{"id":275408,"date":"2022-09-04T13:02:42","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T18:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=275408"},"modified":"2022-09-02T18:03:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T23:03:32","slug":"pro-life-sidewalk-counselors-challenge-buffer-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/pro-life-sidewalk-counselors-challenge-buffer-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-life sidewalk counselors continue to challenge abortion buffer zone"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

(Liberty Counsel<\/a>) Liberty Counsel filed an opening brief<\/a> to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals against an ordinance that created unconstitutional buffer zones to silence pro-life speech on public property and sidewalks around abortion facilities in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

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Liberty Counsel represents Becky Biter and Colleen Reilly, who have regularly engaged in peaceful sidewalk counseling to encourage women to protect the life of their unborn child. Biter and Reilly have been harassed and intimidated by clinic staff and the local police since the ordinance passed. This ordinance pushes pro-life counselors sometimes 50 feet to more than 70 feet away and prohibits their freedom of speech, which includes peaceful one-on-one counseling and leafleting on the public sidewalk in front of the Harrisburg Planned Parenthood abortion facility.<\/p>\n

This case is before the Third Circuit for the third time. Plaintiffs continue to challenge the constitutionality of Harrisburg\u2019s buffer zone ordinance, which is a gross intrusion into Biter and Reilly\u2019s constitutional right to free speech and right of assembly. The city has blatantly ignored its constitutional obligations to protect speech by imposing an ideological ban on pro-life speech in a traditional public forum that the First Amendment protects.<\/strong><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Kentucky city passes ordinance to stifle pro-life free speech<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, \u201cThe city of Harrisburg has a constitutional mandate to protect the free speech rights of all people in its jurisdiction, and it has no authority to discriminate on the basis of pro-life viewpoints. Public sidewalks and parks have always been protected as places where people can gather to participate in the marketplace of ideas. The city is appeasing Planned Parenthood by silencing all pro-life speech. Setting aside the Constitution\u2019s Free Speech Clause in order to silence pro-life viewpoints sets a dangerous precedent and cannot survive decades of First Amendment law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor’s Note: This press release was originally published at Liberty Counsel<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Liberty Counsel) Liberty Counsel filed an opening brief to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals against an ordinance that created unconstitutional buffer zones to silence pro-life speech on public property and sidewalks around abortion facilities in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Liberty Counsel represents Becky Biter and Colleen Reilly, who have regularly engaged in peaceful sidewalk counseling to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":686,"featured_media":211767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7077,7],"tags":[3671,909,8133,341,639,34,18881,1940],"yoast_head":"\nPro-life sidewalk counselors continue to challenge abortion buffer zone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The city of Harrisburg, PA has ignored its constitutional obligations to protect speech by imposing an ideological ban on pro-life speech in a public forum.\" \/>\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-life-sidewalk-counselors-challenge-buffer-zone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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