PITTSBURGH - A federal appeals court has struck down an ordinance that created two types of buffer zones around medical facilities after a Christian legal group challenged the law on behalf of a nurse who protests abortions.
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found the 2005 Pittsburgh ordinance unduly restricted protesters from passing out leaflets and participating in other forms of free speech. The Pittsburgh law bans protesters from standing within 15 feet of entrances but also makes them stand 8 feet from clients in a 100-foot buffer around entrances.
The court found that either zone by itself could be legal. The US Supreme Court has upheld a Colorado law setting a similar 100-foot zone, and affirmed decisions by courts in Florida and New York to ban protesters from within several feet of medical facility entrances. But combined, the appeals court found, the zones violate free-speech rights of protesters, who find it difficult to hand out leaflets.
“This is an extremely important victory for pro-life speech. The court drew a well-needed line in sand,’’ David Cortman, the Alliance Defense Fund attorney who challenged the ordinance, said yesterday.
City attorneys said the 15-foot buffer keeps protesters from blocking entrances, while the 100-foot zone keeps them from following or harassing clients.
