Oct 7, 2009 3:17 pm US/Central
City Council Restricts Anti-Abortion Protests
Protesters Now Must Keep Distance From Those Entering Clinics
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
-
-
Anti-abortion activists march outside City Hall before a City Council vote on an ordinance restricting how close protesters can get to those entering abortion clinics. The ordinance passed 28-13.
CBS
The City Council has voted to place restrictions on anti-abortion protests at clinics and hospitals.
The ordinance, approved by a vote of 28-13, creates a "bubble zone" that keeps a certain amount of distance between people going into abortion clinics and protesters.
The Chicago ordinance prohibits protesters from approaching within eight feet of a patient who is within 50 feet of a health care facility. Violators would be subject to fines of up to $500.
In what is known as "sidewalk counseling," anti-abortion activists often stop women entering the clinics and advise them not to go through with abortions.
In the past, activists have succeeded in shutting down some Chicago abortion clinics, at least temporarily, by blocking entrances.
Planned Parenthood Illinois President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Trombley said he hoped the ordinance would protect people entering clinics from "the increased level of harassment that we've seen in front of reproductive facilities."
"Patients have a right to enter a facility to get legal medical services without being harassed, without being screamed at, without being surrounded and intimidated," Trombley said.
But outside City Hall, anti-abortion activists held picket signs and protested against the ordinance, calling it unconstitutional and an infringement on their right to free speech.
Joe Scheidler, the national director of the Pro-Life Action League, said after the vote that he will likely bring protest signs with more graphic pictures as a result of the ordinance.
Other cities have enacted measures similar to the one passed Wednesday
in Chicago. The laws were prompted by the fatal shootings at
Boston-area clinics 15 years ago. Courts have generally ruled in favor
of the laws. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court
ruling upholding a Massachusetts buffer zone.
During the Chicago vote, several aldermen were not in the City Council chamber. Mayor Richard M. Daley was also off the floor, busy at a news conference on teen violence with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
The Tattooed Ladies of Hollywood
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments