“This new law chills life-saving speech by threatening massive civil fines for nonviolent acts such as peacefully offering a leaflet of information to passersby on a public sidewalk.”
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last month that Massachusetts’ 35-foot buffer zone blocking protests around abortion clinics violated First Amendment rights, the state has created an end run around that continues to afford clinics special protection. The state has now rushed through a new law that allows police to “order the immediate dispersal of a gathering that substantially impedes access to” clinics. The law only applies to reproductive health care facilities.
Wednesday, Governor Deval Patrick signed the Act to Promote Public Safety and Protect Access to Reproductive Health Care Facilities. In a statement Patrick said that the law would ensure the safety of women seeking abortions:
“Massachusetts leadership in ensuring that women seeking to access reproductive health facilities can do so safely and without harassment, and that the employees of those facilities can arrive at work each day without fear of harm.”
The new law gives law enforcement the authority to “order the immediate dispersal of a gathering that substantially impedes access to or departure from an entrance or a driveway to a reproductive health care facility.” If authorities feel that protestors are preventing access to the clinic, they can force the protesters to move 25 feet away , ten feet shorter than the previous 35-foot buffer.
The measure also imposes fines and penalties for either blocking access to or interfering in some way with vehicles entering an abortion clinic. If protestors fail to comply with an officer’s initial request, they can suffer additional penalties including injunctions and a fine of up to $25,000 for repeat offenders.
“We believe it will withstand any constitutional scrutiny moving forward,” said State Attorney General Martha Coakley.
Some pro-life advocates argue the law gives special protections to abortion clinics and, like the unconstitutional buffer zone, limits free speech rights. The attorney for Eleanor McCullen, the Massachusetts clinic protestor whose case reached the Supreme Court, saidthe law will have a chilling effect on free speech:
“This new law chills life-saving speech by threatening massive civil fines for nonviolent acts such as peacefully offering a leaflet of information to passersby on a public sidewalk.”
This is a copy of the full article provided by the Conservatives at Truth Revolt
