The ruling Wednesday by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court that also rejected the plaintiff's claims. A lawyer representing the protesters did not immediately return a phone call Thursday.
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Also see: Abortion: The Kosher Slaughter
My Abortion Evolution
Hey, look, I'm living with it; like the man said, the world isn't perfect and isn't ever going to be.
Full piece:
A Massachusetts law that bans protesters from a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinic entrances has been upheld by a federal Appeals Court.
The First US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled Wednesday that the law did not infringe on the free speech rights of protesters. It said the ban, passed in 2007, responded to “repeated incidents involving violence and other unduly aggressive behaviors in the vicinity of reproductive healthcare facilities.’’
The law, the court said, “represents a permissible response by the Massachusetts Legislature to what it reasonably perceived as a significant threat to public safety.’’
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a statement that she was “pleased that the First Circuit has upheld this important law, which enhances public safety and access to medical facilities, while preserving the right to engage in expressive activity on public ways and sidewalks near clinics.’’
But Tim Chandler - legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which helped represent the plaintiffs - said antiabortion advocates “shouldn’t be penalized for expressing their beliefs.’’
False-Flag Friday: Antiabortion and Antitax = Terrorist
AP Amplifies Terrorist Message From Prison
Yeah, wees all "terrorists" now.
“The government cannot single them out for punishment simply because they want to share their message with people entering the clinic,’’ Chandler said in a statement. “The government simply cannot create censorship zones where the First Amendment does not apply in order to silence a particular viewpoint.’’
Actually, THEY DO!
Ask any protester that went to the political conventions the last eight years.
The law, which was an update to a 2000 law that called for a floating buffer zone, sets up a fixed 35-foot buffer zone near any reproductive healthcare facility and bars anyone from entering or remaining within it unless they work at the clinic, are entering or leaving it, are public safety or other municipal officials, or are just walking through. The 2000 regulation was updated after abortion rights advocates, clinics, and police complained it was difficult to enforce....
The plaintiffs, the Appeals Court noted, argued on appeal that the law had a “content-neutral patina’’ that masked a “more sinister reality,’’ that the Legislature’s true motive was to curb antiabortion speech.Sad, but he's right, America -- and that's not the only speech under attack.
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Btw, I am a real pro-life prick. I saw a woman on the corner of the street yesterday all full-bellied and I got a smile. They just bought the house (community bank) and the sight of the belly -- BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!
Then again, it's not for everyone: The Women of Worcester and Other Sick Stories From New England
