If they’re free to harass pregnant women, we’re free to harass them right back
by digby
The Supreme Court unanimously struck down Massachusetts’ abortion buffer zone law on Thursday, ruling in favor of anti-choice protesters who argued that being required to stay 35 feet away from clinic entrances is a violation of their freedom of speech. The decision rolls back a proactive policy intended to safeguard women’s access to reproductive health care in the face of persistent harassment and intimidation from abortion opponents.
“By its very terms, the Act restricts access to ‘public way[s]‘ and ‘sidewalk[s],’ places that have traditionally been open for speech activities and that the Court has accordingly labeled ‘traditional public fora,’ ” the opinion states. “The buffer zones burden substantially more speech than necessary to achieve the Commonwealth’s asserted interests.”
[…]
The opinion in the case acknowledges that states have a legitimate interest in passing laws to preserve access to reproductive health facilities. They’ll just have to figure out how to do it with different policies that “burden substantially less speech.” The justices write that Massachusetts hadn’t tried out enough alternatives before enacting a 35-foot zone, and could have proposed narrower solutions like passing local traffic ordinances to prevent the obstruction of clinic driveways.
I guess I’m just obtuse in these matters. If a traffic ordinance is designed with the intention of keeping protesters away from clinics then it escapes me why it’s logically ok to do it when a “buffer zone” isn’t. I guess as long as you pretend it isn’t what it clearly is then it’s ok. What kind of principle is that?
This is obviously depressing from the pro-choice perspective. The anti-abortion zealots are just awful people, really. They have absolutely no problem treating these girls and women absolutely horribly while proclaiming themselves to be saints. It’s a truly disgusting display of cruelty in the name of God.
The only thing we can do to ensure that women can have agency in their own lives, obviously, is continue to fight for their rights. If women have to face these horrible people screaming in their faces and calling them killers the least we can do is stand beside them and scream back on their behalf.
Update: This is what women have to put up with:
And every step of the way they’re being screamed at and called murderers and killers.
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