Supreme Court asked to nix abortion clinic protest ‘bubble zones’

The Supreme Court may soon consider two cases challenging limits on how close protesters can be to people at abortion clinics and other health care facilities.

The Supreme Court may soon consider two cases that could dismantle limits on how close protesters can be to people at abortion clinics and other health care facilities.

The cases argue that "buffer zones" around clinics and "bubble zones" around the people who visit them violate the First Amendment.

“Americans either have the right to speech or they don’t. We shouldn’t be practicing viewpoint discrimination,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, an anti-abortion group, which filed an amicus brief in one of the cases.

But supporters of the limits say they’re essential. Melissa Fowler, chief program officer for the National Abortion Federation, said that since Roe v. Wade was overturned, protesters have traveled from states where clinics have closed to states where they remain open.  

Although there are some protections for clinics, including the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances or FACE Act that makes it a crime to block a facility’s entrance, patients and staff may still face intimidation.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/supreme-court-abortion-clinic-protest-bubble-zones-rcna174343

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