{"id":218678,"date":"2020-02-18T14:40:37","date_gmt":"2020-02-18T20:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=218678"},"modified":"2020-02-18T01:04:55","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T07:04:55","slug":"pro-lifers-win-first-step-mississippi-buffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-lifers-win-first-step-mississippi-buffer\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-lifers win first step in fight against Mississippi buffer zone ordinance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-life-challenges-mississippi-buffer-zone-ordinance\/\">pro-life challenge to a buffer zone ordinance<\/a> passed by the City of Jackson, Mississippi, has had some recent success in court.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The buffer zone ordinance, enacted in October, requires police to enforce noise restrictions and to limit the activities of protesters within 15 feet of the entrance to a medical facility. Although supposedly aimed at <em>any<\/em> medical facility, the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/jackson-buffer-zones-pro-life\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ordinance<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> came at the behest of the state\u2019s only abortion facility, the Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization, and is largely <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jacksonfreepress.com\/news\/2019\/oct\/01\/jackson-restricts-anti-abortion-activists-new-buff\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">understood<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to target pro-life activities and organizations such as Sidewalk Advocates for Life. Violations of the ordinance could result in up to 90 days in jail or fines of up to $1,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Mississippi Justice Institute filed a free speech lawsuit on behalf of the Sidewalk Advocates for Life last fall, complaining, in part, that the ordinance runs <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mspolicy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Filed-Notice-of-Appeal.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">contrary to Mississippi\u2019s constitution<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Despite this, the city attempted to move the lawsuit to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlbt.com\/2019\/10\/15\/city-jackson-files-move-lawsuit-federal-court\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">federal court<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with city attorney Timothy Howard calling it \u201cthe appropriate venue for this matter.\u201d Last Wednesday, however, a federal judge <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mspolicy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/13-Order-Granting-Motion-to-Remand-to-State-Court-1.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ruled against<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the city\u2019s move, stating that the issue was local rather than federal, and ordered the City to pay attorney fees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>READ:\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-life-challenges-mississippi-buffer-zone-ordinance\/\">Pro-life group challenges Mississippi town\u2019s \u2018buffer zone\u2019 ordinance in court<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Director of the Mississippi Justice Institute, Aaron Rice, hailed the move. \u201cJackson\u2019s argument completely disregarded the principles of federalism upon which our country was founded, denigrated the competence of state courts to hear state law claims, and was dismissive of the authority of state courts to interpret their own state\u2019s constitution,\u201d he said, according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wlbt.com\/2020\/02\/12\/federal-court-shoots-down-city-jacksons-request-abortion-protesting-lawsuit\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WLBT<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cFortunately, the federal court understood that, and ensured that state courts will have this important opportunity to interpret the Mississippi Constitution\u2019s free speech protections.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sidewalk Advocates for Life also celebrated the move. In October, the organization told <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/mississippi-pro-lifers-file-suit-against-abortion-clinic-protest-restrictions-26261\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Catholic News Agency<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that 7,000 women nationwide have sought life-affirming alternatives, and that the ordinance would severely hinder the group&#8217;s ability to approach women seeking abortions to present them with alternatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWomen regularly accept our offer to help in the midst of an unexpected pregnancy,\u201d Pam Miller, co-leader of the organization, said to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mspolicy.org\/federal-court-sides-with-mji-sends-lawsuit-back-to-state-court\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mississippi Center for Public Policy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u201cIn fact, in partnership with other peaceful community members, more women than ever have opted to take advantage of the free, alternative resources the Jackson community provides. We are committed to connecting women with the loving, life-affirming assistance they deserve, and we will continue to serve the women of Mississippi in a peaceful and law-abiding way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lawmakers in Mississippi have also introduced\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jacksonfreepress.com\/news\/2020\/feb\/14\/gop-wants-override-jacksons-abortion-clinic-buffer\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">House Bill 628<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0in an attempt to prohibit buffer zone-type laws \u201cwithout prior legislative authorization.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveactionnewsonline\/\">\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A pro-life challenge to a buffer zone ordinance passed by the City of Jackson, Mississippi, has had some recent success in court.\u00a0The buffer zone ordinance, enacted in October, requires police to enforce noise restrictions and to limit the activities of protesters within 15 feet of the entrance to a medical facility. Although supposedly aimed at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":606,"featured_media":40642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3473,11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pro-lifers win first step in fight against Mississippi buffer zone ordinance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The ordinance came at the behest of the state\u2019s only abortion facility, the Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization and targets pro-life sidewalk counselors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-lifers-win-first-step-mississippi-buffer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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