Abortion clinic buffer zone violates First Amendment: Supreme Court

[Jazzy]

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday that a Massachusetts law setting a 35-foot protest-free zone outside abortion clinics violates the First Amendment.

The court in the past has allowed for buffer zones around facilities like health clinics, but Chief Justice John Roberts noted that the Massachusetts law restricts access to sidewalks and other public space. "Such areas occupy a 'special position in terms of First Amendment protec­tion' because of their historic role as sites for discussion and debate," Roberts wrote.

The government is allowed to limit speech in public spaces, so long as there is a significant interest in doing so, and as long as the limits are narrowly tailored and leave open alternative channels for speech. The Massachusetts law did not meet the latter part of those standards, Roberts wrote.

The case was brought forward by Eleanor McCullen, a woman in her mid-70s, and a group of other anti-abortion rights activists who stand outside of clinics to try to dissuade women from getting abortions.

"They are peaceful, non-confrontational, and do not obstruct access," their brief before the court argued. "Yet, the State prohibits them from entering or standing on large portions of the public sidewalk to proffer leaflets or seek to begin conversations with willing listeners."

The law's defenders, meanwhile, pointed to the its effectiveness at curbing violent and aggressive incidents.

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Do you think setting a 35-foot protest-free zone outside abortion clinics violates the First Amendment? Why / Why not?