Appeals court blocks Kentucky county's abortion clinic buffer zone ordinance
An appeals court has blocked a Kentucky municipality from enforcing an ordinance that would prevent pro-life activists from peacefully demonstrating outside an abortion clinic entrance.
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled unanimously on Wednesday to grant a preliminary injunction against a Louisville-Jefferson County ordinance restricting protests outside abortion clinics.
Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton authored the panel opinion, which reversed a district court ruling against the pro-life activists and remanded the case back to the lower court.
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“Sisters for Life, several individuals, and another pro-life organization wish to offer leaflets and compassionate, if sometimes unwelcome, speech to women entering abortion clinics in Louisville, Kentucky,” wrote Sutton. “But Louisville-Jefferson County limited their speaking and pamphleteering in buffer zones near the entrance of each clinic. Because these limits likely violate the First Amendment … we preliminarily enjoin them.”
At specific issue in the case was the pro-life demonstrations outside of the EMW Women's Surgical Center, which were barred from taking place within 10 feet of an entrance.
“Keep in mind, moreover, that the goal of the plaintiffs is not to harass or protest, whether loudly or violently. The point of their speech is to offer a compassionate ear,” Sutton added.
“To this day, it remains unclear why the County has sought to suppress their speech along with those types of protests that are far more likely to hinder access to a clinic and are sometimes designed to do just that.”
In May of last year, the Louisville Metro Council passed an ordinance in a vote of 14-11 that was aimed at allowing healthcare facilities, which was defined to include abortion clinics, to create buffer zones outside their entrances.
The ordinance barred people from obstructing an entrance or exit from a facility and prohibited people from creating any obstructions within a 10-foot-wide zone.
Violators of the ordinance would get a written warning, then a citation and a fine between $150 and $500. A second conviction within one year of a previous violation results in a fine of $250 to $500.
Ona Marshall, one of the owners of the EMW clinic, told The Courier-Journal shortly after the ordinance passed that she viewed it as an improvement to safety for all people in the area.
“This modest space will provide a way for women to access abortion, contraception and family planning services less fearful of unlawful conduct and with reduced risk of physical harm on a public sidewalk, which ultimately improves patients' medical outcomes,” stated Marshall at the time.
Kentucky is one of several states that has banned abortion in most circumstances following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June. The state's ban is currently being challenged in the courts.
